DIY vs. Professional car window tinting: is it worth trying it yourself? – Jalopnik

You’ve decided that tinting your car is the next step and, hopefully, you’ve already checked your local laws on how much you can legally tint your windows, if at all. Maybe you’ve even watched some YouTube videos and thought, “How hard can it be? It’s just a glorified sticker, right?”

Although window tint has an adhesive backing, there are no more similarities between sticking your favorite brewery sticker on your laptop and tinting the windows. Sure, a $50 Amazon kit makes it seem like anyone can do this, but the real gap between a deal and a decent job is the technical nightmare of forcing a flat sheet of film to interact with a composite curved window. Car enthusiasts seem to be allergic to paying someone for labor, whether for the nobility of saying you did it or the budget constraints imposed by your better half. The low entry point is tempting, but you might just buy a one-way ticket to Frustration City.

A professional works in a clean workshop with a computer plotter with numerical control, all the squeegees he needs, even the ability to use water treatment to ensure that the final application is perfect. You’re probably in a drafty garage basically begging every speck of dust from the Reagan administration to come out of hiding and live under your movie forever. It is possible to do it yourself, but first let’s see what you will have to deal with.

The biggest myth about DIY is that a kit is all you need. If you actually want results that won’t peel, turn purple or bubble in two summers, there’s more to it. A good job requires a heat gun, specialized squeegees, and cleaning and application fluids that aren’t just dish soap and a prayer. By the time you get the recommended equipment, your DIY investment may not seem like such a bargain. You can get a mid-range professional carbon tint for between $250 and $500.

Then there’s the science of why cheap DIY film fails so spectacularly. Entry level films often use a deep dyeing process where pigments are simply impregnated into the material. Over time, sunlight, the thing it’s supposed to fight, kills the chemical bonds of the dyes, leaving the iconic purple trophy of failure. This isn’t just a cosmetic failure either: as the dye breaks down, the film loses its integrity and begins to bubble. Before making a decision, it helps to understand what films are available, such as the differences between ceramic and carbon window tint.

Cutting bulk rolls by hand also carries the very real risk of etching the glass or cutting it through weather stripping. Kits exist that are custom-made for your vehicle, but that comes with a jump in cost. Just know that if you mess up, you can remove the window tint yourself.

You’re not just looking for a bubble-free view when you go the professional route. You pay for someone to actually stand behind their work. Most legitimate stores use high quality stuff like 3M or LLumar with a warranty. They also have the advantage of a controlled store. And after all, this isn’t their first rodeo. Crimping to complex turns, knowing where not to cut, and experiencing – all of this is sometimes worth the price of admission.

Then there’s the matter of the rear glass, the Bowser of window tinting. The glass is curved in multiple directions and covered with delicate defrost lines. One wrong move with your Harbor Freight heat gun or that extra-sharp X-Acto knife and you’ll have a piece of glass that won’t defrost properly. Save your sanity, support a local business and let someone else sweat over the wiper while you drink coffee.