Hi, I'm trying to apply GILA window film to a 19.5x12.5" pane of glass. The glass is loose, so to speak. That is, it's not attached to anything as you might see in videos about "how to apply window film".Well, after a solid 10 tries (nine with acrylic and one with glass) I seem to be no better at applying window film. My first few mistakes were because of dust getting caught under the film. Now I have that taken care of because I clean thoroughly. But also now my problem seems to be the film crinkling as I'm putting it on and, of course, bubbles.A huge part of the problem seems to be that the film wants to curl itself back up. During some stages of the process I can put weights on the film to prevent it from curling but when you are removing the backing layer and applying the film to the glass the film curls and sticks to itself and never goes on the glass flat. I always have to lift the film back up to try and straighten it only to eventually end up creating a crease/crinkle where the film has stuck to itself. ...Maybe part of the problem is I'm doing this with the glass parallel to the ground.This is crazy labor intensive for me. Each try is like an hour long. So, yes, I've spent at least 10 hours trying and failing at this one "simple" task. I've seen four or five videos and a how to article or two but none of them are helping.Another problem I have is squeegeeing. For one, I get bubbles instantly and I really have to squeegee hard and repeatedly to get them out. Sometimes I create creases while squeegeeing out the bubbles.. I think a lot of these squeegee issues would be somewhat mitigated if I could just get the film on flat and straight.Any advice for a hopeless window film application technician?edit - I'm thinking maybe instead of trying to put the film on the mirror I should try putting the mirror on the film. That way I can keep the sheet flat with weights. Then I'll flip it around and do the squeegeeing. This will involve some tight grips on a thin sheet of glass which I neither want to smudge nor cut myself on. Any advice about how to avoid smudges and cuts while maintaining enough dexterity to manipulate the film and glass? via /r/DIY https://ift.tt/2FbUNjg
