How To Clean Tinted Windows Safely and Effectively

You may have added it to look cool, or you may have added it to keep things cool. No matter the reason for tinting the windows on your home or vehicle, you’ll want to take proper care when you go to clean them. If you want to maintain the energy efficiency of your home, or keep your ride looking it’s best, you’ll want to make sure that you use the right supplies, and the correct technique when you clean your tinted windows.

Although it looks like the glass is darkened, that’s not really the case. You can use a wide range of chemicals to clean regular window glass, but tint is a layer on top of the glass, so you can only use certain tools, cleansers, and techniques if you want to keep it looking like new, and avoid long-term damage. It can be tough to tell what might end up causing problems, so it’s no surprise that it’s a common question that people ask.

Question:

I just had the windows on my car tinted. I heard that there are some cleaners you shouldn’t use on tint. My question is: What is the best way to clean tinted windows?

Answer:

Many car owners choose to customize their vehicle with after market window tint. It is also pretty popular for house windows too. This is especially true in warm, sunny climates. It’ll make your car or home look great, and it’ll provide some UV protection at the same time. It’s good to , but when it comes time for cleaning, you will need to take special care. Many everyday cleaners and techniques will actually damage your newly darkened glass over time.

What is Window Tint?

Window tint, also known as window film, is a thin, multi-layered material that is applied to the interior or exterior surface of glass windows. It is designed to reduce the amount of sunlight, heat, and UV radiation that enters through the windows while providing additional benefits such as privacy, glare reduction, and improved energy efficiency. Some negative characteristics of this material are that it is prone to scratching or tearing, and can fade over time if certain cleansers are used on it.

Window tint is commonly made of polyester, mylar or other similar plastic-like materials that are coated with a thin layer of adhesive on the back side. The film is available in different levels of darkness or transparency, measured as a percentage known as the Visible Light Transmission (VLT). Higher VLT values indicate a lighter tint that allows more visible light to pass through, while lower VLT values indicate a darker tint that blocks more light.

Benefits of Window Tint:

1. Heat reduction: Window tint can significantly reduce the amount of solar heat that enters through the windows. When you have it installed, it will help to keep the interior of a building or vehicle cooler.
2. UV protection: The dark layer blocks a significant portion of harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. This helps protect occupants, and it also prevents fading or damage to furnishings, upholstery, and other materials exposed to sunlight.
3. Glare reduction: Tinted windows can reduce glare caused by direct sunlight or reflections, resulting in improved visibility, and increased comfort for occupants.
4. Privacy and security: Depending on the darkness of the film, it can enhance privacy by making it more difficult to see inside a vehicle or building from the outside.
5. Energy efficiency: By reducing heat transfer, window tint can help lower cooling costs by reducing the need for air conditioning.

Cleaning Tinted Windows Safely

The most important thing to remember when cleaning tinted windows is to avoid using any window cleaner with ammonia in it. This includes Windex and many other popular brands. After extended use, the ammonia will cause your windows to appear purple, and it can cause the film to weaken and become brittle, or even bubble.Other popular tools and cleansers may also cause problems like scratching, peeling and fading, so using the right stuff is essential to doing a good job.

Get Ready

Before you begin cleaning your tinted windows, you’ll want to gather supplies, and do a bit of planning to ensure good results. Not only should you use certain tools, you should also consider location, time and chronology when tackling this job. No matter what way you ultimately use to get your windows clean, the tips below will help you get ready, and guarantee a good outcome:

• Find Some Shade: Hot sunshine can make it impossible to do a good job when washing any part of your car because it’ll dry so quickly. If you wash windows in the shade, or when the sun is not shining on them, they will dry slowly so you can more easily avoid spots and streaks.
• Use Only Microfiber: Cotton and other materials can be rough on your windows, and may actually damage the thin film on top. When you use a high quality microfiber cloth to both wash and dry the surface, you’ll never have to worry about it causing a problem. For best results, keep drying and washing towels separate.
• Ammonia-Free Soap: Ammonia works great to clean untreated window glass, but on tinted windows it will cause damage immediately, or over time. Avoid any risk by choosing a cleanser that does not contain this ingredient.
• Be Careful of Edges: When washing and wiping, you can easily catch an edge if you’re not careful. To avoid peeling and rolling edges, make sure to watch out for any lifted film at the edges while you’re wiping.
• Wash Windows Last: If you clean your windows, and then wash another part of your car, you are guaranteed to gets spots and splashes on the newly cleaned glass. To avoid this, wash the rest of your car first, then do the windows inside and out.
• Avoid Paper Towels: You’ll want to use a soft cloth that doesn’t leave lint. Many people use newspaper or brown paper towels to clean windows because it helps to avoid streaking, but these rough options are not safe for tinted windows.

Choose A Cleaner

Avoiding ammonia is key when choosing a cleanser that is safe and effective for tinted windows, but there are a wide range of options that meet that criteria. These traditional sprays often release toxic fumes that are harmful if inhaled. It’s not really recommended to use them in any enclosed area, and that would definitely include your vehicle. For these reasons, and more, if you want to clean with something that is safe for you and your tint, you’ll need to use something different than your standard blue spray.

Not only will you want to consider safety when choosing which soap to use, you’ll also want to think about cost and effectiveness too. You can find a cleaner at the store that will work for this job, but you could also make your own, or just use water if working with the right cloth.

Buy Something

Save time and skip any amount of thinking by just going to the auto parts store. They will have a spray on cleaner that is labeled safe for tint, and it should do a decent job if you use it correctly. The upside to a store-bought cleanser is that it will probably work the first time you try it, but the downside includes the high cost, the hassle of going, and the possible inclusion of harsh chemicals. The ingredients may be safe for your windows, but that does not guarantee that the cleaner is also safe for inhaling or contact with your skin. Also, most tint-specific cleaners will be only good for that exact job. Other options may be more versatile in comparison.

Make Something

If you want to avoid a purchase, or if you want to avoid the harsh ingredients commonly found in traditional cleansers, then another option would be to use a homemade solution involving vinegar, or mild soap. DIY options can be effective for this job, but they do add time and effort to the task.

Also, if you don’t get the mixture correct, you could be trying to clean soap bubbles off your windows for a while. Homemade soaps can also leave a sticky residue which only attracts more dirt, more quickly. Unless you’re using the right thing to wipe it off, you also run the risk of leaving behind lint when you wipe, and streaking will be tough to avoid also.

In general, window cleaning solutions that you make yourself can be just as effective as those bought from the store, but only when made correctly, and applied carefully. To use stuff you already have at home, try one of the formulas below.

How to Make a Vinegar Solution

To make this homemade cleanser, simply mix together equal parts vinegar and water. Take 2 cups of regular water, and 2 cups of white distilled vinegar and mix together into a spray bottle. Vinegar is an effective natural cleaner that is safe for tinted windows. It’s nice on glass because it’s less likely to leave streaks when compared to cleansers with soap in them.

How to Make a Soap and Rubbing Alcohol Solution.

To make a window cleaner similar to store-bought versions, but without the dangerous ammonia, simply combine 2 tsp mild liquid soap with 2 Tbsp of rubbing alcohol and 1 quart of water. Mix it all together into a spray bottle, then apply it like normal. This formula will be more likely to leave streaks due to the soap bubbles, but the addition of the alcohol will help it dry quickly and disinfect the surface, so if used properly, you can achieve a streak-free finish.

Just Use Water

If using a good quality cloth, you can choose the ultimate in safe cleaning options by washing your tinted windows with only water as a detergent. It will be totally safe, and the microfiber material will be effective at cleaning the surface thoroughly. You won’t want to try this with a cheap rag, but with the right material, you can get professional level results with only water.

Do The Cleaning

Once you have chosen the soap or spray you want to use, it’s time to grab a cloth and get to work. As detailed above, you don’t want to choose any random cloth when washing tinted windows, especially if you want to guarantee good results. You could mix together the perfect solution to make the job easy, but if you wipe it on using the wrong cloth, the job will still be difficult, and the end result will not be what you want.

The Ultimate Window Cloth

The easiest way to clean tinted windows is also the easiest way to clean any glass in your home, office or vehicle, regardless of what’s applied to it. The ultimate window cloth ^[1] allows you to clean any glass surface without chemicals, so it’s totally safe for tint. All you need is water to remove 99% of all dirt, dust, smudges, germs and more from your windows. This incredible cloth combines the cleaning power of microfiber with the absorption ability of a shammy. It has a two-sided design, and it will leave your glass clean, streak-free, lint-free and polished.

Clean Tinted Windows With The Ultimate Window Cloth:

One side is made from microfiber so it is great for cleaning, while the other side is made of synthetic chamois material, so it is great for drying and polishing.

1. To clean your windows all you have to do is get the cloth damp and wipe away. Wet under the faucet with regular water, then wring out until it is left damp.
2. Wipe with the green side to clean and remove build-up. For best results, use one continuous motion, and work from one side to the other. All fingerprints, dog nose prints, dirt and other grime will lift off with ease, and you will be posing no risk to the material.
3. To dry to a spot-free finish, simply  flip it over and use the shammy side to dry and buff to a polished, lint and streak-free shine. You don’t need a separate drying cloth because when damp, the orange side actually soaks up moisture better.
4. Use this side in one continuous direction as well, and any residual wetness will be eliminated quickly to give your windows a professional look.
5. Once finished simply toss it in the laundry for washing. Each one can be cleaned hundreds of times prior to replacement.
6. You only need water as a detergent for good results, but you can use this cloth with soaps and cleansers if you want to.

This cloth is totally reusable and washable. Use it over and over for sparkling windows, mirrors, chrome, and more. Its dual sided design provides for unmatched cleaning power and drying ability. This amazing little cloth will allow you to clean sensitive surfaces with just water as a detergent.

That’s right. No more window cleaner. Just add water to get your glass clearer than ever, and without a chemical residue or any kind of streaking or lint. And you certainly don’t run the risk of turning your windows purple, or causing the film to bubble or crack. This is an incredibly simple and inexpensive way to ensure you always have the best looking surface possible. Just pay one low price to clean hundreds of times.

Microfiber Miracle Cleaning Cloth

You could also use a regular microfiber cloth to clean tinted windows safely and effectively.  We have many specialty microfiber cloths ^[2] that are each suited for different cleaning jobs, but our Multipurpose Miracle Cloth ^[3] would be the best choice for washing your tinted windows. It’s a lint-free cloth that cleans with only water just like the Ultimate Window Cloth.

This one will be able to achieve a similar level of clean, but the downside would be the lack of a shammy underside for drying to a streak-free and polished finish. The advantage to this type of cloth would be that it is not as specialized, so it can also be used to clean other parts of your car too.

Use it dry to dust your dashboard or GPS unit. Get it wet to remove grime and dirt build-up from your center console, arm rests and other notoriously dirty parts of your vehicle. It’ll still be absorbent enough to make the surface look nice, and because you only need a small amount of moisture to work with it, most water will dry in seconds all on it’s own.

How Clean Tinted Windows With a Microfiber Cloth

1. Using this cloth is similar to the one above. To prepare for cleaning, simply wet with water and wring out all the way.
2. Take your damp cloth and wipe the entire window. Use an up and down, side to side or circular motion. Work from one side to the other, or outside to inside to ensure total coverage.
3. As you move across the surface, the tiny fibers will lift up tough grime, cut through greasy build up and completely remove all dirt and germs in a safe and effective manner.
4. Once you are done cleaning your tinted windows, keep on wiping to clean any other surface in your home or vehicle as well.
5. This one is also rated for hundreds of washings so when it gets dirty simply toss it in the wash and you are good to go.
6. It produces amazing results with just water alone, but you can use it with your favorite soap or cleanser if you prefer. It will still be safe and effective.

If you want the perfect cloth that is specifically designed to achieve the absolute best looking tinted windows possible, then you want to go with the Ultimate Window Cloth ^[1]. If you want one that would do a good job with your auto glass, but can also be used other places as well, then you should choose the multipurpose microfiber cloth ^[3].

Whichever one you choose though, you are sure to be able to get your tinted windows clean without any risk of harming them. They are both easy-to-use, and completely reusable and washable. With only water added, and no additional sprays necessary, they both offer one of the best methods for cleaning, and certainly one of the safest.

Stop worrying about causing damage. Clean tinted windows safely and effectively, and never run any risk of damage. It’s easy to avoid trouble and get the job done while guaranteeing that you will avoid drying, cracking and discoloration so your home or vehicle remains in top visual condition.

Tip Contents

• What is window tint? ^[4]
• What Are The Benefits? ^[5]
• Clean It Safely ^[6]
• Choose a Cleaner ^[7]
• Cleaning Instructions ^[8]
• Ultimate Window Cloth ^[9]
• Microfiber Cloth ^[10]

Products Mentioned

• Ultimate Window Cloth ^[1]
• Microfiber Cloth ^[3]