I’m glad my wife handled this project and not me. She’s very patient with stuff like this. I probably would have gotten frustrated with the bubbles and thrown the film out the window. I was wary of this product for a few reasons, mainly because I didn’t think it would look like steel and because I thought it would be impossible to adhere smoothly. The last thing I wanted was dishwasher panel that looked like a shoddy DIY tint job. That sounds like what happened to you guys. Maybe you got a defective roll? Or more plausibly, maybe we just got lucky.

Despite lots of prior experience with installing window film and laminates of all sorts, we found the product impossible to install without developing hundreds, that right, hundreds of air bubbles.

Even going slowly, working from the center out, working half the width at a time, and using a squeegee or plastic spatula, it becomes “bubble city.”

There are inconsistencies with Alkor’s instructions and others. Alkor (the mfg) says to install the product dry. Other suppliers say to install it wet with water sprayed on the surface to be applied before contact.

If you follow Alkor’s instruction you will have a certified mess on you hand — even if you are very skilled and very careful.

As for the wet approach, we haven’t tried it, so we can’t say how that would work out. Glass and More says to make certain that all areas of the film are wet. Well, could somebody tell me how you are going to work with a piece of 35″ wide film on a fridge door, by 4′ in length and are going to be able to have all areas wet, this sounds also impossible. As far as removing air bubble with a pin – forget it – you will still be left with hundreds which won’t go away and the pin will scar the film.

DIY folks beware. Brace yourself for a result which is likely to greatly disappoint.

Margaret