What causes tint bubbles?

You will usually see tint bubbles appearing more commonly at the rear windscreen of a car.

Ever wondered why they appear more there? Why aren't there bubbles on the sides or the front windscreen as much?

To answer this question, we will have to look at what bubbles are on the tint. There are several types of ‘bubbles’ that could be present on tint.

Firstly, these types of tint are what we call the water pockets.

Tints are installed using water as part of the process to allow the adhesives to bond with the window.

These water pockets often appear right after the installation of the tint.

You should not worry about these water pockets as they will dry off eventually and leave no defect on the tint and your window.

Secondly, you may notice these dust or hair pockets.

These are part of the result of a poor installation where the dust or a small piece of hair settles onto the tint and it gets stuck inside unnoticed by the installer.

The problem does require the installer to rectify, else, it will be stuck inside.

A good installer would usually notice these defects onto the tint when they install it.

A good tint shop will also be able to prevent these dust from settling onto the tint during installation by ensuring that the place to install the tint is a clean room.

A clean room that is free from outside dust particles flying around.

Hence you will always see that a good tint shop is not open aired, but always enclosed in an air-cconditioned room to reduce the chances of dust particles in between the tint and your window.

Thirdly, you may find these air pockets. You will usually see these on your car tint right after a poor installation and it stays there if not rectified.

It does not dry off like water pockets do, so when you spot one, do make sure to get it fixed as soon as possible before the tint dried completely.

It usually happens when the tint is installed but the air pockets are not pushed out of the tint properly.

They are usually small and tend to gather on the edges of the windows.

Typically, new air pockets don't form themselves. However, it may be different for the rear windscreen.

Under certain conditions, you will also find these air pockets that weren't previously there start to form and even expand as time goes by.

This is what we call the rear windscreen bubble. This happens due to a few reasons.

One if it is due to pro-longed usage of the heater or if the user forgot to turn off the heater/demister for a long period of time.

As we know, these heaters are there to clear off fog especially in the morning or the rainy days.

But if left on for too long, they will start to heat up the tint, and expansion will cause the bubbles to form.

Another reason for these to form is due to installing poor quality tint. A cheap tint will not last as long under the heat and tend to form more of these bubbles easily.

In summary, these bubbles can usually be avoided by choosing a good quality tint and going to an installer that practices good workmanship.