Decal Removal From A Vehicle

Decals and stickers get added to vehicles for many reasons. There was a time that decals were used in place of chrome for trim. Bumper stickers may have had a meaning for a previous owner, but may have a message that you do not want to send to the rest of the world as you drive a car. Here are some tips for decal removal.

One of the easiest ways to remove a decal from a vehicle is to use a heat gun to melt the adhesive. If you do not have a heat gun, try turning the car so that the sun shines on that side of the vehicle or even try using a hair drier. These methods will take longer than the heat gun, but will work to melt the adhesive.

After you melt the adhesive, you will want to have a soft scraper such as a plastic putty knife or credit card to lift the edge of the decal. If you are brave, you can use a razor blade to slide under the decal, buy you will want to be careful that you do not scrape the paint on the vehicle.

Once the edge of the decal is lifted sufficiently, try grabbing with your fingers and pealing away the decal or sticker. If the decal tears and you lose your grip, try reheating and lifting the edge again using your lifting tool. Eventually, you will be able to remove all of the decal from the vehicle.

If the decal is something like a pinstripe, you may choose to use a tool made by 3M called a "stripe off tool" It looks like a large eraser that fits into a power drill and erases the pinstripe from the vehicle. It can also be used for small bumper stickers.

Once the decal has been removed, you may still have some sticky residue which needs to be removed. Residue that is left on the vehicle will attract dust and make an unsightly mess so you will need to take steps to remove it.

Several types of solvent are recommended to remove the stickiness from the paint of the vehicle. If one does not work then try another until the residue has been removed from your vehicle.

The solvents, in no particular order, include, WD-40, Alcohol and dish washing soap, lighter fluid or even lacquer thinner. Do not allow any of these solvents to remain on the finish of your vehicle for an extended period of time. Give them a few minutes to work, then wipe dry before they have a chance to damage the harder clear coat of the vehicle.

Decals have a tenancy to protect the paint they cover. This may cause them to appear to be brighter and have more shine than the area around them. Waxing the vehicle can help to make the shiny spots less noticeable.

There are some decals that are not going to come off easily. In fact some will require that you use a grinder to remove the decal and then add a primer coat and repaint the vehicle.

Want to find out more about professional decal removal, then visit Hinton Water Blasting to find out about a new method of removing decals from vehicles.

Tags: auto, Automotive, car, decal removal, fleet services, logo removal