Window tinting & car detailing in Punchbowl

Tint darkness is measured as VLT, or visible light transmission. Lower number, darker film, so a 20% film is darker than a 35% one.

Most cars do not end up with one shade all round. The front and the rear are usually specified separately, partly for the look and partly because the rear often has factory privacy glass in it already.

Factory glass already carries tint and it combines with the film, so a 35% film on already-tinted rear glass finishes darker than the number alone suggests. We account for that when recommending a combination.

Tell us the look you are after and we will hold samples against your own glass in daylight, so you see the actual shade on the car before anything is cut.

Cheap dyed film gets its darkness from pigment, so the only way to reject more heat is to go darker. That is the trap: people go dark and still cook in summer, because they bought the wrong film rather than the wrong shade.

Dyed film gives privacy and glare reduction, limited heat rejection, and the film that turns purple and bubbles after a few years of sun.

Carbon gives good heat rejection, a stable matte black that does not fade, no interference with phone, GPS or keyless entry.

Ceramic rejects infrared through particle structure instead of pigment, so performance is not tied to how dark the glass looks. You can run a light film at the front and still get serious heat rejection.

We install Rayno Phantom, a nano-carbon ceramic film. It will not purple or bubble, and it leaves signals alone.

Film is applied to the inside of the glass, which is deep-cleaned first, because anything trapped underneath shows permanently. Most cars are done within a few hours.

Do not wind the windows down for the first few days while the adhesive cures. Some haze or small water pockets are normal initially and clear as the film dries. Clean the inside of the glass with ammonia-free products only. Ammonia degrades tint.