DIY- Removing Car Window Tint

Hello All,

So I don't know how often someone generally thinks- "Man, I need to get this tint off, but I don't wanna pay big bucks for it!" -- however, this thought did cross my mind. In the great state of Hawaii, it is apparently legal to drive on the highway with people in the bed of your pick-up truck, but god forbid you have tinted windows.

My husband is in the military and we are relatively new to Hawaii. He was nice enough to buy a car off one of his buddies for me -- only problem is this car is from Michigan and has tinted windows. Thus, after failing 2 different safety checks because of the tint on my windows I thought, "Man, I need to get this tint off, but I don't wanna pay big bucks for it!"

I did some internet research on different DIY methods and decided the 409, black trash bag, and sunshine method seemed the most doable. I found this super helpful video to serve as my guide:

This morning the sun was shining brightly into my living room when I got up, and so I seized the opportunity to try it myself. Cut some black trash bags long-ways, doused the inside of the tinted windows in 409, pressed the trash bags up against the 409 and waited.

WARNING: Don't be stupid and try this with all your windows closed-- which is how I began. Yes, you will indeed be hot boxing yourself with 409 and it's not fun. Unroll your front windows and you are good to go.

And the verdict is: It worked! And I really think anybody could do this!!

Differences in my experience from the video:
- I let mine sit for probably closer to 30 minutes.
- I know my trash bags were not as perfectly aligned as in the video.
- The corners of the tint did not pop up as easily as in the video. So I used a paring knife to pry up the edges.
- Not all of the windows' tint came off in one beautiful piece. Sometimes it came off in pieces. After prying up an edge I pulled the tint away from the glass slowly and strongly. Even though it took a couple different prys on some windows- I was able to get all the tint off!

 


Off to get my safety check!
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grace

Beginnings

"She had real gumption. She was the girl I always wrote." - Arthur Abbott on the love of his life.

So for starters --

Many of you might, like me, see the word "gumption" and immediately think of the movie The Holiday with Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, and Jude Law (to name a few). Upon seeing this movie,  I immediately fell in love with the word gumption. I "liked" the word on facebook--- yes if you are nerdy enough you CAN indeed do this. :) Shortly thereafter, my college swim coach -- who at least 80% of the time saw me as the spawn of satan-- became interested. She asked, "how much do you like the word gumption?" I told her I loved it-- and soon the workout shirt (which I'm pretty sure most girls were not too fond of) was born:

Yes, this became a part of our weekly required weights uniforms... and I loved it. Not only is "gumption" fun to say, but it is also quite empowering.

(thanks dictionary.com !)

To see yourself as a woman with gumption feels good-- it makes me feel strong, determined, and spunky. In the movie, when Kate Winslet's character, Iris, eventually starts being "the leading lady of (her) own life;" her no-good ex asks, "What exactly has got into you?" to which Iris responds: "I don't know. But I think what I've got is something slightly resembling, gumption."

So here's to finding gumption in ourselves! It's there- we just have to recognize it and remember that we have it when things get hard.

I intend this blog to be a fun place where I share different things that I like, love, don't like--- things I try, movies I see, and books I read. I'm not sure how it will all unfold, but I'm excited to see where it goes!

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grace