I have had this storefront for 5-6 years and the owner just added tint/film to his windows. Can I just for the first few months (it is monthly cleaning) just wipe it down with a dry cloth and no solution? Kinda want to be safe and not cause any problems. And then after that what do you recommend I use to clean the windows. I did mention to the owner not to put up any posters that have sticky tape. Was this the correct info I gave him?
Just clean them as normal but dont use any aggressive cleaning solutions like ammonia and just use a microfiber sleeve. Even the porcupine sleeves from attire will scratch the film.
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If I was a business owner and I saw someone “just wiping” they wouldn’t be back next month. @Clean above me stated the best cleaning advice already.
Truthfully, I’ve seen more damage coming off of a squeegee blade scratching the film than damage by ammonia. If the scrubber is not at the cleanest it’s easy to end up with a minuscule spec of dirt that scratches the film.
As to wiping down a window - I’m paid to clean the window. The method I choose is up to me, as long as he results are good. Any customer that nit picks over whether I use a scrubber/squeegee as opposed to rags by hand is not the type of customer that I am looking for. They work their side of the street and I work mine.
I personally would have no fears in using a soft applicator and a new sharp squeegee rubber provided there was no gritty sand like particulates on the surface. When that film is applied a squeegee is used to remove all air bubbles. It is soaped and squeegeed. Your advice regarding scotch tape is a very good one. We all know how this tape will do permanent damage. You should be the only one touching it! Film is always wasted by the owners or employees. That stuff is really big bux to apply. Then when it comes time to remove it what a chore it will be. Usually not easy!
Henry
Ammonia is what is used to remove the tint, I would never use ammonia in a solution that was to come into contact with tinted windows, tint also degrades over time. Older tint can fall apart when its being cleaned, not really my problem advise customer tint is bad and needs to be replaced.
I recently cleaned an old folks home, most of the windows had scratches on the glass/tint made by their cleaners removing tape with a green scrubby pad, I had to remove a bunch of tape and tape residue from many windows both tinted and non tinted.
The tape could be removed from the tinted windows without any damage, on a few instances where the tape had been left of the tint for many years the tint had a faded shadow of where the tape was.
I used my plastic business card to pull up an edge then peel of the tape, then scrub with a magic eraser, I also demonstraded this to the facilities manager so they don’t get any more messed up glass.
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To segue this topic, what is the best technique for removing tint? It’s extremely rare I’ve had to do it, and I just tough it out using my Triumph scraper.
spray with ammonia cover with black plastic and heat with heat gun, peel off
