Like anything in this world, nothing lasts forever!
I often get asked, how to remove window film. There are a couple of different adhesive types and depending what kind it is, the method changes a little.

First, car film, safety film, frosted film and some solar films are made with PS (Pressure Sensitive) adhesive. This means the film will adhere mechanically straight away. This glue is easiest to remove.
On cars, have the car outside in the sun, if possible to warm up the glass. Step 1: With a small razor blade or knife, peel away from one corner. Slowly! If you're lucky, the whole sheet will come off. Unfortunately, this is not the case very often. If it's hard to peel, stop and spray the film with glass cleaner containing ammonia. Use an old black plastic rubbish bag and place it over the film for a few minutes. This slows down the evaporation and softens the glue. Repeat step 1.
On rear windows with demister bars, ensure you don't use a scraper, otherwise you will damage the lines. You can use "Goldilocks" or similar non-scratch scouring pads.
Once all the film is off, you are left with a lot of glue. There are some adhesive removers on the market that work well, but care must be taken not to get any on upholstery or other surfaces. You can use glass cleaner and new razor blades and go over it a few times and it will come off.
If you get the car tinted again, ask them them to give you a price for removing it. If you do a bad job, leaving adhesive residue, they will probably charge you to clean it up anyway.
Have fun!

Sometimes people ask us for special deals. Let's face it, paying less for something is attractive.
At present, we have a deal on "Treat Me", which is very good for the people taking it up and not so good for us. It is the first time we have done this and depending on how it goes, we may do something similar again in the future.

As with any deal, there are conditions. Basically, the offer only pays for the materials at best. And this is where you have to be careful! Our promise is to give you the same attention as any other customer. This means you get the same high quality materials and workmanship. In order to minimise our costs, we may have to do the work for you, when we are doing other jobs in your area. This means that you may have to wait a little.

We are aware of deals offered by other people (usually for car tinting) where you pay a very low price and get the cheapest tint. When booking the car in, they give you the opportunity to upgrade to a better quality, and that's where they get you!

A word on quality: Cheap films are made of dyed polyester and turn purple within a very short time in NZ. Metallised film is much more colour stable and has far better heat rejection properties. Usual warranties are 10-years.

Our normal pricing structure is industry standard, but if you get another quote on similar quality window film for a lower price, we are prepared to review our quote. We do believe in win-win situations.

We look forward hearing from you.

I went to a home on Saturday where they were suffering from too much heat. Upon inspection, the glass turned out to be double glazed units, around 15 years old, imported from Canada. This made me look a lot closer and one unit in particular showed signs of seal failure.
Seal failure is when air leaks into the space between the two panes of glass. This one unit did not have the silver spacers with the little air holes, but just black silicon seals. Normally, the holes hide a desiccant which absorbs moisture and the reason behind this is to absorb any moisture that is either present at the time of manufacture or leaks over time in a substandard unit. Once the desiccant is saturated, your glass starts to develop moisture and eventually condensation.
The glazing industry tends to invalidate any claim where window film has been installed. In the USA, window film manufacturers offer to  take over the Insulated Glass Unit (IGU) warranties to reassure the customers that tinting the glass will not become a risk to their units.
Normally, a well constructed IGU with a well chosen film will not fail within the warranty period. What the film can do, is accentuate an existing flaw and speed up the rate of failure. In effect, it will highlight a defect in the IGU. It's not the film causing t he problem.
Anyway, in this case, the failure was obvious, before any window film was installed. I advised the owners to have the glass changed, before any tinting was getting done.
With an increasing sophistication in glass, it is vital to deal with someone who is well versed in this topic to avoid nasty surprises down the track.

We use a lot frosted film and have done so for many years. In the early days, a key factor was the pricing. So we went with a product easy to use and cost effective.
After a couple of years, we started getting phone calls with complaints of the frosting shrinking from the edges. Not the sort of calls we wanted.
What went wrong?

There are 2 types of frosted vinyl on the market, Calendered and Cast, and here are the differences:
Calendered vinyl can be compared to a piece of pastry getting rolled out. It wants to shrink back to its original shape.
Cast vinyl is like chocolate, once melted, you spread it out and it sets. No memory and no shrinkage.
The picture above shows how much the film has shrunk away from the edges. If you like this look, great! For your enjoyment, the clear border is now nice and sticky and can act as a fly trap. Sometimes you even get some irregular wrinkles in the film and of course, it shrinks unevenly too!

Consequently, we have stopped using pastry and use chocolate instead. So, you can buy frosted film from hardware shops or the internet and find that you have bought pastry. Or you may pay a little more and enjoy the chocolate from us. And here is another bonus: Our chocolate does not make you fat!

If you are looking around for the best deal, ask them, if it's calendered or cast vinyl. And don't be surprised, if they don't know what you're talking about.......

Everybody in New Zealand is aware of the damage UV does, not just to people (Melanoma), but also to furniture and furnishings. Consequently, people ask for a UV film to prevent fading. There are a number of products on the market that block UV and not all of them are window film.
Here are some "facts" and "myths" about fading:
Myth: If you block UV, things will not fade any more.
Fact: No product will stop fading. UV blockers (present is window film and other applications) will reduce fading to some degree.
Myth: Only UV is responsible for fading.
Fact: UV is only one component of fading. Other major contributing factors are heat and light. Some fading is caused by other environmental factors, but generally only a small contribution.
Myth: Fade reduction can be given as a percentage.
Fact: Every material or colour is affected in different ways, so a fade reduction of 85% may be possible in one particular fabric, of a specific colour. A different material or colour will give a different result. For example, dark leather and fabrics discolour more than light colours. The question is: A given percentage of fade reduction is based on what?

We feel, a rating system of stars, or "good, better, best" is more appropriate than giving products a specific %. Having said this, any product on the market only blocking UV can be rated "good" only, no more. In order to get "better", or "best" results, the heat and light issues must be addressed. Even then, fading will still occur, but at a much slower rate.

Did a job today in a "Granny Flat" using SV30. (picture not of the flat, but SV30). The brief was to reduce the heat and reduce glare. This is a common request, because as we age, we become more sensitive to light in particular.
The customer was initially worried that the unit would become too dark, but once the first set of windows was complete, she was delighted with the result. The bonus with this film is the increase in privacy. Just about impossible to see in now.
SV30 is fairly reflective, but not a mirror.

It is unusual to have 3 jobs in one day, using the same film type.
One thing the customers had in common, was the need to increase privacy in their home. We achieved this by using SV30. This film is excellent in a number of ways: 

1. It's not too dark in most cases.
   
2. It's not too reflective. Although shiny, it's not a mirror. This reduced the risk of birds flying into the glass and hurting themselves.
   
3. It has a high heat rejection, making a room so much cooler in summer. Winter room temperatures are not affected, although some people feel the rooms being warmer.
4. The film offers excellent fade protection by eliminating the UV and reducing the damage caused by light & heat.

Since then I have returned to one customer for more work, using SV30 again. Now, this is not unusual.

If you are on bore water, you know how deposits can happen very quickly. Trying to clean showers is a mission and none of these "wonder" products promoted on TV do actually work, do they?
After being introduced to "Restorex" we have become true advocates of this product. It is amazing, how it restores water stained glass to its former glory. Using it on stainless steel, porcelain wash basins, car wheels puts  most other cleaners to shame.
We sell Restorex in 500ml bottles, and have special cleaning pads to go with it too. Just send us an email for more info.