Window tinting in Bankstown

Shade is talked about as VLT, Visible Light Transmission, which is the share of light the film lets through. Lower is darker: 20% lets less light in than 35%. When you are comparing shades, that number is the one to hold on to.

Very few cars get a single shade all round. The front pair and the rear are usually chosen separately, partly because a lighter front and darker rear looks right, and partly because the rear glass may already be tinted from the factory.

Factory glass carries tint of its own and the film combines with it, so a 35% film on already-tinted rear glass finishes darker than the number alone suggests. We account for that when recommending a combination, which is the difference between a car that looks deliberate and one that looks mismatched.

Say what you want the car to look like. We will show you the shades that get there, held up against your own windows in daylight, so what you sign off on is the real thing on the real car.

Rayno Phantom runs across the full range, from a light film you would struggle to notice through to limousine dark. Whatever look you are after, there is a shade that gets you there.

Two things decide where you land. The first is which windows you are treating: most cars end up with a lighter front and a darker rear rather than one shade throughout. The second is what the car already has. Many cars leave the factory with privacy glass in the rear, tinted in the glass itself, and matching a new film to it is a judgement made against your actual glass, not from a chart.

Bring the car in, or send a photo, and we will hold samples against the glass in daylight so you can see the actual shade on your actual car before anything is cut.

We install Rayno Phantom. Almost every quality film is sold as carbon or as ceramic. Phantom is what Rayno call nano carbon ceramic, meaning both particle types are used together so each covers the other’s weakness.

Carbon alone brings haze and glare. Ceramic alone has a colour stability problem, and Rayno are direct that standard ceramic films oxidise relatively quickly. Using both is the point of the product.

The distinguishing move is shrinking the carbon particles to a nano scale. Larger particles scatter light, and scattered light is the haze and the halo around headlights that makes cheap carbon film unpleasant at night. Smaller particles scatter less, so you keep the heat rejection without the visual penalty.

Phantom blocks 99% of UV, which is the figure that matters most for the interior, because ultraviolet is what fades a dash and cracks trim, and that damage is permanent in a way heat is not. It is also non-metallic, so phone, GPS, digital radio and keyless entry are unaffected.

Rayno warrant it against the failures that make cheap tint obvious: cracking, discolouration, delaminating, bubbling, blistering, peeling and fading to purple. The warranty is registered after installation rather than being automatic, and we handle that for you.

Film is computer-cut or hand-cut to the glass and applied to the inside of the window. The glass is deep-cleaned first, because any contamination trapped underneath shows permanently and cannot be fixed afterwards without redoing the panel.

Most cars are done within a few hours.

Leave the windows up for the first few days while the adhesive cures, because winding down early is the most common way fresh tint gets damaged. Some haze or small water pockets are normal at first and clear as the film dries. Clean the inside of the glass with ammonia-free products only, because ammonia degrades tint film.

Cars with factory privacy glass in the rear come with clear front windows, so the front pair looks out of step with the rest of the car. Tinting just the two fronts is the fix and it is one of the most common tint jobs there is. It is priced as a pair, $180 in ceramic or $220 in nano ceramic.

The skill is in the match. Factory privacy glass is a particular depth and a slight colour, and the aim is a front pair that reads as the same car, not one that is obviously darker or lighter than the rear when the car is parked.

It is a shorter job than a full car, and one we do at your address in Bankstown as often as at the studio.