[AndrewC1989]

I live in VA, we have those annoying paper inspection stickers placed in the corner of our windshields, similar to NJ. My windshield is tinted (80%) and I’m due for a new sticker next month. What’s the best way to remove the old sticker without damaging the film? I was thinking of soaking it with a wet sponge and then slowly using a plastic razor blade. Thoughts? Can I use isopropyl alcohol or will this damage the film?

[thatgarrett]

I don’t know what kind of tint you have, but on past cars I’ve used IPA to remove glue residue after windows were tinted, so I think that might be the right direction, but I think I used a dilution, it’s been a while. I’ve found peeling it off with my fingernail (carefully) and invisible glass with a microfiber typically removes my VA inspection sticker residue whenever I get a new one each year- sometimes I’ll peel mine off and clean the windshield in the parking lot of the place that’s inspecting it so they don’t apply it over the old residue. If you want to be really safe and lower maintenance in the future, I wonder if a small section or PPF or headlight film slightly bigger than the sticker would protect the tint and make removal and replacement of the sticker easier in the future? Might be overkill for that though

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by thatgarrett

I don’t know what kind of tint you have, but on past cars I’ve used IPA to remove glue residue after windows were tinted, so I think that might be the right direction, but I think I used a dilution, it’s been a while. I’ve found peeling it off with my fingernail (carefully) and invisible glass with a microfiber typically removes my VA inspection sticker residue whenever I get a new one each year- sometimes I’ll peel mine off and clean the windshield in the parking lot of the place that’s inspecting it so they don’t apply it over the old residue. If you want to be really safe and lower maintenance in the future, I wonder if a small section or PPF or headlight film slightly bigger than the sticker would protect the tint and make removal and replacement of the sticker easier in the future? Might be overkill for that though

It’s llumar air blue 80. Last year I tried to get the inspector to put the sticker on some cling film but he said that was illegal because it could be easily removed and reapplied to another car. I think what I’ll do this next time around is put a large piece of “sticker shield” in the general area, then remove it and cut it to size once they install the sticker on it (hopfully).

[AndrewC1989]

Plastic razor slow and steady did the trick