applying decals

[boomchke94]

Whats is this sopa/water/hairdryer combination I hear tell of? You mean if you have a decal with a sticky back you put it on a wet car? Will it still stick? Also do you use the hairdryer after you put a normal sticky decal on without water? Does that help seal it in place or something? Thanks

[dmw319]

Get a waterbottle with a squirt thingy on the end like an old windex container or something. fill it with all water, and 2 drops of dishwasher dawn soap, or something similar. shake it up, and you have a soapy solution. you spray the part you are going to put the decal down, then put the decal overtop of it. this way you can move around the decal to the exact spot you want it. yes, its wet, and you can pull the decal up and off and back on again as much as you want to get it right before the water dries. once you have it where you want it, use something like a credit card, or the little piece they gave you (the people you got the decal from) and smooth it out, and get all of the bubbles out (this part is very important). then just peel back the paper and.. ta-da.

you CAN put the decal on without water, it just makes it easier with water. however, if its a small sized decal you should be fine without using it. but any big decals... i would consider water a must..

hope this helps!

[CrosX731]

I've been doing decals on tracks and racing stripes on cars back at my old graphics and vinyl company. Your vinyl will not loose its adhesive from a slight mist of solution. BE SURE NOT to use to alot of soap. too much soap will spell disaster for you decal. Typically you would use a plastic squeegee to flatten and finalize your decal once you have it in position. as mentioned above a credit card might be a good idea since you don't have this. Just watch the edges. don't want to rip the vinyl.

[Steve Caroccia]

It's tough on small decals because the water is reducing the grab between the vinyl and your car and the grab between the backing paper and the vinyl will be greater. If you have something like a multipiece decals (like the firebirds) and you still want to water, you may want to squeegy out the water and then let it sit there or heat it up before removing the backing paper.