Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

[Shirl]

A friend of mine installed stripes on his Corvette. There are a lot of tiny bubbles under the stripes from the solution he used and the fact that a sponge was used instead of a squeegee (read why below). Will these bubbles subside over time from the heat?

The problem with the install was that he couldn't use a squeegee after laying down the stripes because the stripes came with no backing paper. So therefore, he gently sponged the stripes out after wetting them with the solution. The stripes look awesome, but up close, you can see the bubbling. Any advice? Heat gun perhaps?

[josh98bird]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

alot of the bubbles may come out after beeing int he sun.. but I'm not sure what kind of bubbles he has on his stripes.

[3.8Fury]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

I do not think any bubbles come out if the sun hits them for along time...this happened to mine. Also if my stripes got wet after i put them on it would get more bubbles, just a hint of advice.....But I dont know if u can get rid of the bubles without using the squeege,, Good luck helping ur friend though!!!

[gotchocmilk39]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

They will come out but it takes along time well it did for mine.

[v6droptop]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

not all of them will come out without "help"
the vinyl is somewhat permable but wont pass
large amounts of water entrapped under it.
Why would you try and install without premask?
Who would sell them without premask?
I have a process that doesnt use premask but is normally
reserved for large flat surfaces like truck boxes.
You can carefully work some to the edges,others may be combined
into a larger bubble which can be bled with a very sharp needle.
Dont use a razor like some suggest.
Alot of the tiny ones will disappear once subject to sun and cooling.

[hockeyman]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

When I first applied my stripes, the plastic squeegee scratched the sh*t out of them! ...Even when using plenty of soap & water.
Got a new set for free and I used a small rolling pin like this. It worked great and did not scratch the stripes at all. Got rid of most of the bubbles too.

If there were and bubbles left, I'd put a small pinhole in the larger ones and squeeze out the water (like a zit). Smaller bubbles evaporated over time from the heat of the sun. It wasn't overnight though, it took a month or so for them to be totally eliminated.

[Smoke Panther]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

the sun would exacerbate the problem, because the gas/fluid will expand with the added heat. I second the pin-prick method for dealing with them

[LarryMow]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

When I installed my stripes, I had the same problems with the bubbles. I had good luck with squee-geeing out most of them, some I popped with a needle, then went over them again with the squeegee. As for the squeegee scratching the stripe...I got my stripes from Phoenix Graphix, I put their decal gel on the outside of the stripe as well. Worked out good for me, your results may vary.

[97iastatecamaro]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

prick em with a pin

[Meatyshells]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

if there is an *** load of them, you may as well just redo the stripes. If there are just a couple of them pin prick them out

[mestupryan]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

you really have to work with stripes, it took me forever to get mine straight and bubble free, but to get them nice and flat with no bubbles, use a hair dryer and blow the hot air on the top of the stripe as you smooth it out. hell i dont even think i used a squegee to get mine right, just my hand, it works just as good. just go a little bit at a time and make sure that area has no bubbles. worked for me!

[Shirl]

Re: Bubbles under stripes... NEED HELP (stripe people)

Thanks for all of the replies. Some good suggestions. :tup: