Car clinic: Can you add UV film to windows for sun protection?
Your motoring problems solved
Q. I will be doing a lot of driving this summer and would like to know the best way to protect my skin while I am in the car, apart from sun cream. For example, is there a UV-filtering film that can be put on windows?
AB, Redcar, North Yorkshire
A. Modern windscreens have two layers of glass with a tinted polyester layer between them that holds back nearly all UV light while letting in at least 75% of visible light, the legal minimum. Front side windows do not have such film, partly due to its cost, but it can be fitted.
Pentagon Glass-Tech, (pentagonglasstech.com), which has branches nationwide, can supply and fit LLumar UV Shield Film to your front side windows, blocking up to 99.9% of UV. The cost is about £130 per side window. If your windscreen is not tinted, Pentagon can also apply the film to that, typically for about £300.
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DIY kits can be bought, but the film is tricky to apply. A more practical alternative for the rear side windows would be Window Sox — stockings that slip over the door and cost £33 a pair from www.windowsox.co.uk.
Blinds attached by suction cups to the inside of the window are another option, though they can fall off or be prised free by children.
INSPECTOR GADGET
Dave Pollard has written several Haynes manuals and has tested just about every car-related accessory – read more from Dave here.
GOT A PROBLEM?
Email your question to carclinic@sunday-times.co.uk or write to Car Clinic, Driving, The Sunday Times, 3 Thomas More Square, London E98 1ST, with a daytime phone number, your address and as much detail about your car as possible. We can’t reply in person, so don’t send original documents or SAEs. Advice is given without legal responsibility.
