[Thad E Ginathom]

I see police vehicles with clear glass! At least we cannot accuse them of hypocrisy.

Apart from that, I heard that the Chennai police are only stopping vehicles if they can't see in.

Err... did I hear that here or elsewhere? Apologies if just repeating!

[DRIV3R]

Did the thing today.

Films were almost 2 months old, 3M SP50, I believe. Came out neat and clean, no residual gum.

A successful DIY, thanks for the tips, BHPians.

[libranof1987]

I finally removed the sun films on my Corsa today. It was quite a easy and quick procedure. The films on 3 windows and both quarter-glasses came off very easily. One window had some residual glue left.

Here's what I did -

1) Paste wet newspaper on the window; especially at the top end from where I intended to peel the film. Let it be for 5-10min
2) Removing the film; top-most layer at a time
3) Clean the glass twice with Colin+dry newspaper.

All glasses look clean now. Luckily the rear windshield did not have film (the installer had advised us against putting it on in the first place since there is a defogger).

Here are some pics :

[nileshch]

Bit the bullet today. I had stage fear just before the activity; I had put on a cheap sunfilm (Garware CS20, all of 2k). Had nightmares of gum all over my window glass! But I also did not have the courage of spending half a grand watching a careless guy rip off film from the defogger. I stay close to a car accessory shop and day in and day out I see the workers manifesting their anger on the poor car windows! So finally went on my own.

Fortunately all was fine.With Colin in one hand and a paper cutter in another I attacked and cleared up the four side windows in a single stroke. The rear windshield looked tough at first sight. There are no edges to pull out. So I slit the film on the top edge and started pulling the film inward from the edges. I did this for all four sides and then finally pulled it from the center. Cleanly out in single piece.

After an hour, the car was completely devoid of film (except the rear quarter glass, which I find ok to keep on) and I was fully drenched in sweat!

Here are my suggestions for anyone who is still standing on the fence:

1. You can win! Excuse me Shiv Khera.
2. It is important to bake the car in direct sun for a few hours. This softens up the sunfilm gum and it becomes easier to remove. By doing this, you can avoid using other means that can possibly mess up the interiors (e.g. newspapers put in hot water & steamers).
3. Make a small cut in the film if you don't have an edge to pull using a paper cutter and pull out a small bit using the cutter.
4. Start pulling around the edges first and then pull out the center of the film. This helps avoid breaking the film and it comes out in a single piece.
5. If required, keep the windows wet with Colin during the process.
6. Clean that window immediately after removing the film or the leftover gum (if any) might start drying out.

[ancientmariner]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

Anyone staying near/in HSR area, if you need help, I can help you (free of course - but always open for charitable giving )

Wish I had seen this before I started off with my venture !! I was able to remove the film though it left a lot of glue. Will try out the steps mentioned to remove the glue next weekend. No energy left for the day.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by ancientmariner

Wish I had seen this before I started off with my venture !! I was able to remove the film though it left a lot of glue. Will try out the steps mentioned to remove the glue next weekend. No energy left for the day.

Glue residuals- a certain drink starting with V is quite effective in removing it.

[mayankjha1806]

Removed the sunfilm on my baleno this morning, this was a 5 year old Garware cheap film and i was expecting some problems.

So when i start pulling out, i see there are two layers of film, one dark on and one same color as the glass itself and not visible. The dark one took no time to come out, but the layer underneath gave quiet a few problems as it did not come out in one piece. There are patches of it left over on some sections on the glass which i was unable to remove. Will look at it on the weekend.

Any suggestions anyone?

[Jaggu]

Spray colin or likes and try your luck with pulling out the bits, then the painful process of cleaning. Putty blade along with colin is the best for this.

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

There are patches of it left over on some sections on the glass which i was unable to remove. Will look at it on the weekend.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Spray colin or likes and try your luck with pulling out the bits, then the painful process of cleaning. Putty blade along with colin is the best for this.

In addition, put your car in the sun for a few hours. This should help soften the glue. It should be easier to remove the gum after this.

[KA18]

Originally Posted by nileshch

It is important to bake the car in direct sun for a few hours.

+1 to this. Took advantage of Bharath Bandh on 31st May. Left the car in the Sun for an hour and started peeling. Getting a hold on the film on the quarter glasses was a bit difficult as no corners were available. Finally made a slit in the film to get a grip. All films except the one which was hidden from the Sun's view came off easily without leaving any glue behind.
The residual glue which was in thin streaks on the last film was cleaned using a glass cleaner and finished off with Colin.

Even the rear glass sunfilm having the defogger came off easily. So far so good.

Job done well.

No need of using water, sprays, newspapers etc.,

A friend using the same sunfilm tried to remove using water. The film came off easily, but left a messy glue trail behind.

[naveenvenkatesh]

I removed the films from both my cars on Saturday. Removing the films was relatively easy, except for one quarter glass. But scrapping away the glue is one painful procedure.I used Mr.Muscle to clean the glass but it is not effective. Used a blade and scrapped off some glue. But the windows are still hazy.
The car cleaner suggested kerosene? Has anybody tried it before? I used a little bit of nail polish remover and it worked very well. But didn't have enough of it to continue.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

With a very heavy heart and lot of pain, I removed my 3M RE sunfilms from the sides of my car. I only removed from the side windows. It was simple, just peeled them off then cleaned the glass once with Petrol and wet cloth and everything was spick spack!!

I am still in pain.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by nileshch

It is important to bake the car in direct sun for a few hours.

Thankfully, I did not have a problem not doing that. The car had been in the basement parking lot, far away from direct sunlight for ~4 days. I was apprehensive it could be a problem but the film came off very well. In hindsight, I don't think even the wet newspaper I'd kept on glass for 10min made any difference. And this is a 7 year film I'm talking about.

[rohan_iitr]

It does help if the glass is hot while removing the sun films. Telling from my personal experience.

When I removed the sunfilms in my car, I did it in parts. The sunfilm came off easily (without leaving any glue on the glass) when the car was parked in the sun for a while. Whereas the same sunfilm left a lot of glue on the glass if the car was parked in the shade. More effort was required to clean the glue in the second case.

On the other hand, soaking the film in newspaper or spraying colin while removing the sun film didn't seem to make any difference. My friend got the sunfilms in his car removed from a professional installer. He didn't do any soaking/spraying while removing the sunfilm.

Rohan

[srishiva]

How can soaking the film with water help? Its synthetic and do you expect it to absorb water? The water also cannot percolate from the above edge, if it did it would be one lousy film or paper.