How to safely remove sun film from cars

The Supreme Court has recently ruled that all kinds of sun film on cars in India is illegal. You, the car owner, now are left with little choice but to comply with the ruling or face prosecution. If you are stopped by a policeman, he may want to scratch out the film in your car, and this can lead to extensive damage to the glass or especially to rear windscreen defoggers and glass-embedded radio antennas.

So how do you safely remove film from your cars windows without damaging them or any components that are one the glass? Here are a few steps to remove sun film from car windows.

How to remove sun film from side glasses

Step 1: Clear the window of all clutter and obstructions such as roller blinds etc.

Step 2: Park the car in the sun for a few hours till the windows are really hot

Step 3: If you have a steam blower or hair-dryer, use this to blow hot steam or hot air directly on the window film.

Step 4: Using a flat razor blade, pick one corner of the film by slicing parallel with the glass to lift up the film’s edge.

Step 5: Continue using the hair dryer or steam blower on the film and keep peeling it back from one side. The more heat you use on the film, the more easily it will come off.

Step 6: Some bits of film may still stick to the glass. To remove this you will need to spray it with an ammonia-based spray like Mo-Kleen or Mr. Muscle.

Step 7: After you spray the sticky bits, use the razor blade at an angle to gently scrape the sticky bits of film and the glue away from the glass.

Step 8: Spray the entire window with an ammonia-based spray and then wipe it with a micro-fibre towel.

Step 9: Use soapy water made with any household detergent to wash off the ammonia spray and bits of glue. Dry the window using a clean cloth or chamois leather.

Step 10: Using a commercial glass cleaner (like Colin), spray the window and buff it with a micro-fibre towel to restore its shine and remove any tiny scratches from the surface.

How to remove sun film from front and rear windscreen

Removing the sun film from a rear windscreen that has an in-built defogger or a built-in embedded radio antenna in the glass is a tricky job. Since the defogger and the antenna are actually tiny copper based paint strips or copper wires stuck on to the glass, when you peel film off the window, you actually risk cutting the defogger or destroying the radio antenna as well.

Step 1: First you will have to soften the film entirely, for this get a sheet of plastic or many old plastic bags or garbage bags.

Step 2: Put some newspaper on the dashboard or the rear-parcel tray. Spray the entire window with a strong ammonia-based cleaner (Mo-Kleen or Mr. Muscle). You can also get ammonium solution from a chemist and dilute it slightly to use.

Step 3: Place the old plastic bags or garbage bags over the ammonia-solution soaked film and leave it like that for about an hour or two, with the car parked in the sun. The sun will heat the glass, while the plastic bags will prevent the ammonia solution from evaporating and will instead allow the corrosive solution to soak into the window film and dislodge the film’s glue.

Step 4: Take a flat razor blade and keeping as parallel to the glass as you can gently lift the film from one corner where there are no defogger strips or antenna wires.

Step 5: Keep pulling the film gently and continuously keep spraying the ammonia solution on it as you pull to keep the glue from drying up.

Step 6: Once the entire film has been removed from the glass spray it liberally with ammonia spray and use a rubber wiper or magic-wipe kitchen towel to remove any sticky bits of glue.

Step 7: Use good glass cleaning solution and spray the glass liberally. Wipe it clean with a micro-fibre towel to restore its shine and remove any fine scratches or bits of glue left behind.

If you have any other tips to share on how to safely remove sun film from car windows, please let us know.