What is ceramic window tint?
All the buzz lately is about ceramic window tint. Almost every customer that calls us asks if we do ceramic window tint. They've either had friends who have had it, have seen it on social media, or have other companies that are trying to sell them ceramic tint. We wanted to set the record straight and give our customers a chance to make an educated decision on what works best for them.
Ceramic window tint is window tint that has small particles of nano ceramic material mixed in with the dye of the film in order to keep out more heat. Because ceramic is an insulator, it works great for holding the heat at the glass and keeping you cooler on the other side. It doesn't really look any different than regular dyed or metalized window tint and it doesn't do anything else for you other than keep more heat out. Sounds really simple right? Well here's where it gets confusing...
The way you measure how much heat any window tint is keeping out is with an IR meter. IR is infrared heat and it's measured at different wavelengths. Unfortunately there is not much regulation in the industry on how companies are measuring their heat rejection claims. They either straight up lie about it or they will measure the film at a very narrow wavelength which doesn't really give you a good idea of what it's doing in real world situations. This is why you shouldn't get to caught up on the numbers.
The first thing you will want to research is window tint companies near you. Read reviews and feel them out. Try to get an idea of their business tactics. We are all in the business to make money but unfortunately, many window tint companies choose to do that unethically. Find a company that you feel comfortable with and trust them to steer you in the right direction. This is important because it's very hard to tell the difference between different window tint once it's on the vehicle. There are many companies who will give you really cheap prices on ceramic window tint which in reality is a subpar quality or maybe even just a basic film. It's easy to get caught up in the hype of ceramic window tinting and all of the heat rejection numbers that come with it. But hard to decipher what's real and what's not.
After you've researched and found a couple local window tint companies that you think are good to deal with, at that point you should research the brand of film that they use. There are many brands of films such as Llumar, Suntek, Xpel, and 3M. These are four of the major companies that you will hear a lot about as you're researching. Most of the major brands have been around for a long time and are pretty good about honoring their warranties. Some of the cheaper brands come and go pretty quickly. In Florida it's more important to find a good brand of film because if and when your film goes bad, you want to make sure that you have a solid warranty that you will be able to get your film replaced.
Here at 100% Tint we use Suntek Window Film. We can get most other brands if you have a preference, but that is the brand we stock and trust to use on a daily basis. We offer two different types of ceramic window tint from Suntek. The Sutek CXP and the Suntek Evolve. The Suntek CXP is a hybrid carbon ceramic film that does great for heat rejection and also comes with a lifetime warranty. Suntek Evolve is one of the highest heat rejection films in the industry and also comes with the same manufacturer-backed lifetime warranty. We have all the available options listed here
https://www.windowtintjacksonville.com/auto
along with the heat rejection percentages. Eastman Kodak Chemical Company is who makes Llumar and Suntek. They have been making window film for over 50 years and are also a part of the International Window Film Association (IWFA). https://iwfa.com
This is a non-profit association that is the world's most trusted source for window tint information.
Hopefully this helps you make an informed decision about what ceramic tint is and what it does for you. We would love to have your business, but if this helps you in your search and you find another company that you trust more then that's great too! An informed customer and an honest business go hand in hand. Thank you for taking the time to read this article and we hope to see you soon!
