You've probably seen cars on the road with their windows tinted deep purple, like the color of an eggplant. It's unlikely that this was done on purpose — low-quality window tinting degrades quickly, resulting in purple-colored tint. Thankfully, you can prevent this from happening. Here's why window tint turns purple over time and what you can do to prevent it.
Why Does Window Tint Turn Purple?
Most automotive window tinting is made of polyester that's impregnated with colored dye. Heat and sunlight damage the dyes, causing them to fade. Unfortunately, not all of the dyes degrade at the same rate in most window tints — the yellow dyes degrade first, leaving the more stable red and blue dyes in their place. This results in window tinting slowly becoming purple over time.
How Can You Stop Your Window Tint From Turning Purple?
One way is to minimize the time your car spends in the sunlight. For example, you can park in garages or in the shade whenever possible. If you have a low-quality dyed window tinting, however, you're just delaying the inevitable. The lowest-grade window tints can turn purple in less than a year after they're applied.
The better way is to use a higher grade of window tint.
What Types of Window Tinting Won't Turn Purple?
The first type is color-stable dyed window tinting. This is a bit more expensive than normal dyed window tinting, but it has been engineered so that the dyes in the window tint all fade at the same time. These tints will gradually lighten instead of turning purple. Color-stable window tinting also includes ultraviolet light inhibitors in the tint, which reduces the rate at which it degrades. While it will still fade slightly over time, color-stable dyed window tinting is a definite improvement over driving with purple tint.
The second type is metallic window tinting, which uses metals such as zinc and titanium to color the window tint instead of dye. Metallic tint doesn't degrade at all — heat and sunlight have absolutely no effect on the color of the metal. The downside of metallic tint is that it interferes with the reception inside your car. You may have trouble getting a cellphone signal or using a keyless entry system.
The third type is ceramic window tinting, which is exactly like metallic tinting except using ceramic polymers instead of metal. Like metallic tinting, the color of the tint won't degrade over time. However, it doesn't share the downside of metallic tinting — ceramic tinting doesn't block reception inside your car at all. Unfortunately, ceramic tinting tends to be expensive and hard to install. It's best installed by a professional who has experience working with ceramic window tinting.
As you can see, you don't have to worry about your window tinting turning purple. Most of the purple-tinted cars you see on the street were likely tinted by the owner using a low-quality tint. In order to prevent purple windows, have your car professionally tinted at an automotive window tinting shop, choosing a high-grade tint that resists fading and will keep its color for years.
For more information, reach out to companies like Solar Tint, Inc.
Share12 December 2018
Every year, I make a list of spring cleaning tasks. Unfortunately, I’m a procrastinator. Therefore, I rarely complete every item on my extensive list. This year, I plan to start my spring cleaning early. One of the tasks I’m passionate about is cleaning windows. When I get finished with my windows, I want them to appear invisible due to their level of cleanness. To accomplish this task, I use both over-the-counter window cleaners and natural cleaning agents. To reduce the incidence of smudges, you can wipe your windows down with a newspaper. On this blog, you will learn how to clean your windows before spring arrives.