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Removing vinyl graphics in winter
Since my vinyl stripes haven't held up very well to the baking sun (they were very discolored) I decided to remove them in the past couple of weeks.
For anyone who wishes to remove their vinyl graphics in the winter here's something you should know: the sticky residue left over due to removal in cold conditions is an absolute PITA to remove, if you don't know what to buy.
I tried everything: WD-40, armor-all with heat, scraping with heat (from a clothes iron over a towel) goo-gone and a similar product, polish, paint cleaner, you name it. Nothing even made a DENT in this stuff.
I went to Auto Zone and bought some stuff in a tiny bottle called "Oops!." The AZ guy recommended it after I told him I wanted something as hardcore as I could get without removing paint. This stuff WORKED, it dissolves the residue almost immediately and it doesn't damage the paint a bit. You will, however, have to buy at least 5-6 bottles to remove the residue left over from an entire stripe kit. Those of you with smaller jobs may only have to buy 1-2 bottles.
I thought I'd let everyone know about this amazing product because the most common answer to this problem (Goo Gone) did not even begin to dissolve this stuff.
Removing the vinyl stripes is a ***** if the've been in the sun because they become very brittle. The way I removed them was by putting a thin towel over the paint and running them over with a clothes iron until they almost melted when I peeled them off. The heat takes away the brittleness. After all vinyl was removed I took my "Oops!" and rubbed it on with a terry cloth (I wanted something a little abrasive but not too hard on the paint.) It's best to use some elbow grease or you will be using a LOT more of the product than you want to. Make sure to periodically turn the rag so you can continue soaking up the sticky stuff. After that, I was left with some hazy residue (probably a mixture of the product and a little adhesive.) I went after that with my orbital buffer and some Meguiar's #83 DACP, and that took it off no problem. Some regular polish would probably have sufficed but I'm polishing down my whole paint job. I then polished with a polishing pad and glazed with a finishing pad. The end result was perfect looking paint. I went from a sticky, gooey mess to immaculate, perfect paint.
For anyone who wishes to remove their vinyl graphics in the winter here's something you should know: the sticky residue left over due to removal in cold conditions is an absolute PITA to remove, if you don't know what to buy.
I tried everything: WD-40, armor-all with heat, scraping with heat (from a clothes iron over a towel) goo-gone and a similar product, polish, paint cleaner, you name it. Nothing even made a DENT in this stuff.
I went to Auto Zone and bought some stuff in a tiny bottle called "Oops!." The AZ guy recommended it after I told him I wanted something as hardcore as I could get without removing paint. This stuff WORKED, it dissolves the residue almost immediately and it doesn't damage the paint a bit. You will, however, have to buy at least 5-6 bottles to remove the residue left over from an entire stripe kit. Those of you with smaller jobs may only have to buy 1-2 bottles.
I thought I'd let everyone know about this amazing product because the most common answer to this problem (Goo Gone) did not even begin to dissolve this stuff.
Removing the vinyl stripes is a ***** if the've been in the sun because they become very brittle. The way I removed them was by putting a thin towel over the paint and running them over with a clothes iron until they almost melted when I peeled them off. The heat takes away the brittleness. After all vinyl was removed I took my "Oops!" and rubbed it on with a terry cloth (I wanted something a little abrasive but not too hard on the paint.) It's best to use some elbow grease or you will be using a LOT more of the product than you want to. Make sure to periodically turn the rag so you can continue soaking up the sticky stuff. After that, I was left with some hazy residue (probably a mixture of the product and a little adhesive.) I went after that with my orbital buffer and some Meguiar's #83 DACP, and that took it off no problem. Some regular polish would probably have sufficed but I'm polishing down my whole paint job. I then polished with a polishing pad and glazed with a finishing pad. The end result was perfect looking paint. I went from a sticky, gooey mess to immaculate, perfect paint.
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