Car Window Tint

New debut 2013 SL and SLK Class Mercedes at the Beijing Auto Show has a Magic Sky technology to the moon roof similar to the window tinting technology found on the Boeing Dreamliner 787.    Crystal polymer sandwiched between glass is opaque when there is no electrical charge, and becomes clear when small electrical charge is applied at a touch of a button.  No word on whether the Magic Sky technology offered by Mercedes has incremental levels of tinting

Fuwei Films is a leading Chinese PET manufacturing plant with products spanning many markets including electronics, food, and energy conservation.  They recently announced 2011 full year financial results.  These results give a glimpse at the growth inside China for PET products.  Although Fuwei seems to be primarily a BOPET manufacturer, they have expanding product lines and developing patent portfolio:

In August 2011, we received three utility patents from the Ministry of State Intellectual Property Office of the PRC. These utility

Justin’s special edition Fisker Karma is a piece of art.  From the outside, it seems like everything has been customized. Chrome paint, neon underlights, window tint on all windows, including the windshield.

With California tint laws requiring high visibility on the front windshield and front windows, his vehicle can be easily ticketed.  Another issue would be the neon underlights which were popular during the Fast and Furious movie series, but unfortunately were never approved to be street legal in California.

Truck owners are allowed to tint the windshields and side windows of a truck’s cab, which could protect drivers from harmful sunlight, the International Window Film Association said.

IWFA cited a letter it received in October from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in which the agency said that regulations allow window tinting, as long as at least 70% of the light transmission gets through the window.

“The clarification represents information that impacts millions of truck drivers who drive many hours at

As if 50 different state tint laws isn’t enough, some cities have their own tint laws that are different from those of their own state.  Let’s take Chicago for example.   The landmark city of Illinois, Chicago states that no tint is legal on the front windows of vehicles although Illinois tint laws clearly allows for 35% or above front window tint.

What happens if you are an Illinois state citizen visiting Chicago for a quick day trip?  You can

Newly released SolarGard UltraGard is a clear 89% light transmitting film that blocs 99% of both UV-A and UV-B.  Normal glass windows does not block UV-B, and a portion of UV-A.  Unfortunately, it has been shown that regular exposures to both types of ultraviolet radiation can lead to increased risk of skin cancer.  This causes situations where you are at risk in your daily commute to work or curling up in front of a window reading your favorite books.

Almost

Excellent survey run by Ross Kehl over at Window Film Magazine asking the question of what type of solution is used by window tinters.  The responses to the survey were enough to draw a real conclusion.  The results were not surprisingly, Baby Shampoo being #1 as the go to solution for professional tinters.

What soap/solution do you use for film installation?
Baby Shampoo

46.4%

Joy Dish Detergent

17.9%

Ajax Dish Detergent

3.6%

Other (enter response in comment box below)

32.1%

Showing his in-depth knowledge, Ross goes further and explains

We like to highlight news stories that bring stories of window tint shops starting out and succeeding.  Here is a story from Sophia, WV about Kevin McKinney, the owner of Pro Tint Motorsports from the Register Herald.

His grandparents, Red and Elva, gave him $25 a week for allowance and when he started driving, he began mowing lawns for extra cash.

McKinney knew where he could get a good deal on long sheets of window tinting, so he saved his money

With a flat 20% darkness limit on all windows of cars and no color and reflectivity limitations, New Mexico has some of the more relaxed tint laws among the 50 states.  It is heartening to see a local police department declare in a Daily Times article:

“Our deputies follow state law,” said County Attorney Jim Durrett.

The police department does understand that with the intense sun of the area, tinting is necessary. In fact, a majority of Farmington’s patrol cars have

A recent article highlighted a dilemma with assessing risk to everyday actions in regards to sun-related health and safety.  On one hand, if every chance is taken to reduce exposure to UV-A and UV-B radiation, you will be sitting indoors or in the dark.  On the other hand, blindly ignoring solar radiation’s effect on aging and skin cancer seems dangerous.  Where is the balance?

The writer at the Palm Beach Daily News explores this spectrum of actions one can take