Cleaning Away Tint Adhesive
 

I had to remove my window tinting to pass inspection. Now I've got this leftover adhesive all over my windows that has got to go. I tried an ammonia/water mix, which was what I used to loosen the tint in the first place, and also some lighter fluid. So far nothing is making it budge. Suggestions?

Did you try this yet?

I'm not familliar with Goo Gone (it might work great for all I know)

I used cheap Vodka (TAAKA) and a razor blade scraper to get the goo off of my Lexus SC300 two weeks ago. It took some work but the adhesive is gone.

It took me about 45 minutes per window and I went through four blades. The nice thing about glass is you can't scratch it with a razor blade.

You don't have to use Vodka; any high ethanol based liquid will work - Everclear, Scotch or Denatured Alcohol from the hardware store will all work.

-Mr. Wigggles

Not yet. I've used it a long time ago to remove stickers from instrument cases. I'll have to pick some up next them I'm shopping.

Send this member a PM and see what he says. I believe he's a window tinter by trade. Might help. :)

Still Cleaning
 

I've tried the Goo Gone and nothing is really working well. That and straight ammonia can help but I still have to scour to get the adhesive to go away. I've been using an old t-shirt and paper towels but after two hours I haven't even finished one rear quarter window. Is there anything more abrasive that I can use to scour that won't scratch the glass?

umm... for me, it was water and a lot of scrubbing and rubbing. Made my arms sore after but it was gone.

Ahh!!! The perils of illegal window tinting. Almost makes you wish you'd stayed with the stock tint, eh??

Flame off.

What perils? I had it done professionally to 30% in Indiana. But a year and a half later I moved to Maryland where the limit is 35%.

What are you going to do about the rear window since you can't safely scrape it?

Maryland's tint law is archaic. To make it more complicated, it measures total tint value, so your 30% tint was probably closer to 28% on the rear and 20% on the rear quarter-windows.
To meet Maryland's 33% law, you need to start with 40% and work your way down.
That said, I had 35% slapped on all the way around and I never got a ticket for that.
Now I'm in Arizona, so I've got to get the 35% removed to make way for the 15% I am going to put on the rear and sides (no limit for those in AZ). The state limit for the doors is 33%, but I'm going to do 30% there.

Currently I'm not scraping at all. Just spraying a lot of ammonia and spending a lot of paper towels to rub it off. I don't know if there's any kind of cloth better at buffing. But you make a good point at avoiding rubbing off the defroster lines.

Don't get me started on the MVA. Indiana spoiled me in terms of relaxed automotive laws.

I PM'd him. If I get any useful feedback I'll make sure to post it.

The best way to pull tint is the bag and ammonia way.
Cover the outside of the window with a black trash bag (to get it hot in the sunlight) and spray the inside with undiluted ammonia and plaster another trashbag on it. Then let it sit in direct sunlight for 3 hours. Then peel away...
It will completely destroy your lungs if you aren't careful, though....

Try a heat gun or hair dryer and the razor blade. I had to remove some on my pickup that I had gotten warnings for and settled on heating it and peeling/scraping it. I can't remember what I used for any residue left over. Probably alcohol.

This may or may not help you. This site tells you step by step how to remove tint and residue. Scroll down to the bottom to see some helpful tips that others have submitted. Good Luck. :)

Please take my advice and use a utility razor blade scraper that you can find at any drug/grocery/hardware store.

You will not scratch the window with a razor blade. You don't need an abrassive - that's probably the only way you can scratch the window.

You need a solvent, a blade, and one good arm to get this done.

-Mr. Wigggles

cover the panels and use simple green or simple pink and a razorblade to scrape the doors and quarters. bagging the rear window with ammonia and/or simple green/pink works great. look through those tips on tintdude.com. lots of good info on that site.

Quick update: I've found that Duck Adhesive Remover works rather well. Better than 409, Goo Gone, or ammonia. And the razor blade is the key. I haven't gotten to the back window so I don't have any good techniques for that yet.

In high school I had 20% tint on my car and had to get it removed. I just paid a local tint shop I think $75 cuz I'm waaayyyyy too lazy to spend all that effort. I live in MD and am going to put 50% on my windows since the legal limit is 35% all the way around. My old car had a factory tint of 77% so even if I had put 35% tint on my car I would have failed inspection since 35% of 77% = 27%. So as long as the factory tint on the RX8 is not less than 70% I should be alright with 50%, bringing me right to 35%. Maryland has laws for EVERYTHING.

Glad you had luck with a razor blade... as MrWigggles suggested, it works very well. I've done it before with simple Windex and a Razor Blade. Good luck with your back window.