Removing decals made fun and easy!

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lezmark

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Posts
64
Location
Southern California
Not really, but I thought if I shared this afternoons adventure it could help others. Not having a shaded spot in sunny So Cal has taken its toll on my decals. The good news is that someday I will have all new ones that Newmar gave me a couple years ago when i crabbed about them. The bad news most of you know, removing the decals is almost as much fun as removing the adhesive that holds them on. Which makes me ask: if one cant easily remove the adhesive, how come it comes loose in the first place? But I digress. After a lot of trial and error this is what i found works best and i was able to remove all the decals on the back of my coach in a couple hours.
I used a single edge blade, a can of bug and tar remover (yes, i tried goo-gone, goof-off etc) and some rags. The rear of the coach was facing the sun so it was warm. I sprayed the decal liberally and then used the blade to slide under the decal. it seems to lubricate enough the blade slides ok. some parts of the decal were brittle and other parts i could pull with one hand and slide the blade under with the other. The next part is just as much fun. Now there is the adhesive still stuck there (yes, the same adhesive that allows the curling in the first place). I used more spray and began sliding the blade to scape it off. You really need a rag that you can wipe this REALLY gooey, nose excrement looking, slime and continually wipe the blade on your rag. It really did come off pretty easy! Just need some patience. I then wiped down the residual small pieces of crud with a clean rag and more spray. The last thing was a wipedown wash with spic and span. I have to admit that i dreaded starting this (you cant stop midway after you decide its a real bummer) and was prepared for the worst and it wasn't too bad. Let me add that the  decals on the back were no more than 4 or 5 inches at the widest part..  I think I will wait for the bigger ones on the side to peel more on their own...
 
One must be careful when using a single edge blade. ACE may have a better answer. They now carry single edge plastic blades. I tried one on some sealant and it works very well and I didn't have to worry about damaging the body. May work with the decals.
 
AND, then someday you will have curling decals AGAIN, and then someday you will be going through the whole process AGAIN.
Think I would look into painted accents instead.....
 
OP makes it sound easy... somehow I'm thinking my rig's decals (12 years older than the OP's) might be a little harder to remove.
 
3M makes a spray-can product that the body shops use. It eats up the vinyl graphic and makes it much easier to remove. It's not cheap but it sure beats razor blades and Goof off. I've re-done a couple of motorhomes and wouldn't attempt one without it. Incidentally, they are not called "decals". A decal is a product that is applied by soaking it in water, removing it from it's backing paper and applying it to a surface. Vinyl graphics are what they apply to RV's (unless you have painted graphics) and are much more difficult to remove.
 
I am new to this site, but I am not new to vinyl graphics as I have been in the sign & graphics business for a number of years.  The best way I have found to remove graphics is with steam.  I have a commercial grade steamer but a dept. store steamer will work as well.  Get a plastic blade and steam the graphic to be removed.  Start an edge with the blade and as you pull, keep steam on the area in front of the pull.  90% of the adhesive will come off with the graphic.  Get a good adhesive remover and remove the residue adhesive. 
 
Thanks for the tip, Joe.

Any suggestions for an adhesive remover?  I've heard some 3M products suggested, but don't recall specific product names.  And how about the popular Goo Gone?
 
We just did the great decal removal on our TT (what a pain in the youknowwhat). We had a replacement set of stickers from the manufacturer and put them back on since we only plan on owning this for the next year or two. Otherwise, I actually would have had it painted - if nothing else just to remove the ghosting of the former decals. I think having to replace decals on a 2009 trailer is ridiculous, but that's another topic!  8)

Goof off and Goo Gone were only mildly helpful; 3M adhesive remover was better, but the best by far was Klean-Strip adhesive remover (aerosol). It's clearly not the healthiest thing around (all the warnings will scare the wits out of you), but it definitely worked. I could only find it online (a neighbor gave us the can we actually used for this job).

Ace hardware outlet has it (but only in cases). Here's what it looks like at least:
http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=998053832

We also used heavy hard rubber wedges (think giant-looking rubber razor blades) to do all the scraping. Those worked great. I don't see them at all online, but they were hanging up in a package of three at Home Depot in the paint section.

My next RV (hopefully a motorhome) will NOT have any decals! Even if we end up having to get another trailer, I'm SO done with these things! 
 
Just traded my RV in for one with full body paint. If I ever shop for another RV in the future, I will only look at ones with full body paint.
 
That's because Tom (Seilerbird) is too busy with his oil washed generator.  :p Heh, heh)
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
Thanks for the tip, Joe.

Any suggestions for an adhesive remover?  I've heard some 3M products suggested, but don't recall specific product names.  And how about the popular Goo Gone?

I just removed the stripes on my 95 Bounder. A  local paint store sold me a gallon of PPG DuraPrep Prep502 Fleet Label/Decal Remover. Works great. Paint it on, drink a little coffee and watch the stripe/decal wrinkle up and release. Then slide a putty knife under the stripe and lift it off. Paint it on again and the glue will come off with a light application of the same putty knife.

Richard
 
This sounds like something we should capture and put in the library. First solid recommendations I have seen for name brand products that are likely to be available to everyone.  Decal removal has become a hot topic now that the decals that were popular in the mid-90's and later have faded or are beginning to peel off.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
This sounds like something we should capture and put in the library.

Agreed, and even better would be photos/video of someone using the product on their RV as they work on a decal-removal project.  So if anyone reads this and tries any of the methods mentioned, have that camera handy! :)
 
scottydl said:
Agreed, and even better would be photos/video of someone using the product on their RV as they work on a decal-removal project.  So if anyone reads this and tries any of the methods mentioned, have that camera handy! :)

Here are some Pix of my stripe project. Note, some of the stripes just pulled off, 15 minutes after coating. You can see how the vinyl wrinkled from the stripper. Don't get it on your paint. I also included a pic of the finished rear. The gloss is from 4 coats of Red Max Pro. The reason for the color change is because I found the whole red striping kit on Ebay for $175.00
 

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There's a first draft in the library under Maintenance Items.

Richard, when you post a reply, click Attachments and other options and you'll be able to attach the pictures to your message. They do need to meet the file size limitation but, if you're unable to re-size them, I'll send you an email address where they can be sent, and I'll take care of the re-sizing.

Edit: I see Richard attached pictures. Thanks.
 
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