Top 10 Best Heat Blocking Window Film 2022 Pick By Experts

I bought this product because I live in a studio apartment that facing an office building. It’s super close. If I can see working people doing their things, they definitely can see me too. I wanted something that can provide me some privacy during the day when I’m at home and I don’t have to put the shades down all the time. I thought this product may do it. I bought the silver color window film.Pros:- It has variety of sizes so I measured all the windows and just bought the single row of film which is convenience.- Product arrive undamaged and good package with instruction.- Good quality film, feels thick.- During the day, it definite gives you that mirror reflection from the outside and people can’t see into your apartment. As the product description said, at night you have to draw the blind because you lose that mirror effect when the lights are on. I know this for sure because I live on a lower floor of the apartment and I walked out into the street to check it out and it definitely works as the product described on the website.- It also provide some shade because of the color, material and quality of the film. I don’t know if it does make any difference in terms of room temperature because I didn’t check. But I like the fact that now I can leave my blinds up during the day.- Since this is static cling, you can remove the film and reposition it as many times as you want. No residual which is great especially if you are renting.Cons:- Putting it on is not as easy as the instruction said if you have a large window. My window is quite large. I’m 5’3 and it’s as tall as me and as wide as 35 inches. I’m not sure why the instruction says to put the original cover plastic on top of the film after you put the film on the window, then use a squeegee to remove air bubble. I guess this is to prevent damage to the film during air removal process. But I find it very difficult to do and make it’s harder to remove the air bubbles. After I did my first window ( I have total of 3), I decided to leave out the plastic cover and remove the air bubbles with squeegee without it. It seems to work better and easier.- During air removal process, you have to put some pressure on the squeegee a bit so the air bubbles would go out to the sides. It was hard work. I guess it’s because I’m bit neat so I want everything to be nice and smooth. I recommend using squeegee that has cloth (or something soft) cover on one end so you don’t damage the film if you decided to do as I did.- You have to use a lot of water, which is more clean up on the floor for me. Good thing I didn’t have carpet.- Since the instruction recommend to cut the size slightly bigger than your actual window, the trimming process is a bit much for me as I have big windows but it’s do able.- after couple days, you have some returning of the air bubbles but i guess it’s to be expected as it’s static cling and not glue like your car window film. You can use squeegee to remove it again. It didn’t bother me that much so I left it. I’m a bit detail too, if you leave in too much bubble then your view is going to look wavy and I don’t like that. That’s why I spent so much time and effort squeezing it out.- Because of the effects of the shade it provides, the view looks slightly different from the inside. That I mean color of the view. Everything looks several shades darker. I guess it’s fine if that’s the effect you’re going for.Overall, it’s a good quality film. I deduct 1 star for how difficult it was for me to do for my large windows. But by the time I was doing my third flame, I was a pro. It is do able, it takes some getting used to. I bought a larger roll so it costs me $54 which I think it’s reasonable for the quality and the function you’re going after. Plus, no residual since they’re not using glue. I would buy this product again if I need it for the same purpose which is privacy during the day.

(in the photo there’s mirror film in the center and rainbow film on the edges)Efficacy: It works. I have stood outside, face against the glass, in the middle of the day, and cannot see my cat sitting in the window on the other side. Yes it’s see through at night, but that’s how windows work.Brightness: I originally covered my large window completely with the mirror film, but as some people already noted it made the light coming in very gray and it seemed like it was always a cloudy day, even in a Texas summer. So I covered half my windows in rainbow film instead, which gives off a much whiter light but is very hard to see through. I’d say it’s a good compromise, I like being able to see what’s going on outside. (Look up wallpaper joining techniques if you’re trying to match pieces of film on one pane of window like I did.)Application: they don’t tell you just how much you’re going to need to clean the window. Cleaning it in a standard way will be fine but it won’t stick very well. Personally I cleaned the windows with soapy water and steel wool, grade 0000. This grade is safe for windows and will help get much more grime off of the window than you realized was there. I’ve used it on my cars for years. (But of course you should always check your window to make sure it will be okay.) You can also use a razor blade but that’s pretty time consuming and I find the steel wool goes faster.These windows are single-pane, very old apartment windows so they had a lot of paint splatters and built up grime. They also have sealant sticking out of crevices that I could not clean off. The film would not stick to that and I had to cut around it so that it didn’t create air pockets.The film is hard to peel off of the backing. It wrinkles very easily and that wrinkle is permanent even when you apply it to the window, though from far away they look like smudges. (I did not have this problem with the rainbow film.)Even though the mirror film says you can reapply it, I have had problems with that. Since I changed up the style I had to pull all the sheets off and cut them to put on the rainbow film, and some of the sheets will not stick back to the windows. One sheet falls off immediately, another couple of sheets slowly peel off over a few days and I have to get them with soap and the squeegee before they come all the way down. The other sheets have stayed up fine though. And the sheets that I did in another room, that did not have to be changed, have had no issues at all.Temperature wise I have had no issues so far. It stood up to 90+ degree days and it’s been getting into the 40s at night now. I’ll have to see how it holds up to colder winter temperatures. I do think it has helped with the internal temperature, it definitely seemed like the AC was running less after I got all the windows covered. I doubt it will insulate much in the winter.*******Edit******* it turns out that I had put on pieces (that were reapplied and wouldn’t stick) with the wrong side facing the widow. I fixed that and they haven’t had an issue falling down since. However the corners have permanently curled, see photo.**********Second edit*********They stayed up all year long, in both freezing and 110 degree weather. They came off fine when I moved and I’ve trimmed them and put them up in the new place. I rolled them up for the move but they got even more wrinkles so I did end up trimming those out.Aside from the wrinkling issue they’ve been great and I appreciate the added privacy.

UPDATEThe second time I purchased this – because I decided to do another window and didn’t have enough – the film had noticeable creases as I unrolled it. Creases, according to their own instructions, can’t be fixed. I ended up with some rub marks – places where the film was stretched over a rough, patterned surface – which I can see on my window. Not high quality. But it works, and this particular window is in back, so I’ll keep it there. Besides, I don’t want to redo it. But beware.ORIGINAL REVIEWThis was not easy to install. The recommendation to cut larger, then trim after it’s applied was not workable for me. The film does not cut easily, especially standing on a ladder over the kitchen sink, one foot in the sink and the other knee on the edge, and bending forward to reach the window. I suspect my water was too soapy, as the film was constantly sliding and the cuts went wild. I found it easier to cut to size and then install. I also recommend trimming the corners very slightly, as the window corners are never square due to the seal. Also, they could have included some really useful information, such as how soapy the water spray should be, and the fact that the curling tendency of the film relaxes once you’ve sprayed it with the water (and removed the protective backing). All of that said, once installed there was a noticeable difference in the heat coming off the window from the afternoon sun. In AZ, that’s significant. Caveats in place, I can recommend this product.

I have 3 windows to do. I’ve done 2 now. I have done this kind of film before, but it was in a very large single panel window. That was challenging because I did it by myself. 4 hands and 4 arms would have been a tremendous asset.However, this time around I have windows with 12 – 9×14 panes. Cutting each one was a total PITA. The slippery curled plastic is a serious challenge. I tried several different things including making a template, saying an incantation, supplication and prayer… By the time I got to the second window, I figured it out!! (See picture.) I used a table I decided I didn’t mind cutting up, but you could also use a large cutting mat. I used masking tape to cut the long dimension, cut it, and then marked off 9.25” creating a straight cutting line with the tape, taping it to the table. I then used a metal ruler and xacto knife to cut them. (Figures the sheet would be a half inch too small to do 4 but oh well.)I still couldn’t cut them straight but that’s probably on me, not the product! The 2nd window looks much better.Totally worth it as it’s virtually impossible to keep the fierce sun from making the room unbearable until we can afford to replace the windows.Good luck. Godspeed. Consider vodka.

I found this product through an online blogger who installed it on their garage windows, and this has been great. I installed the mirrored version on 6 decreasing arc windows on our garage door. I attempted to make a stencil to cut the film closer to the size/shape of the windows but ended up only cutting the length close to the actual size. I made sure to order the film in a width close to the height of the windows, so that helped. My first window application attempt failed. I tried to peel all of the backing off of the film and install ( I was doing this myself), so needless to say I had to waste that piece. Without liquid applied, the film is very sticky when the backing is removed. I quickly learned to peel the backing incrementally as I applied it to the window. I had a spray bottle of prepared window film solution, from a previous purchase, so I applied that liberally (as mentioned in other reviews). Our garage faces due west, so the windows were warm during installation. I also had the small utility knife (from a previous purchase) to help trim the film after installation. I managed to get most of the bubbles out. As I used lots of liquid, it sort of got trapped in the bottom part of the window frame, and I found this caused some channeling or bubbles. When it was almost dry, I went back and pushed the channels or bubbles and they all went away. The film did tear a little, here and there, as I cut it, but it was so close to the edge it didn’t impact that functionality. It looks great, and the garage is noticeably cooler. I wish I would have done this sooner.

I purchased this to cover some of the windows in my Shuttle Bus conversion van. Too many windows so I am blocking them off and I didn’t want any light to come in. This product did exactly that and blocked out all the light. I was pleased that it is pretty thick film and I really liked the inside film being a Matte vinyl and not shinny like the other side. Looked great from the inside, but of course I covered the inside window with paneling so you can’t see it any more. Now you don’t see any light from the window on the outside. I did paint the back of the paneling black in case it peels off later but it seems to stick on really well and its movable for a little while when you get it all fitted in.As most people have indicated, its hard to separate the film from the backing but rolling your thumb on the corner works well and even the exacto knife was able to separate it so not too bad. Cutting it down to only a half inch of the final size makes it easier to do the final cuts. The exacto knife, make sure its sharp, worked well although you do have to hold the film a little to the window with your finger to get it started or it will start to peel in the direction you are trimming. I used a straight edge pushed down to the sill of the window and that made the trimming straight and pretty easy. The curved corners of the window were the hardest to trim but a few windows later and I was able to trim it much more effectively.Great product. I ran out and bought a second roll to finish the windows.

Cut down my air conditioning costD

Followed instructions: measured twice, cut one + Sprayed soapy water on both the window and the film to be able to place perfectly + Used a card wrapped in 1 layer of fabric to squeeze out liquid and bubble. No bubbles at all, no scratches. I over cut a tad initially and used a sharp Exacto knife to cut out excess once in place. It has made a difference diming down the bright sum coming in from my transom window as well as the heat associated with the direct afternoon sun. I chose a slightly brown shade from the inside and silver outside. Installed inside the house. Look great without cutting off the light. I have enough for additional applications later. It’s been in place for 4 month in a very hot/humid region and it has not curled, faded, or changed.

I originally had a holographic stain glass rainbow privacy film. I loved it, because it would make pretty rainbows inside my house when the sun would shine through. Little did I know how little privacy it actually gave me. I was walking by one of my windows at night and glanced over and saw that I could clearly make out the entire room that was lit. Thankfully, I caught it sooner rather than later. I immediately searched for better privacy films that still looked nice. That’s where I found these. I like the frosted look, and that they aren’t completely white. They have a soft white glow to them when it’s light outside.Privacy: Morning, you can’t see anything from outside. Night, you can only make out faint dark blurry shapes.Ease of installation: Easy, if you have patience. You can’t expect a pristine finish if you’re haphazardly cutting the pieces to fit, splashing water on them and slapping them onto the window glass. It takes time to line up at a corner and slowly lay it down. While you’re laying it down, you can slide it to better match your edges. It’s very easy to lit back off if you need to make more adjustments to your film in cutting to fit. I run it under my tap to get off any potential dust particles that would have collected onto it while I was making new cuts. I use a credit card to squeeze out any bubbles.I would buy again, definitely worth its price.

I have a window in my bathroom right over the toilet that I didn’t want to cover with curtains so that we could maximize the natural light in the small space. This window cling has been really easy to install, with the hardest part being getting the cuts straight. So happy to have more privacy in this bathroom!I used a plant mister bottle with water to mist all over the window after cleaning it with glass cleaner. Peeling the film back was pretty easy, but I had cut two sides (the height was larger than I needed) so I checked the corner where both cuts intersected and got a little edge to peel back from. The film clung instantly, and I used a squeegee from a phone glass protector kit to squeegee the entire surface, but I’m sure a credit card would do the trick too. Will have to update on how well it clings throughout the seasons, but it wouldn’t be a hassle since spraying, sticking, and squeegeeing take like 5 secs.For anyone having trouble with removing the film backing, if you’re able to make a small cut that intersects with your width cut (from cutting the film from the roll) to make a corner, that might help you!