Why are there Bubbles in My Tint?

This is a very popular question in the window tint industry. There are two main reasons for this question. First, are big bubbles, they are generally the size of a dime or bigger. Second, are little tiny pinhole bubbles. Accordingly, we’re going to cover both types of tint bubbles in this article.

Big Bubbles in my Window Tint!

Let me guess, you bought a used car with tinted windows and out of nowhere the tint started bubbling up. If this isn’t the case, maybe the tint already had bubbles when you bought the car, or you got your vehicle tinted a year ago and it’s already starting to fail. Well, unfortunately many amateur tint shops achieve their low prices by using substandard materials. Generally speaking, these low quality films tend to have poor performing adhesives which fail prematurely.

FTA Styling uses only high performance, lifetime warrantied window tint. Fortunately, these high end films use advanced adhesive systems that bond very well to the glass and will outlast the vehicle with proper care.

Small pinhole sized bubbles, where did they come from?

Sometimes you may notice small dots in your tint after getting window film applied. Most of the time these bubbles are small specs of dust or lint under the film. A minor amount of this around the edges is normal, even with extremely experienced window tint installers. Contamination is an unavoidable side effect of aftermarket window tint. What you don’t want to see are large clusters of “debris” or large specs directly in your line of sight (as shown in the photos below).

The debris under the film comes from a variety of different sources. Most commonly, this debris is coming from your vehicle. Even vehicles with as low as one hundred miles on the odometer can already be littered with a layer of dust inside and out. Moreover, the older the vehicle, the worse the debris buildup. Additionally, some vehicles have felt seals around the windows that shed lint onto the glass during installation. Unfortunately the only way to guarantee a “perfect” tint job is to remove the glass from the vehicle and perform the installation in a sealed vacuum chamber. As you can imagine the costs would skyrocket for this type of installation.

What we can do to help you achieve a near perfect window tint job in Salem

Our window tint installers in Salem are trained on how to properly clean the glass beforehand to minimize contamination. Consequently, this greatly reduces the amount of these tiny bubbles. Furthermore, when confronted with felt seals, we use Felt Covers from Gasket Pro Tools along with masking tape. We also use lint rollers to proactively reduce the risk of lint transferring from our clothing onto the glass. Last, but not least, we remove door panels to ensure a clean job. While these methods all help to minimize the amount of bubbles caused by debris, there will almost always be a couple imperfections. Here’s a picture of an “industry standard” acceptable amount of contamination.

At FTA Styling we strive to provide the best quality window tint in Salem. In fact, we’ve set our own guideline far above industry standards. If you ever have a question about the quality of tint installed on your vehicle, we are here to help. All our installations come with a lifetime warranty.