Ceramic Window Tinting in Sydney: Our IR70 Film

What makes ceramic tint ceramic

Every window film is a thin polyester sheet with something added to control light and heat. Cheap films use dye. Older performance films use a metal layer. A ceramic film uses tiny particles of ceramic, a non-metallic, non-conductive material, spread through the layers of the film.

Those particles are chosen to absorb and reject infrared, the invisible part of sunlight you feel as heat. They let most visible light through, so a ceramic film doesn't need to be dark to work. That's the whole point of it.

Infrared is the heat you feel

Stand next to a sunny window and the warmth on your arm is mostly infrared. Inside a parked car it soaks into the dash, the seats and the steering wheel, then radiates back into the cabin. Stop it at the glass and the car starts the drive home cooler.

Why there's no dye or metal in it

Dye is what makes budget tint fade and go purple, because sunlight breaks it down over the years. Metal does a good job on heat but it also blocks radio signals. Ceramic avoids both problems. The colour stays stable, and nothing in the film gets in the way of your devices.

Heat and glare: ceramic film against cheaper films

If you've had tint before, it was probably dyed film. It looks the part on day one. The trouble is that most of the darkening comes from absorbing light, so the glass itself gets hot and keeps warming the cabin. Here's how our IR70 ceramic stacks up against the two films it usually replaces.

What the numbers look like at 35%

Most customers put 35% VLT on the front doors, because that's as dark as NSW allows there. At that shade, the ceramic film we fit typically does this:

• 99% of UV blocked, so trim and skin are protected

• 58% of heat rejected, so the cabin warms more slowly

• 52% of glare cut, which you notice most into a low western sun

• 0% signal interference, because nothing in it conducts

Carbon is the other film people often ask about. We don't make it the focus here, because our guide on ceramic vs carbon tint lines the two up properly. The short version is that carbon looks great and holds its colour, while ceramic does more about heat.

Phones, GPS and toll tags behind ceramic tint

Modern cars rely on radio signals more than most owners realise. A metal layer in the glass can weaken some of them, and the fault is hard to trace once the film is on. Ceramic film has no metal, so these keep working as if the glass were bare:

• Mobile reception and hands-free calls

• Satellite navigation and phone map apps

• Keyless entry and push-button start

• Toll tags mounted behind the windscreen

• Radio, digital radio and connected-car services

That's a big reason we don't offer metallised film at all. It isn't worth trading a cooler cabin for a toll tag that doesn't beep.

Does ceramic tint stop UV as well as heat?

Yes, and that matters in a Sydney summer. UV is the part of sunlight that burns skin and dries out leather and plastic trim. IR70 blocks almost all of it at every shade we fit, so even a light film protects the people beside the side windows and keeps the dash from fading.

Is ceramic window tinting worth it on your car?

It costs more than dyed film, so it's a fair question. For most Sydney drivers the answer is yes, because the things people tint for, heat and sun on the skin, are exactly what ceramic is built to handle. Here's who gets the most out of it.

Who IR70 suits

• Cars parked outside all day, at work, at the station or on the street

• Families with kids in the back, who sit beside side glass for every trip

• Dark leather or black interiors, which soak up heat fastest and fade first

• Long commutes into the morning or afternoon sun, where glare wears you down

• Anyone keeping the car for years, who wants film that won't need redoing

When another grade makes more sense

If the car lives in a garage and you mostly want privacy and a darker look, our carbon ceramic window tint may be enough. If you want the most heat stopped, or a lighter shade that still works hard, step up to nano ceramic window tint. We'll tell you plainly which one fits how you use the car.

Picking a shade for ceramic film

With dyed film, darker meant cooler, so people went as dark as they dared. Ceramic changes that. The particles do their heat work at any shade, so you can choose the shade for looks, privacy and night vision rather than for heat alone.

The NSW limits still apply: at least 35% on the front side windows, at least 20% behind the driver when the car has a mirror on each side, and only a strip across the top of the windscreen. They count the glass and the film together. The legal table lower on this page shows every window, and our guide to NSW window tint laws covers the exceptions.

Lighter at the front, still cool

If you drive a lot at night, a front shade a little lighter than the limit keeps mirrors and kerbs easy to see. With IR70 you give up some privacy doing that, but far less heat rejection than you would with dyed film.

Matching factory-tinted rear glass

Many SUVs come with dark rear glass from the factory, so the back and front can look mismatched. We meter each window and pick a front shade that blends in while staying legal. To see what each percentage looks like, read our guide to window tint percentages.

Fitting ceramic film properly

Good film fitted badly is still a bad job. These are the stages that matter for ceramic film on your car, beyond the summary further down the page.

1. Meter the glass and show the film

   We read the VLT of each factory window, then hold IR70 samples against your own glass in daylight. You choose a shade knowing exactly how it will look and that it will pass.

2. Plotter-cut to your car

   The film is cut by machine from a pattern for your make and model, so every edge follows the glass. Nobody runs a blade across your windows or rubbers.

3. Clean, fit and squeegee

   Each window is cleaned inside and out in an indoor bay, and the film goes onto the inside face. It's worked out from the centre so no water or air is left trapped.

   

4. Heat-form and check

   Curved rear screens get the film shrunk to shape with heat before it goes on. Then every window is inspected in strong light before we hand the keys back.

Aftercare for the first weeks

1. Leave the windows up for two days, or longer if it's cold and damp.

2. Let any haze or small water spots dry out by themselves.

3. Wait until the film is clear before wiping the inside of the glass.

4. From then on, use a soft microfibre cloth with water or an ammonia-free cleaner.

For the full first-week timeline, see our guide on how long window tint takes to cure.

What drives the cost of ceramic tint

We quote every car individually and in writing, so you know the full amount before any film is cut. Two cars from the same showroom can still be different jobs. These are the things that set the figure:

• Window count. Quarter glass, extra rows of seats and split rear screens all add film and time.

• Glass shape. Deeply curved rear screens take longer to heat-form.

• Getting old film off. Stripping tired tint and its glue is careful work, especially near demister lines.

• A windscreen strip. Optional, and quoted on its own.

• The grade. IR70 costs more than carbon ceramic and less than nano ceramic.

The quote costs nothing and doesn't change on the day. Send us your make and model and tell us it's IR70 ceramic you're after.

Why get your ceramic tint fitted with us

We've fitted window film every day since 2016, and our 30+ fitters work only in clean indoor bays. Every shade is checked against the NSW limits before fitting, and our tint carries a lifetime warranty against bubbling, peeling and purpling. If it isn't right, it doesn't leave.

Book at our workshop in Revesby or our workshop in Condell Park, both open Monday to Saturday. Most tint jobs are done on the same day. If you're tinting a new car, it's worth looking at protecting the front of it at the same visit.

Our service

Paint Protection Film

Paint protection film is a clear, self-healing urethane layer fitted over your paint. It takes the stone chips, grit and scuffs that would mark the panels. We correct the paint, then fit gloss, matte or colour film, from partial front to full body, at Revesby and Condell Park.

Want the full picture of every grade and shade? Our car window tinting page puts all three films in one place.