We opted to use Gila Frosted Privacy Window Film,the same product we used on the downstairs by window you can read about here. We followed the same steps as last time, exactly as written on the directions. This time, however, I managed to document the process (mostly) for your benefit.
See first, the bathroom window as we were using it, with a towel tacked in to ensure privacy. See how dark it is in there, during the day, with the light on?
The first step then, after taking down the towel, was to scrape the paint from the glass. In a perfect world this would have been done months ago after we painted the bathroom, but it just never got done. Please note now, most of the pictures will not be helpful to you. This was at a minimum a two-handed, if not two-person job and thus the pictures were difficult to take. They are here merely to enhance the story.
When I had gotten as much of the paint off as I could (keeping in mind there was paint on the outside of the window I could not remove that was going to show-through the frost anyways), the next step was to clean the windows. Gila sells a kit for installing the film (which we also got), that includes a cleaner. But it had been so long since I cleaned the windows in the bathroom (since we first moved in) I decided I should go over it with regular old Windex first. And I am definitely glad I did.
Once I had removed the first layer of grime, I followed up with the Gila cleaner and adhesive as instructed: spraying it on generously and then squeegeeing from top to bottom (squeegee also part of kit).
Now that I had a squeaky clean window, I whipped out my measuring tape to get the dimensions and then cut my window frost accordingly- being sure to give about an extra inch on each side. This next part is where the second person comes in handy. Once I had my cut piece of frost, I sprayed down each side with the cleaner/ adhesive mix while David held it out (after of course we picked all the stray dog hairs off of it). Then took two pieces of tape, stuck it in the two upper corners and used it to peel away the shiny backing. While I was peeling the backing away (and David was still holding it up) I sprayed the exposed sticky side with more adhesive. Once the backing is removed it is time to place it, centered on the window.
At this point, it is back to a single-person job the rest of the say. I picked back up the squeegee tool, and working down/ out pressed the air bubbles out of the film (the instructions say to leave a 1" border that you do not smooth out, but I cannot figure out why, and ignored that part). Then I took the supplied razor blade, or utility knife and trimmed the excess frost simply by tracing along the edge of the glass. Going back to the squeegee tool, I went back over the window and continued to squeegee out the bubbles as they popped up. Once the film was completely smooth, I stepped back and admired my handy work:
Much better and brighter, even if the picture does not do it justice. At this point I called David in and we discussed if frosting the upper window was necessary. We thought it wasn't as the only way someone could see in was if they were on the neighbors roof, but later that night when I took a shower and realized the tub was up higher than the floor, I decided it would probably be best if I went back and frosted that top pane. So I can't quite cross this window off the list, but by the end of the week it should be done.
I can however declare the the window in the living room closet is taken care of. After I finished up the bathroom, I hauled my tools to the living room to frost the closet window in order to protect my dresses and coats from fading.
Full disclosure: I did not do as good of a job this time, as I did downstairs. I noticed later that night that the bathroom window had a few small bubbles in it after it dried. Since this is not our forever home, I am choosing to ignore it. However, if this was our permanent residence I would simply take off the film, scrape off the glue, and do the process over, this time being sure to use more of the adhesive/ lubricating spray (the easy removal is actually one of the reasons we opted to go with a film rather than a spray on frost). So if you happen to come over, please don't inspect the windows for bubbles, because you will find a few!
