Tinting For Car Dealerships

Are you ready to work for the main car dealers in your area? Because  if you're not ready - you'll make a fool out of yourself.

The First thing you need to have before you try and attract the main car dealerships to use you for their car window tinting is you need confidence, it's no good just doing the week long training course and thinking your the next big rockstar in the car window tinting world!

You need to take your time, get your skills together, keep practising, do some jobs the free and you need to do this for as long as it takes until you're ready to take on the work and the volume that a main dealer can give to you.  Don't just be tempted to go in there and try and win the business purely on the price, we can all be busy fools if we're not careful, so going there with the attitude that you're going to earn good money from the work you are doing should be at the forefront of your mind.

It really does depend where in the world you are as to how you you will approach this, I know for a fact and lots of states in America, the main dealerships will preload the work. This means that there will already tint the windows on around 70% of the cars before they are even sold, as they know most customers will choose this option when they're ordering the car.
So the dealership is already well versed in the car window tinting business, and lots of them will have in-house window tinters working for them on a full time basis.

These are the car dealerships you should avoid! They'll be paying a low price per car already, will most likely be using an electronic plotter to cut out the film and have a big deal going with the film manufacturers. So don't think you can go in there with your low ball price and get the jobs because it won't work.

You need to search in your location for the smaller car dealerships, maybe the ones who specialise in a low volume brand, these are the guys that you should approach initially, offer to do them a free installation, it has been proven that everybody wants something for nothing, so offer them something for free. With all this being said, don't go piling in there when you've got no experience, or you haven't got the required skills, because you dont want to make a mess of the job and give yourself a bad name, sit tight work hard keep practising, and you'll make it, then the rewards will come.

I think the secret to success, is to not run before you can walk. I know lots of window tinters who after just a couple of months think they are the best in the west, when in fact they produce  very poor work but don't know it... Maybe in a few years time, they will look back and realise just how much their work has improved and how bad as it was when they first started out.

Tinting For Car Dealers

And, one more thing..Keep It Legal !

Get more info on car window tinting training at http://www.carwindowtintingtraining.com/

The Ultimate Guide To Dot Matrix Part 2

In the last post we discussed dot matrix, I mentioned about the thickness of the film and how this can affect the look of the dot matrix after the window has been tinted, and the method used to shrink the film has a big impact again on the finished look.

BMW Dot Matrix Problem!

So in this article now I will talk about a few things that can have a positive effect on how the dot matrix looks, one option after you've tinted the  windows is to heat of the dot matrix and try and dry that area of the film out more and then apply some pressure with a hard card wrapped in a cotton cloth or using a piece of blue max squeegee, you can then apply pressure to the heated film.Using this method, you heat the film for about 6-8 seconds over an area around 6 inches constantly moving the heat gun  backwards and forwards you will see the matrix area change  its state slightly, this is the time when you need to remove the heat and apply pressure with your hard card or piece of blue max squeegee. You need to be very careful doing this, you can burn the rubber trims that are close to the dot matrix, or  you can even cause the film to blister as you have used too much heat.

This method really does take some testing to establish how much heat you can give the film before it blisters,one thing you can do once you get the dotmatrix ready to push down into place, is the spray some  cold water on the glass, you may see some smoking or steaming at this point is the glass cools, you then push hard with your hard card or piece of Blue Max squeegee push the film down and almost embed into the dot matrix area.The effect here is that you will improve the look of the dot matrix dramatically, by pushing the film into the heated dot matrix area that white silvery look that is common to see on a lot of vehicles which have tinted windows, will almost look like a factory tinted glasses if you get this method correct.

 NOTE:- Be careful when heating the matrix and cooling with water, their in an extremely low risk of glass fracture but you have been warned!!

The next time you tint some windows allow the film to dry for a  while before you practice this method, it does take some trial and error to establish the timings that work for you and each film responds differently to this method so this is just one of the things you can do to improve the look of the matrix and elevate the quality of finish of your car window tinting

 Another area of dot matrix is a big problem but not just car window tinters, but for customers as well, is the big band of dot matrix at the top of some vehicles on the back window.Common vehicle that causes a problem for a lot of window tinters is the BMW 3 series, this vehicle has a deep dot matrix at the top of the back window that is around three or 4 inches deep, I'll discuss now a few ways of dealing with this area of the glass.

 One method that is used on these type of windows is the sanding method, I'm not a big fan of this method but have tried it a few times over the years, you need to sand the matrix very carefully using 1000 grade wet and dry paper,be careful when sanding this area as if you stray onto the clear glass you will scratch the glass, it may be advisable to apply some masking tape to the top of the screen just below the dot matrix area.Sand the matrix in  even strokes and wipe off any black residue that may come from the matrix, I'm talking here about sanding with a wet sounding method, when the matrix is ready you should find you have no more black residue coming off the dots.Really clean the dots well after you have sanded them using an alcohol solution like IPA or Dirt Off which is a Llumar product.If the dots are not clean then you will spoil the look of the installation as the cleanliness means the film will stick very well to the dotted area.

 Another more popular method of dealing with this dotted area is to use Glue, install the film in the normal manner and squeegee out all the water, then peel back with film from the dot matrix area and apply a thin bead of glue along the bottom row of dots.You need to make sure you use a water-based glue,  a popular choice of glue is Elmers Blue school gel. (This is available in America,  I have yet to find it in the UK, but their are plenty of water based glues available) . What you need to do after applying the glue, is using a MacTac squeegee or a regular hard card with a piece of tissue wrapped around it, push slowly in upwards direction and push the glue through the dotted area, you may see some glue come out of the top of the film and this is quite normal, if you push too hard you will push all the glue out and defeat the object of the procedure, so push gently as what you are doing here is replacing the air and water that is trapped in the dotmatrix area with the glue, it is a good idea to have somebody stand on the outside of the vehicle watching those you work,  they can tell you if you miss any areas and don't leave any  patches, this method works great but like everything else with car window tinting it takes practice,.

 That's all for now for this part of the dot matrix trilogy, next time I'll talk about dry dropping and using an alcohol mix makes to  improve the dot matrix.

The Ultimate Guide To Dot Matrix Part 1

dot matrix problems

I will post here for you now a few of the methods I have tried over the years to improve the appearance and Silvery look of Dot Matrix after window film is applied and and some of the factors that will affect the levels of success you will have in your in efforts to get the dot matrix looking good,and as close to the look of factory tinted glass as is possible.

1. Film Thickness!
This will have a major effect on the look of the dot matrix, if you are using a thin dyed 1 ply film it will lay down far better on the dot matrix than a high performance 2 ply film. Most 1 ply films are 1 micron ( 1mil) thick whereas a 2 ply film with be 1.5 microns, so the extra thickness means the film is not as pliable and won't form to the shape of the dots like a single ply film.
This leaves you in a dilemma, although there are colour stable single ply films they tend to be like tissue paper to work with and don't have the body that a two ply film has and you can easily crease these films just by looking at them... ok not quite that bad but they are much less forgiving especially to a inexperienced installer just finding his feet in the car window tinting business.

So your first thing to decide upon is will you sacrifice film quality for the look of the Dot Matrix??

2. Heat Shrinking Process!
Although you may not realise it but the way you shrink your back windows can have a big affect on the outcome and appearance of the Dot Matrix! If you are a powder shrinker, then you maybe don't realise that you are leaving lots of tiny un-shrunk areas of film, and as you shrink more towards the edge of the glass, into the matrix area, the film will become very distorted in that area and will not lead to the film sitting down nice and tight onto the dot matrix.

I would consider a switch at this point to either the soap shrink or the Ryk Shrink. The Ryk shrink is a little unknown and little used technique in the car window tinting industry and involves using 2 heatguns and shrinking very large area of film at one time, this means you are not focusing on the area of the film over the dot matrix but applying a more general shrink of the window film. The end result is that the film is less distorted and can result in an improved look on the dot matrix area.

Why not try this technique and see how your results can improve.

3. Cleaning Technique!!

People often neglect the dot matrix area in their cleaning preparation and this can have a major effect on the end results. One thing I do that does allow the film to adhere well to the matrix is spend a few extra minutes on the dot matrix, so what do we do to take our installations to the next level?

I use a 000 gauge wire wool to clean the back windows and heater lines and then will spend some time on the dot matrix and give it a a good scrub with wire wool and glass cleaner, I use foaming glass cleaner and spray the dot matrix with the cleaner and let it sit their for a few minutes, then I illuminate the rear window and cut out my film, the foam glass cleaner highlights the edge of the film making pattern cutting easier.

Ok, back to the matrix...after squeegeeing the glass clean in the normal manner, i will use some IPA (
Isopropyl alcohol) and wipe the matrix clean, and i mean "clean" and that means that no black dirt comes of onto your micro-fibre cloth. Then i will use compressed air in a can or my heat gun and dry the dot matrix completely. This super clean and dry matrix will be ready to take your film and stick like crazy!

Thats all for now in this first part of the The Ultimate Guide To Dot Matrix - next time i will tell you about sanding matrix, glueing, slip-mix,baking and quenching and a few other advanced techniques that can help you get the best finish ever.

Controlling Contamination When Tinting Windows

Contamination Control - Keeping Your Car Window Tinting Installs Clean

Keeping the dreaded dust specks out of your tint jobs is something you will learn to fight for quite a while once you start out on your car window tinting journey, and before I get the hot shots shouting up that they never get contamination in their installations I will call BS on that!

Dust Under Window Film

Keeping your work ultra clean is not as easy task, and the expectations of your customer will play a big part in how your work is received. Some customers will expect perfection, and may return a car because it has maybe one or two microscopic dust specks in the window, the others will look at the car from 12 feet away and give a smile.."looks awesome man!"

And that's how it goes, I have looked at plenty of people showing off on YouTube, slapping film on really fast, but trust me..their work will never be as clean as the guy who takes the extra time and steps needed to make the job as clean as is physically possible.

Starting with your slip mixture, this is a key factor in delivering top notch results, don't use water straight from the tap, its full of crap that you can't see but will show in your car window tinting work.
This is the starting point in controlling contamination, at the very least, purchase some filtered water as this will also help reduce contaminants.

Next time I will update you on the most effective glass preparation methods prior to window film installation.

Learn how to tint windows with our video training.

Don't Let Dot Matrix Get You Down

Extra Work Needed To Fix Matrix

Hate it or HATE IT!!!!! Dot Matrix is here to stay... if you are not sure what it is, go and take a look at your car windows, on a lot of cars nowadays you will see that where the clear glass meets the black part of the glass, you will see a dotted edge at the point these two areas meet - This is called Dot Matrix.

This dot matrix area is something that window tinters the world over hate..in fact, I dont know of anybody who is in the window tinting game who has a good word to say for it!
So why the big downer on Dot Matrix...firstly, it is one obvious sign to the customer who has had their windows tinted that the windows may not look like factory tinted glass, they can see the silvery appearance that ocours on this part of the glass, and no matter how clean you have carried out the installation, they will look at this and think.."They have not done a proper job!"

Listen...dot matrix is something you can deal with as part of the installation, but at a cost to the customer!
I always show them a car with normal matrix and say that you may have a silver appearance on this area of the glass, let them get any objections out of the way early, before you have done the work, if they sound like they are not impressed with the look of the dot matrix, then offer them a solution, tell them that you can do the extra work involved in making the dot matrix look better, but at a price. It may take an hour extra to go around all the dots and heat them down into position, this is a pain in the aas job!...i know some installers who do this off the bat, but if they are not charging for their time taken to do this - it's their loss.

One option is to tell the customer to push down the matrix in a week, some tint shops tell the customer to bring the car back in a week and they can take a look, I thinks its better to show them how, when you push the wet dot matrix down with your thumb, it looks better, if you invite every customer to come back after a week i think you will regret it! You will have them visiting you on a regular basis then, thinking they are not doing it right...dont go down that road unless you really want to!

I wil be posting some tips in the next article on how to improve the look of your dot matrix, you need a few different approaches depending on the type of windows you are tinting.

Get more window tinitng tips here.

Keep tuned.

Shaving The Top Edge Of A Roll Up Window

I would like to show you today the Olfa Shaving Technique - well i say me, It's actually mt Friend KT.
he is the real Daddy when it comes to shaving the windows with an Olfa knife.

It takes a lot of practice to get this technique down and you will burn through a  lot of blades practicing.

The good thing though, is that you can use some film scraps and just keep practising, so that when you come to do it live on the car you have a better chance of getting it right.

Anyway, KT sent me this video clip and I am happy to share it with you.

Here is look at the finished result and this is what you should be aiming for in your car window tinting!

You can shave or file your edges to get this level of finish!

Marketing When Times Are Tough Part 2

Hey guys, we're having some good feedback on this blog lately and thanks if you're one of those who pops in regularly to view my posts, it's nice to be appreciated!! Please leave a comment and if I feel it's relevant I will happily approve it, if it's spam and you are trying to just abuse my generosity then kiss my ***!!

Our last post dealt with marketing your business when times are tough, I hear lots of stories about people who have so many customers they don't know where to turn, and the biggest stress is managing the work load. But, trust me its not the same for everybody, if you're in a small town or a sleepy area you may have to work a lot harder to generate business than the big boys in the big cities

So that's we said last time in our previous article, you need to look at your overheads, reduce your cost base to a minimum, maybe look further and seek collaboration and work from somewhere with a low overhead, or even your own garage!!

I must say that working from my own garage would not suit me personally,it would be a problem as I am not in a big town with a good population and people may not willing to come to my home, but it is a brilliant business model for car window tinting, low overheads from working at home, high profits with low material cost is a a great business solution.

But, alas that's not for everybody so you may have to look at the alternatives and in this article want to talk about how you can optimise and engage with your customers in an automatic way.

How about this one, you could use an auto responder, that's an e-mail system that sends out an automatic e-mail when it receives an input from a customer. You could set up a predetermined e-mail to go to the customer when he fills out a contact form with a check box on your website, for example, please give me a price for a four door saloon car, you could have a specific e-mail that is sent to the customer depending upon what they select from the check box, an SUV window tint , a hatchback, a saloon vehicle, would all send a different e-mail with a different price. If the customer doesn't buy it from you, you could automatically after a predetermined amount of time, say three days, send them a follow up e-mail offering them a slight discount or incentive to buy from you, if they still dont buy, send another one of them even better deal, this can be done automatically with no intervention from yourself, how good is that!

Think about automation...it's a great time saver and makes you look efficient with your marketing!!


I wil update this post next few days with a link to my chosen auto responder system, it's worth checking out, plus they have a free one dollar trial so why not give it a try.

Marketing For Tint Shops

The Tint Slime Review

I have now had a chance to try out the Tint Slime and wanted to give you a quick review right here and now.

I got a gallon size container of the product from my regular supplier. And tested out a few ratios to get the correct mixture. It seems that Tint Slime is very concentrated, I used around four fluid ounces per litre of water. Bare in mind that your mixture will change depending on the weather conditions, as I write this the weather is cold, it's winter, and it's only just a few degrees above freezing.

Tint Slime

So let's not beat around the bush, I'll tell you know I really think about Tint Slime and whether or not it's something you should look at using for car window tinting.

My first impressions are that Tint Slime is is Definitely something I'll be using!!. In the cold in winter weather it can be hard to get the right mixture for your slip solution and it seems to perform well in my low temperatures .

Ive now Tinted a few cars using Tint Slime and I think it really seems to suit my style well, I don't like too much slip when I carry out my installations, and just one pass of the squeegee seems to make the film tack down quickly. It was good on quarter windows, you could slide the film into position and use a hard card to just pin the film down, and it didn't slide any more and then allowed you to extract the water nicely

So it was a good experience using this product, and yes I do certainly recommend it. Some people online are saying it's expensive and it's not necessary, but you must move with the times, and stop being such a tight ars*, it's very concentrated and 1 gallon of this stuff will last for ages.

So I have no hesitation about using this product, the films seem to dry out quicker, and when it dries quicker, you can spot the  very small contamination easier - contamination!!..who gets that! basically, you can see that bit sooner than you would do with normal mounting solution like baby shampoo as the film dries faster.

I would even consider using two bottles of slip solution, one with a slightly more concentrated mixture for fixed back windows, and a lighter mix for quarter windows etc...

Hey Tight Ass - Now go try this stuff!

Go to TintSlime.com

Marketing Your Business When Times Are Tough Part 1

Yeh, its tough out there!!

Operating a small business in a recession is no fun...and if you dont keep a handle on things, before you know it your flood of customers could become a trickle and leave you in a mess!

Ok I am no expert on business mastery, but lets say I have done it for real, not like some of these business gurus who spout all the crap and pretend to help other people, and profit from their mis-fortune sometimes!

Anyway, I'm rambling, lets get back on track.

If you are finding business tough right now, get used to it!!..because I dont think things are changing anytime soon!

You must take a good hard luck at the situation and that starts with your fixed costs.

It's all well and good having a nice shiny business, but if you are getting little custom then you need to change things and thats starts with looking for a way out of this situation and try and think about how you can reduce your monthly overheads.

The answer is collaboration!

I say take your business to your customers, target the motor dealers in your area and offer an on-site service, you will be using their facilities and utilities and giving them a top notch service on their own doorstep. I think this is the best business model for tint shops when times are tough! 

You may need to brush up on your pattern making and adapting your techniques for mobile as it is really a different ball game so expect a few issues with quality when you first start doing mobile tinting.

Get Social

You MUST harness the power of social media and make this your best friend. The viral aspect and sharing of your status updates can be a real driver for new business. Make offers that can be redeemed by your customers, try and engage the customer with pics of cars, make videos showing your skills and even video testimonials from your customers...you can shoot and publish videos direct from your smartphone and have it online in a few minutes.

Offer one free window tint installation a month for people who like and share your business page and make sure to visit facebook.com/username and set the username for your business so you can use it properly in your marketing.

Gotta go now, to do some status updates to get my buzz going for this week!

Watch this video to see how you should be doing it and the time needed to make it work!

I can help you with your car window tinting seo

  

Panels On 'V' Panels Off When Car Window Tinting

Depending on which side of the water you are (USA/Europe) you may well never have come across the installation method of installing the film in one shot as opposed to installing the top half of the film and raising the glass then installing the bottom half.

 I would not like to guess at the figures but in Europe, I reckon at least 75% of installation on doors are done in this way, as opposed to the USA where more like 90% are installed in the half and half method. So today i will focus on the bottom loading method and why its popular in Europe.

 1. Out of the USA, lots of car window tinters like to give the perfect finish to the top edge of the door glass, this is easier to achieve with the bottom load method, you can install the film, do your bit and let it dry, then come back to it after you have completed the rest of the installation, then the edges of the window can be filed to a perfect finish. This is the preferred method over the micro edge and has become the standard in many parts of the world.

 2. Olfa Shaving is another method for getting the ultimate edge finish, this is a hard technique to master and you will be pulling your hair out until you get the method down but perseverance here will be well worth the struggle. With the shaving method you can even shave the edge when it's still wet, whereas with filing the edge needs to be dry to get the best finish.

 3. One other benefit of the bottom load method is that you don't tend to get pinch marks at the side of the film like you can get with the half and half method and this is a big factor in why this method is popular. The video below shows bottom loading and shaving with the olfa blade.

Dot Matrix Tips For Car Window Tinters

In this article today I want to talk to you about more dotmatrix! You may not see this type of matrix every day, but there are cars out there that are very heavy dotmatrix at the top of the back window,
I'm talking three or 4 inches of dot matrix, like on the BMW 3 Series coupe's.

 To be quite frank, these cars are a real pain in the butt! 


We will certainly have some extra work to do, and if we don't do the right amount of preparation then the job could look a mess. The first thing I will say is that to get good adhesion on these dots, we need to make sure they're really squeaky clean.

There are at least three or four ways to deal with these dots and they all work best when the dots are super clean, so we can then either sand the dots, glue the dots, heat them so they're very hot and then nail the film down, or even use vinyl on the dots. I personally like to glue to the dots, I'm not a big fan of heating them as it does worry me that it may end up shattering the back window.

 I do know some guys have great success with heating, but it's almost a two man job, one man outside heating and tell the dots are really hot, and another guy inside pushing the film down into place, not easy if you're a one man band!! I have never used the vinyl, so I'm not expert on that but the glue is what I prefer to do, I will first sand the dot matrix for a few minutes with 1000 grade wet and dry paper ( make sure you don't stray onto the clear glass as you will scratch it), then really scrub the dots clean and you can even use some IPA on the dots for the final clean, you really must go to town on these dmn dots to make sure they are as clean as can be, and then install your back window in the normal fashion and squeegee out all the water as best as possible.

 You can then peel the film back at the top of the back window and allow it to dry for a minute or two, I have seen people rub glue all the dots but my preferred method is to use a syringe and put a fine line of glue on the bottom line of dots, then using a Mactac or hard card with a felt edge, I will gently push the glue through the dots. If you don't have enough glue on the dots when you start, and you can get patches or areas where the glue is not filling the space between the dots and the window film, so to be careful make sure you put enough glue in at the start.

 This method does work well, but I do no people who equally have great success with the purely sanding the dots, and then install the film in the normal manner, then their is the method called the "Drop Dry Technique", with this you tint the window in the normal fashion,then peel back the film at the top, and let it dry for 10 minutes or so, you can even heat up the back window to speed up the process, then you can push the film down using a hard card with a felt edge, or even your thumb with a piece of tissue , and gently push the film back into place, I think this method can be a bit hit and miss, but like everything you need to practice.

 I was having a root around the You-Tube, and I came across the videos below, it shows how to glue the dots, I put it on with a syringe like I mentioned, whereas in this video they rub it on with their fingers but the end result is still the same a nice finish!

 Have You Seen My Tint Slime Review?

Tint Shop SEO - A Quick And Dirty Guide

How To Rank Your Car Window Tinting Website For Local Customers

The internet just isn't going away and without it your marketing efforts will be seriously compromised.
So what do you need to do to try and get your website listed in Google and other search engines so local customers can find you when searching for "car window tinting in your town".

The first thing you need to consider is your domain name, use a service like namecheap.com to purchase your domain name, think about the name selection carefully, your business may be called "TJ's Car Window Tints" but a domain name like www.windowtintingohio.com will be better suited for your website, by including the keywords that your customer searches within your domain name you wil automatically have an advantage over your competitors who are not doing this.Once you have decided on a name, you then need to get some web hosting, a company like hostgator.com are a good choice here as they have a big scaleble network.

Finding a good web designer for your car window tinting website is next, along with branding and logo design, this really depends on your budget, but if money is tight go to fiverr.com and look for service suppliers here, make sure you filter your results based on "rating" so you find the best people,  and while you are at it, find somebody who can install Wordpress using the C Panel feature provided by Host Gator.

Visit Themeforest.net and search for wordpress themes, these are like skins for your website and you can pick up some really nice designs for $20-$40.

Next up once you get all this rolling is optimising your site to catch local searches, here you need to be very careful, a good place to start is with getting your site listed in some directories and if you google "Directory Submissions" you will find some good companies, get some social bookmarking services from Fiverr.com but avoid anything that blasts a lot of backlinks to your website.

Set up a youtube channel for free and upload videos of your car window tinting jobs and tag them with the keywords your customer would search for you, get somebody from fiverr.com to do a submission to the various video content networks to give your video a boost in the rankings.
Finally, make sure you keep posting content onto your car window tinting website every week, 2 or 3 times a week even, this can be pics of cars and a description of the work you have done and include your keywords in the blog posts you make.

Follow this avice and you will soon be ranking high for your local area when somebody searches for car window tinting. If you leave your site sat there doing nothing, dont expect google to show you any love!

Next time - how to conquer facebook and engage with your customers who are looking for your car window tinting services.

Facebook Marketing For Your Car Window Tinting Business

Market Your Car Window Tinting Business With Facebook

Getting feedback from customers whose car you have tinted is very valuable in your marketing efforts and is something you should encourage.
Take the time to set up your Facebook page properly and you will reap the rewards of engaging with your customers and exposing them to your skills. You can use new tools like the 22 Social FAn Page Tool - They have a free trial.

Make sure you set your page up as a business and not a personal profile, a lot of the newer Facebook enhancements are aimed at business pages rather than individual personal profiles.

Get a graphic designer to make you a cool timeline image for your profile, if you are struggling their are plenty of suppliers on fiverr.com who will make you a suitable graphic for 5 or 10 bucks.
I would also strongly consider the use of online video in your marketing efforts, be it for customer testimonials or just a general showcase of your work. Lots of people are scared of online video, they are scared of the technology and the costs involved but with the new cell phones on the market shooting full 1080p video you can kick out some really good quality professional looking video content quickly.
Set up a youtube channel named after your main target keyword of "car window tinting your town" and upload your videos there and share the link on your Facebook profile page, again, fiverr.com is your friend here and you will find lots of suppliers who can help wuth cool intros for your videos and stuff like that.

I dont advice you build your business around Facebook as they are a law unto themselves when it comes to making changes, the introduction of the timeline feature killed off so many fan pages that were using the fan gate or reveal tab technology that they lost a hell of a lot of friends that day!

The option of Tabs still exists within Facebook and you can almost frame your car window tinting website within a Facebook tab and capture enquiries directly from within Facebook.You can consider using Facebook Advertising System to promote your car window tinting business and they have the option to really drill down on the demographics of your area, you can target customers by location, interest, age, sex, etc all within say a 10 mile radius of your location.

All in all Facebook is a good tool for your business and regular status updates will keep your fan base and customers upto date with your car window tinting company and all it has to offer.

Next Time - More Car Window Tinting Tips, This Time On Dealing WIth Obstacles When Tinting Rear Windows

Car Window Tinting Training

So you are thinking about going on an automobile window tinting training course but aren't sure how to sort the men from the boys when it comes to locating an instructor, in this short article I'll try and highlight some of the things that I believe your training must certainly be focusing on and the things you need to ensure are in your training course.


Many programs may initially focus on heat shrinking rear windows, their are several different ways of heat shrinking window film and really the 2 you need to focus on are soap shrinking and wet shrinking. When your trainer insists on teaching you wet shrinking only or dry shrinking with talcum powder then I'd have some slight reservations here.

Wet shrinking
Wet shrinking is fine for the side windows of cars and you'll use this technique a lot in your auto window tinting career but deploying it for rear windows isn't good, for windows that are not too curved then you'd probably get away with a wet shrink but once you get into more curved glass then you'll hit several issues.

Soap shrinking
Soap shrinking window tint film is a dream and once you master this technique you wont believe simply how much it'll accelerate your jobs, it's lot more flexible than wet shrinking and a lot cleaner than dry powder shrinking, you should get a really tight shrink with the soap shrink and you wont have to incorporate a wet check into your process. Therefore, by using the soap shrink, your jobs will undoubtedly be quicker and simpler.


Going on, talk with your instructor what types of installation will be used on drop glasses, thats windows that wind up and down, i hear a few horror stories how people are trained to remove the glass from the vehicle to apply the film to it..Hellooo!!!!, this takes a lot less proficiency and you'll not learn the art of producing patterns for the windows, simply just slapping the film on the window that is out of the car is not a skill in my eyes.

Try and locate a trainer who will show you to tint the windows with the door panels in place as well as teaching you how to remove the top rubber from the top of the door panel. Whenever you can do both these kinds of installation, you will make progress significantly quicker and make money faster when you can learn  these practices

Next time I'll include a number of the more involved approaches that you will need in your installation armory  like reverse rolling and edge shaving.


More on car window tinting
Car window tinting training

This video was made by Kevin from www.ultratint.com.au

Dealing With Obstacles When Tinting Windows

Hey guys,
Here Is Another Car Window Tinting Tip

Ok, today I will try and address a little problem that you will come across when you begin to tint car windows.

Whilst laying your window film onto the back glass of the vehicle is straight forward enough, dealing with the rear window wiper can be a pain in the ass!
If you are not careful you will easily crease the film in that area if you let the rear wiper hit the film when you least expect it.

So one simple tip is too use a piece of masking tape and use this to tape the wiper up, so it leaves space so you can still shrink the window film without fear of the wiper dropping down and hitting the film.
i made a quick video showing how to do it - its  simple thing buy maybe one day you will be able to use it.
Be aware that on some cars, you may need to remove the rear wiper and even the rear wiper motor assembly to get the job done right, cars that spring to mind here are the Mk 1 Honda CRV and the Mitsubishi Evo. On these cars, by leaving the wiper motor spindle in position will make the job a real pain and the few minutes it takes to strip it out will save you a lot of heartache.

One other thing i wanted to touch on was removing the actual wiper from the wiper motor spindle, this is something i rarely do, a lot of the wiper motor spindles have a tapered spline and over time the wipers can become seized, there are special tools available that make removal easier but my advise is work around it if you can.

Car Window Tinting For Beginners

Benefits Of Car Window Film

If you are wondering if tinting your cars windows is the right thing to do please read on, in this article I will be discussing the ideas that never came to your mind when window tinting. As you may know there are many benefits from having your car windows tinted. One that you may never have thought of is the fact that when you apply the car window tinting you will be fighting global warming. That is right, this is because when the window film is in place you will have a cooler car. This allows you to use less energy to cool the car on hot days. This reduction in energy also provides a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Great isn’t it?

If you thought that was great, there are more benefits as well. What about safety? The film used in car window tinting will help to ensure the window does not separate and shatter if you ever get into a collision. Yes, people take auto glass for granted and don't realise that tempered car glass when broken will shatter into small pieces, but with the window film installed will give you another layer of protection in this instance.

When the car window tint is applied to the window, the product will use quality adhesive. This ensures the likeliness of the glass shattering drops drastically. This means that when you get this product installed into your car you will be improving the overall safety rating of your car to ensure that you and your passengers are as safe as possible while in your vehicle.

Something that has become a major player in many people’s eyes is the subject of skin cancer. Many who spend a lot of time in cars will know that the prolonged exposure to the sun can cause many problems. In the sunny climates all over the world this is even more prevalent. Many people know that if you go out into the sun you wear sunscreen. However, this is not so when people think about driving. This lessened use of sunscreen in automobiles can cause problems. Car window tinting can help to reduce the exposure of the harmful UV rays that have been proven to cause cancer. This means that you do not have to worry as much about your exposure levels.
On top of your skin thanking you for this, your car will as well. The extended exposure of the UV rays from the sun on the inside of the car cause the parts to dull and lose their new look. It can also make leather crack. The window tinting is yet another layer of protection you can add to your car’s interior to reduce these risks.

Then you get to another reason that many people already know. Car window tinting will increase the level of privacy within your car. This means that people will not be able to look into your back seat and see what is there. If a potential thief does not know what is in the cab of your car you will lessen the chance of becoming a target. This safety precaution is good not only for the items in the car, but your car’s windows as well.

Removing Door Panels When Window Tinting

A quick guide to door trim removal when car window tinting.

Once your are fresh off your car window tinting training course and are ready to rock the world with your car window tinting skills you will most likely come across your first brick wall. That will be leaning to remove door panels to get your window film applied.

Some guys have the experience from work they have done in the past, maybe they used to do mechanical work or vehicle glazing and door trim removal is easy...but if you have never done any door trim removal, then you will have a learning curve ahead of you for sure in your quest to become a car window tinting ninja.

Many newbies who start out fresh will come up against many problems and door trim removal will probably be the toughest  to get their head around.
Here I recommend you start to use some of the car window tinting forums or seek the help of a mentor, the latter is easier said than done, as people who have worked hard to get the knowledge dont want to share it with the new kid on the block.
My advice is start off being friendly with other forum members, dont try and make out you are "The Bomb" when quite clearly you are not as you will get shot down in flames pretty quickly.

Ok, lets get back on topic, door panel removal, in most cases it will not be required to remove the full door panel, on lots of cars you can just pop the top of the door panel back and using a special hook tool, catch hold of the rubber moulding or rub rail at the top of the door, when this rubber trim is removed, you can install the film a little lower down in the door and stop any chance of the film peeling from the bottom upwards. This technique is good for lots of cars, I use it on some BMW's, Audis, Fords, Renaults and a host of others.

You need to equip yourself with some essential door trim removal tools like trim pullers and special clip tools but i think the most useful set of tools will be a set of Bojo trim tools, these are a set of plastic wedges which can be used without damaging any trim and are perfect for sliding between two plastic surfaces that need to be seperated or for exposing trim clips that run down the side of the door.

Next Time - How To Market Your New Car Window Tinting Business

Mobile Car Tinting For Customer Convenience

I know this might be a strange topic for this blog but over the last 10 years of tinting cars I have had my fair share of female customers and I used to make a point of asking them why they chose to come to my business over going to one of my competitors. Always engage the customer at every opportunity without coming across as a smart ass, they don't like that. Try and build some confidence that you are the best person for the job and use your sales spiel to get the sale.

Be respectful: yeh, I think if my wife read this blog she would disagree and say I don't respect women enough…especially her!!, but if you want to close the deal and get the car window tinting job on their car then you have to respect them. They may not have the knowledge of some of the male customers, they may not have done any research into the subject or let you know they want an nano-ceramic non reflective film at 15% transparency but they do want window tinting from you all the same.

Talk a good job: One of the things I hear about from female customers is that some of my competitors will not give them the time of day, just like all other sales enquiries, take the 5 minutes or whatever it takes to ask the right questions, one of the best ways to close the sale is to focus on the benefits that car window film will bring to the rear seat passengers, and that's most likely going to be Kids. So sell on the heat rejection benefits of the film and how much protection it can offer. For more info on the benefits of car window film see this blog post from last week.

Marketing for Girls: Your sales message you deliver via your marketing materials can attract a varied audience and you will find that pitching your products to women is a good thing, a lot of the time they will control the purse strings and will make the buying decisions in the household. Poor old hubby is out at work all day and she may be doing lunch with the girls and keep her happy and she will happily gab to her lunch companions that you are the go-to guy for window tinting in your area.

You may need specific marketing pieces that target both male and female audience, do a little bit of market research with your female customers and just ask the question - "what made you choose us today"? - I am sure you will be surprised by some of the answers you will receive, store these in the mental marking bank - your brain, or write them down so you can be better equipped for your next marketing piece - its always nice to score with the girls and if you can make some nice money at the same time - double bonus!

My friend Richard over at Car Tinting Melbourne offers a mobile car tinting service to customers, and lots of ladies like this service, as they sometimes feel intimidated in a male workshop environment and his service offers the personal touch combined with convenience.

You can see his website at http://cartintingmelbourne.com.au/

Avoid Water Damage To High End Cars When Window Tinting

In this blog I will give you some tips and tricks for keeping it safe when tinting High End motor vehicles and please do watch the included video for the best ways to protect the vehicle from damage.


Water damage is something that can prove to be very expensive and if you don't take precautions before you carry out your installations you are heading for big trouble!

The main causes of water damage are two fold, its a bit of a catch 22 situation for the serious car window tinting installer. As a professional they will know that you can get very clean results by flushing down the window with either clean water or even their slippy window film mounting solution. Take this to the limit though and you can end up damaging electric window switches , airbag connectors and even ultra expensive amplifiers that are mounted in the trunk area.

Just the other day i tinted a brand new 2012 Mercedes Benz E Class, a nice car for sure and the customer was a picky type of person, I could tell that before I started the job so i knew I had to be on my best game and make sure he had no reason at all to complain, some of these customers can be really picky but if you meet their levels of expectation and become very picky about the finished product you deliver back to them, they will be happy customers for life and will tell every man and his dog what a good job you did.


So, what do you need to consider before you start tinting windows on some high end vehicles, well I will say limit your water usage for sure, mix up a slippier mounting solution than normal and install the windows on the dry side, I like to buff mine with a micro fibre cloth and then blow them dry with my heat gun, then  just flush down the edges slightly and maybe a quick mist in the main area of the window, then soak your film, I even install film with the windows completely dry sometimes ( with the film soaked only), you will be amazed how clean you can get your installations using this method. This method works well for quarter windows and drop glasses but what is the best way to tackle a back window in a sedan/saloon vehicle.

Look in the trunk area and on lots of cars they have side pockets, if you open these you may see a fusebox, or amplifier or sat nave unit or something else electronic. Take a towel or sham-wow cloth and cover all the electronics. I know on some of the Audi models the amplifier has an air intake, this faces upwards and and water just drips right into it, i have heard of quite a few tinters who have damaged these and must pay to replace them, at a cost of well over $1000.

Be careful - thats the first thing, don't go ploughing in soaking everything, tape off the C Pillar trims with masking tape as these can get wet and may get stained depending on what slip solution you are using. Only mist the back glass, don't flush it down, and when squegeeing out to the sides, be careful you push slowly, if you just flush lots of water into the 'C' panel area, on the BMW's they have the aerial/antenna amplifier in that area and they can get wet and that again can cost you money to put right. If in doubt and you can pull the trim away from the vehicle, try and have a quick look to see if their are any electonic components in the area in quetsion, and do what is needed to keep them dry. Cars are becoming more and more loaded with elcetrocnics and you need to be smart and get the knowledge as to what cars can cause a headache!

When I was doing a Mercedes Benz this week I decided to share with you what I do, I used my iphone and I made a quick video showing you how I avoid water damage when window tinting, all it takes is a towel, a few rags or I like to use a ShamWow cloth which is very absorbant and you are playing it safe and keeping out of trouble.

Watch this video for more information

So the bottom line is pay attention and do some research on the vehicle in question before commencing the installation, this information is not meant to scare you but give you an idea of what to look out for when you are working with high end vehicles and the pitfalls you may come across on your journey as a professional window tinter.

I have some new training videos for window tinting at this other site.

Making Your Window Film Patterns

One of the first steps in car window tinting you must master is pattern making.
I will give you a few ideas of how I make my patterns and show you how to do this without cutting with your Olfa knife directly on the car.

Window Film

We will start with cutting a pattern for a fixed window, this can be a static quarter glass or back window.
This one little tip will potentially save you from future hassle.
Once you have shrunk your pattern to the shape of the window, then we need to cut the pattern , in this example we will assume the vehicle has a dot matrix area around the edge of the window.
Instead of just cutting directly on the car, use either a small piece of the plastic tape, the sort of tape they use to wrap around cardboard boxes for transporting them or use a thin button as used on a small child's piece of clothing.
Slide the tape or button under the film and sit the blade of your knife onto the button/wrapping tape - then cut out your pattern. As you will be sliding the button/tape along the glass with your blade, your blade will not have contact with glass directly and will stop you potentially scratching the glass and will extend the life of your blades.

This tip is one you should certainly introduce into your pattern making so you can cut your patterns quickly and without any risk of scratching the vehicle glass


You too can  Learn To Tint - pay us a visit.

Tinting A Curved Rear Window

Quick and Dirty Tips For Dealing With Curved Windows

Curvature is one of the things you will learn to deal with early on in your car window tinting career, if you have undergone any sort of formal training, you will no doubt have spent the first few days of your training heat shrinking rear windows. I remember back to my first training session, the instructor grabed a window from a Renault clio, which at the time was one of the most difficult rear windows to shrink, he was just showing off basically that he could shrink the film in a few minutes, I was pretty blown away when i saw that to be honest.

I spent a good 2 days powder shrinking windows with talc, that was the technique we used and i continued powder shrinking for at least another 5 years, now I use a different method using Soap, but if I had to go back to using that damn powder shrink method I would not be a happy bunny. You can see my previous post on soap shrinking here. Although I found that I could shrink curved windows OK with powder but once I migrated to soap shrinking, the time taken when it came to heat shrinking pretty much halved overnight.

So what are the differences between the 2 methods?
When powder shinking, you use the powder to stop the film from sticking to the glass,  the powder sort of allows the film to float on the layer of powder and when you shrink the film with the heatgun, it doesnt stick to the glass.

The technique for powder shrinking is completely different to soap shrinking, when you powder shrunk, you still anchor the film in the 'H' pattern but then use a small circular motion with the heatgun as you flow left and right and dont focus so much on the fingers in the film like you would when wet shinking., it takes time to shrink a complete window, I would say around 20 minutes when you are a beginner, and thats for a fairly standard window, then you must perform a wet check, here you flush the powder out from under the film and smooth the film out with your hands, be careful as if you have'nt shrunk the film well, you may get a crease at this point.

With the soap shrink method, you tend to shrink a larger area of film at one time, not the small circles like when powder shrinking, and there is no need for a wet check either, as when you use a hard card with a felt edge, you can pin the film to the glass and make the film like a tight skin, you will get far fewer fingers popping up on the inside when you install the film. I just wish i discovered soap shrinking earlier in my carerre, the guys that are coming into the game now have it easy if they get a good trainer, one who taches tinting with door panels in place and soap shrinking. You can find out more on soap shrinking here.

When dealing with extreme curvature on back windows you may need to learn another technique as powder shrinking has it's limts and although I find you can do some pretty urved windows in soap, you will need to learn the Lift & Pull technique. this is a mix of wet shrinking and pulling, you need to leave the film longer than normal as you will need to pull the film by hand, i will try and find a video of the lift and pull method as a video can explain it better than I can.

Forgot to mention - to the guy who is using my articles and passing them off as his own, I am onto you! I dont write articles for you to rank your own site with!

A Buyers Guide To Purchasing The Correct Window Film For Your Car

Car Window Tinting - A Buyers Guide To Purchasing The Correct Window Film For Your Car.

Since the mid 1970's people have been getting their car windows tinted, not only does it look awesome on your vehicle, but it is packed full of benefits too. In the hottest countries auto window film is not merely for looks, but is a serious requirement!
In the hotter climates you will come across lots of car window tinting businesses, because people really need the product, the comfort provided by the window tint offering  a defence against the scorching temperatures deems this an absolute requirement when living in your location.

In different parts of the world, the law enforcement regarding tinting your vehicles driver and passenger front windows seems varied, in hotter states of the US their seems to be more tolerance for this front door window tinting but across most of Western Europe, car window tinting is banned from being applied to the front doors of your car. I feel sorry for these folks, their respective goverments are saying that , you can protect your rear seat passangers but the driver, the man who matters on the road,you cannot have any extra comfort against the sun - hard cheese!

So how do you know what is good and bad window film?
Your location matters a lot...if you are in a hot country, you have to flex your budget and get the best you can afford. Aim to choose a good brand of film, something like Global film if its available in your location, or maybe  brands like Llumar, Hanita and Suntek.

Check with your installation company how long they have been trading with their products? Some companies like to swop films a lot, flitting between other brands dependant upon who has the best deals at the time and not being loyal to one particular bomb-proof product they know that lasts well in their climate.

Try and avoid the budget single-ply products as these are extremely thin, and just wont last in the hotter countries. If your budget allows go for a  2-ply auto window film with a no-fade warranty, the Llumar/ Global films are both good products that stand the test of time.Non reflective films are popular these days, but in Korea for example, they want shiny films and a window film product like Llumar ATR is a winner here, with this extra bling and reflection the film stops more heat, so has added benefits if you like that shiny look.
Aim to get a full warranty with your window film installation, one that extends across the time the vehicle is in your possesion, with a good branded film you can expect a product lifespan of 6-12 years, which will be more than enough as most peple dont keep their car such lengths of time.

So I have given you a few pointers that should help you make an informed decision when you next choose some window film for your vehicle. If you would like to learn how to tint car windows then check out our car tinting training videos.

Next Time - Tinting A Curved Rear Window

Car Tinting In Cold Weather

Infra Red Heat Lamps To Dry Window Film

There are lots of considerations when you're acting to windows in the winter, the first thing you need to think about is the temperature in your workshop. Make sure it's as warm as you can afford to make it.
That brings me to the point about the heating of the workshop, how do you propose to keep your temperature above freezing. There're a variety of heaters in the marketplace, and I suppose it depends on your insurance requirements whether you are allowed to use a naked flame in the building. Many insurance companies will not allow you to have life flames due to the risk of fire.
It's a good idea to get the vehicle temperatures as warm as possible which will obviously increase the temperature of the glass. If you try and tint with the temperature below freezing you asking for trouble if you don't take the right steps in the process.

Make sure you have a very weak slip solution, has too much soap will prolong the drying time of the window film and this can lead to trouble with your customer, the window film will be hazy due to the moisture retention and their are cases where the trapped solution between the film and glass has frozen!

The addition of some IPA in the slip solution will promote faster drying of the window film, but don't overdo it as it can soften the glue if you're not careful. So do you would do normally but make sure you give an extra pass with the squeegee to remove as much water= as possible from beneath the film, as this is a time of year is when lots of people tinting window can get problems

Choosing the right window film can make a difference as well to the jobs. I like a film with a fast acting adhesive such as Global QDP, combined this with your week slip solution and you should have a fast tacking film that makes life a little easier.

You may also find it necessary to heat the vehicle to dry the film there are a few ways to do this, aif it's very cold outside,close the doors and put the heating on and medium temperature, this is my least favourite way of doing this I much prefer to use infrared heat lamps to dry the film, just don't get too close to the vehicle as you may get a bubble forming due to the film drying fast and pushing any slip solution out as it dries.




If you do suffer with peeling with your installations that normally down to the patterns been incorrectly sized. Maybe you're trying to hide too much film below the top of the rubber trimming the door at the sides. Become more economical when cutting your patterns and you'll find that this will improve,obviously you need to make sure you round off any corners were making your patterns

So it's not easy tinting in cold weather and I'm really glad I don't live in a climate that stays below freezing for long. I've seen people just use something like a Yellow Turbo squeegee on the film and then take the car outside, surely this is asking for trouble as you leave too much slip solution between the film in the glass. My preferred method is to use a blue max squeegee,then a hard card with some masking tape

on the edge, a blue hard card works well, and really go to town on the film and get it is dry as possible, if you don't have any infrared lights, than use the heat gun on a medium setting but make sure you dry the film evenly from the outside of the glass.

For the back glass, some people prefer to turn on the heated rear screen and leave the vehicle sat with the engine running, not very economical way of doing it really!

So before you jump in and just tint the car in the normal way, think about the temperature and how you are going to adjust your method to suit the cold weather, this job ain't easy