Tinted car windows have a lot of amazing benefits. They filter more UV rays than regular car windows to protect your plastics and upholstery from cracking or fading in the sun. They help to keep the heat out of your car on warm, summer days. They even offer shattered glass protection and give you better privacy, whether you’re parked or on the road.

But tinted windows also need special care to make these benefits last. What makes tinted windows different from regular car windows is the plastic film that adheres to your auto glass to give your windows, windshield and rear window that tinted look. This film is much more sensitive to the harsh chemicals found in household glass cleaners and disinfectant sprays, so it’s important to use proper cleaning techniques to care for your tinted car windows.

In this guide, we’ll share everything there is to know about cleaning and maintaining your tinted car windows, and spoiler alert: it’s a lot simpler than you might think!

There are two different types of car window tint. There’s factory tint, a pigment that the original car manufacturer adds directly to the glass, and aftermarket tint, which you can have professionally installed after you’ve bought your vehicle.

Factory tinted windows, otherwise known as privacy glass, is just as durable as regular auto glass, so you can go about cleaning these windows the same way you normally would. To learn more about how to clean your auto glass for a streak free finish, check out our previous article.

Aftermarket tint, on the other hand, is a plastic film that adheres to the inside of your auto glass to give your car windows more UV protection and heat resistance. While aftermarket tint offers a lot more benefits than factory tint, which is often added for aesthetic purposes, it is much more sensitive to harsh chemicals and cleaning solutions.

For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on how to clean and maintain your aftermarket tint.

When you first get your car windows tinted, the film will need about a week to cure, which allows it to fully adhere to the surface of your car glass. During this time, you should avoid rolling down your windows or using any type of cleaners on your tinted windows, which can disrupt the curing process or cause the plastic film to separate from your auto glass.

If you need to clean tinted car windows during the curing process, just use a spray bottle filled with water and a microfiber cloth to wipe away any dirt and stains that have made their way onto your window film. Otherwise, just leave your windows alone during the curing process.

We like our car windows squeaky clean, but we don’t mean literally! To avoid that obnoxious squeaking noise that clean window film sometimes makes, apply an interior protectant like Hybrid Solutions Streak-Free Mist to keep your windows rolling smoothly and add that extra touch of gloss.