I need to know what I am getting myself into on removing protective film on a window. The builder forgot to remove the film on the outside. It looks like it gets a lot of sun and it has been 6 months or so. Anyone experienced in this type of work. Homeowner says there is nothing to it…just peels off.
Have you driven out and taken a peek? My only experiences with brand new restaurant equipment has that stuff that needs to come off immediately. I know several tables at donut shops that it won’t ever come off now because it came off too late.
Yes, it just peels right off
I would go there and test a few… Some pull of in one big sheet
and I’ve had others shred, but still not a huge inconvenience.
They can be tough to just get a grip on to start peeling.
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Like @Matthew said I would go there and test a few windows and go from there.
Thanks for all of your feedback…my concern is if it’s baked on there…hopefully not…I’ll be going there to check it out.
If it’s only been a few months it should be okay. After a year in the hot sun… Yeah that’s going to suck.
It depends on the glue. you could try warming the plastic up first with warm soapy water.
The worst sunbaked protection i saw on a 7 story building involved a cleaner hard scraping the plastic off with a heavy duty scraper. Then i repeatedly sprayed a solvent detergent called liquid gold to soften, scrubed then sliced layers of glue with a wide carbon steel blade. It took about 5 slices per inch to get a near perfect result, with occasional 0000 steel wool scrubbing any leftover.
I’m sure yours will just peel off as they usualy do.
This sounds like the Pella protective plastic.
I wasn’t given any information about the product. But it was beyond a wash. Sometimes the builders are way overdue and it sits in the sun. the wrist gets saw after 5 days of it and the project manager wants to know when it will be finnished. lol
I don’t want to be putting a blade on glass…I may have to refuse this work…as a newbie I know my limits especially going to that extent. I have researched and looks like some have used a hair dryer to warm it then peeled it slowly…thats about as far as I want to go. Cleaning some adhesive is ok just not with a blade. My thought is oil-flo…is this ok?
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Before you turn it away, go take a look at it maybe an easy job.
Im happy to hear you know your limitations! 
don’t assume you will need one many times the glue washes off with an aplicator. But try one window first if possible. Best not to learn on a construction site
I’m good with a blade but ive scratched a few. you dont ever have to use a blade in window cleaning, but it can speed things up and make a more consistent result in construction.
crc clean-r-carb spray can desolves glue easily. just spray it in the right direction.
Construction has risk… I dont like it either.
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I am experienced in taking this stuff off. Never ever expect that to come off easy! Homeowners will always say “It just peels off”. No way! You will need a heating gun, which you can buy cheap probably less than 30$ and you will definitely need a scraper to remove the left over glue. This is a project for 2 people usually, as you will not want to be handling the heating gun, and then putting it down to do some peeling/scraping. The gun tip gets crazy hot. My suggestion is to check the film. If it comes easy then nothing to it, if it peels some then rips off into a small piece, definitely will need that heating gun. You heat the film and then someone peels it or scrapes it slowly. Once the film is off, the glue will still be there. It will need to be wet with soapy water and scraped away. Good Luck if you take the job, but make sure it is worth you while. You will have a sore wrist and shoulder after. For a job like this I will usually charge 12$ per window. If they dont want to pay that walk away.
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Thanks Justin…this is really helpful info…it tells me to stay away from
it! I had 6 to do and thank God they came off relatively easy once I got
the corner started. Homeowners are always good at telling you how easy it
is or just a couple of spots of adhesive needing removed. I’m learning
those are red flags.
