Fit it wet. The water lets you slide the skin into place and pushes the air out ahead of the squeegee — that is the difference between one nervous attempt and as many as you like.

Eight steps

1. 01

   Take the panel off

   Remove the glass panel from the cabinet and lay it flat on a towel, outside face up. Fitting it while it is still on the case is the commonest reason a skin ends up crooked.

   Done
2. 02

   Clean the outside face

   Wipe the whole face with alcohol or glass cleaner, then dry it with a second clean cloth and let it dry fully. Hold a torch at a low angle and look again.

   One speck of dust becomes a bump you will see every single day.

   Done
3. 03

   Dry fit it first

   With the backing still on, lay the skin on the glass and check it is the right way up and the right way round. About 2 mm of glass should show all the way round.

   That 2 mm gap is deliberate. It stops the edge catching and lifting.

   Done
4. 04

   Fill the bottle and wet the glass

   Fill the spray bottle with clean water and mist the whole glass face until it is properly wet, not just damp. Nothing else goes in the bottle: no soap, no cleaner.

   Use filtered or RO water. Mumbai tap water dries to white spots under the film.

   Done
5. 05

   Peel the backing right off

   Take the whole backing sheet off and keep it — you will want it again the day you take the skin down. Mist the inner face of the skin as well, so both surfaces are wet.

   Done
6. 06

   Float it into position

   Lay the wet skin on the wet glass. It will slide, so take your time and nudge it until the 2 mm gap is even on all four sides.

   This is the whole reason for the water. Dry, you get one attempt.

   Done
7. 07

   Squeegee the water out

   Starting at the centre, squeegee out to each edge in overlapping strokes, working top to bottom. You are pushing water, not air, so keep going until no more runs out. Light, even pressure at about 45°.

   The microfibre edge will not mark the print.

   Done
8. 08

   Blot the edges and refit

   Wipe the water off the edges and the frame with a dry cloth, then leave the panel flat for an hour before refitting it.

   Any faint haze left under the film is water. It clears by itself in a day or two.

   Done

Afterwards

If something goes wrong

Milky or hazy look

Trapped water. Normal, and it clears in a day or two. Still there after three days? Lift and refit.

White spots as it dries

Hard water. Lift, rinse the glass, and refit using filtered or RO water.

An edge keeps lifting

Dust under that corner, or water that never got squeegeed out. Lift it, re-wet, re-lay.

A crease has formed

Lift back past the crease, re-wet, let the film relax flat, then squeegee down again.

A speck of dust

Lift the nearest corner, take the speck off with tape, re-wet and re-lay that section.