UV Window Tint

I don't want to get window tints --I do most of my driving at night and need to be able to see -- but I have a tendency to get sunburned on long daytime drives. Last time I drove to Florida, I got sunburn on my left thigh THROUGH my jeans inside the car. Curse of pale Irish skin, I suppose. Anyway, anybody got information on how effective UV tints are at preventing sunburns? Doing a NYC -- San Diego round trip in the spring and while I plan on wearing UPF windbreaker, pants, hat, and motorcycle-style balaclava, I would feel better with some extra protection.

Hopefully someone can comment soon. My Irish/Scottish skin is going to suffer in California :(.

On another thread someone had told me that the UV was great at not letting your dash or steering wheel heat up at all, which since I'm not tinting my windows sounds fairly good and cheap.

I've asked the person to comment over here.

I have Suntek CXP clear ceramic film on my windshield to block the u/v from my dash and steering wheel and reduce the heat coming into the car. In FL the sun is brutally strong and my previous car had 5% tint on all of the windows excluding the windshield and the interior of the car was very hot whenever it was sunny. My new Stang has 5% all around with the clear ceramic film on the windshield and now when I get in my car after it's been baking in the sun it's noticeably cooler inside, I would say by 60-70%. I think it works great! Even when I drive toward the direction of the sun I no longer feel the heat on my hands or face. I can't comment on sunburn because I have 5% on all the other windows but I would think it should help since I really notice such a difference compared to not having the clear film applied.

I hope this helps.

Jimmy, I have never in all my years heard of anyone getting sunburnt through their jeans, you're a special guy I suppose.

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I just got a quote from the shop that did my window tinting and XPEL bra... $150 for putting Solarguard Ultra Performance 70% on the windshield. Allows 73% of visible light through, blocks >99% of UV, and rejects 37% of total solar energy (so reduces IR/heat). I'm going to get this done.

PonyGrrrl said:

Jimmy, I have never in all my years heard of anyone getting sunburnt through their jeans, you're a special guy I suppose.

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Every year I vacation in Miami, and every year I drive down from NYC. And every year on the drive down, I get sunburned on my face, left arm, and left leg (and right hand on the wheel). Last year I decided to wear a special sunblocking windbreaker and driving gloves, and that stopped the sunburn on my arms and hands... but I just wore regular jeans, and I still got the sunburn on my left thigh.

There are a couple of factors at work here: 1, I have EXTREMELY pale white Irish skin that burns easily. 2, I spend virtually no time in the sunlight -- I work until well past sundown, stay indoors when the sun's up on the weekends, and in an average week in the summer time probably see no more than, collectively, fifteen minutes worth of sunlight. I have three layers of blackout curtains on every window in my apartment so that no sunlight can leak in. So when I am out in the sun (such as driving 22 hours to Miami), I burn REALLY easily.

Endokendal said:

I just got a quote from the shop that did my window tinting and XPEL bra... $150 for putting Solarguard Ultra Performance 70% on the windshield. Allows 73% of visible light through, blocks >99% of UV, and rejects 37% of total solar energy (so reduces IR/heat). I'm going to get this done.

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Sounds like a good deal; I'm just concerned because, like, 95% of my driving happens at night, on congested streets with tons of traffic, and I don't know that any kind of tinting at all would be particularly safe. Which is why I'm curious about UV clear tinting.

JimmyTwoTimes said:

Every year I vacation in Miami, and every year I drive down from NYC. And every year on the drive down, I get sunburned on my face, left arm, and left leg (and right hand on the wheel). Last year I decided to wear a special sunblocking windbreaker and driving gloves, and that stopped the sunburn on my arms and hands... but I just wore regular jeans, and I still got the sunburn on my left thigh.

There are a couple of factors at work here: 1, I have EXTREMELY pale white Irish skin that burns easily. 2, I spend virtually no time in the sunlight -- I work until well past sundown, stay indoors when the sun's up on the weekends, and in an average week in the summer time probably see no more than, collectively, fifteen minutes worth of sunlight. I have three layers of blackout curtains on every window in my apartment so that no sunlight can leak in. So when I am out in the sun (such as driving 22 hours to Miami), I burn REALLY easily.

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Damn...I sure hope you supplement with vitamin D3...your levels must be below 20...LOL.

JimmyTwoTimes said:

Sounds like a good deal; I'm just concerned because, like, 95% of my driving happens at night, on congested streets with tons of traffic, and I don't know that any kind of tinting at all would be particularly safe. Which is why I'm curious about UV clear tinting.

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I was concerned about this too. This is considered clear film.

The guy at the shop said they do tons of windshields with the stuff, and the visible light rating of the film is pretty much the same as the glass... you can't tell any degradation in visibility through the windshield... You can't tell there is a film there.

Technically it is illegal to put film on the windshield in NM, as I assume it is in virtually all states.

I have 5% on the rear three and 20% on the front two with a fat strip of 5% on the top of the windshield. There are plenty of tint products that only mildly darken the windows (70%, etc) I suggest going into several of your local tint shops and shopping their inventory of product. Most places also have sample pieces of tint to give you an idea of the darkness. If you are set on not having ANY light loss, I'm sure the shops will have access to special order you product that you (or us) may have a hard time finding on our own.

-Drew

Its pretty sweet for the windshield. I would much rather just get a light tint for the other windows, as its 10x more effective at blocking visible light, but its a must have for me on the windshield. I plan to get it done on the windshield as well as 35% tint everywhere else.