Car decals also known as car stickers or car graphics, are images or graphics cut out of self-adhesive vinyl material that are placed on a vehicle. They are applied to the vehicle using a special tape. The design is digitally printed on vinyl and applied by peeling off the sticker from the background. It has become a trend these days to apply decals on cars. You can find a number of images available for various occasions or events of your life. At some time of life, if you wish to change the decal, you need to be extra careful in order to not damage your car paint. In this article, you will be learning how to remove car decals without damaging paint but before that, here are the things you will need in order to carry out this procedure.
What You Need
- Hairdryer with hot air settings
- Razorblade or a box cutter (if removing from glass)
- Sturdy plastic card — could be a library card, ID card or credit card
- Two clean rags or detailing towels
- Glass cleaning solution (if removing from glass)
- Tree sap remover solution
- Detailing spray or glass cleaner
- Light clay bar and luber
Procedure
Step 1
Ensure the area surrounding the decal is dirt free. It is more preferred to do the procedure after a car wash or just scrub that particular area with soap and a scrubber.
Step 2
Turn on the hairdryer and let it get warm. Keep the dryer a few inches above the sticker and car paint and not directly on the car paint.
Step 3
Place the hairdryer over the center, making sure hot air is coming out. Once the central region of the sticker is warmed up, move the hairdryer around the rest of the sticker. When the entire sticker is warmed up, you may move the dryer towards the edges and warm it up. Do not localize the dryer to one place, keep moving it back and forth or in a circular motion.
Step 4
You may check if the sticker has warmed up evenly by touching it with your palm. If the sticker is ready and evenly heated up, use a hard card like an ID or a credit card and gently scrape up the glue under the sticker in just one direction. Be careful to not do it harshly as you may cause scratches on the paint and you wouldn’t want to damage your car, would you? If removing the sticker with the card is getting difficult for you, you may also try peeling it off with your fingertips. When the area is still warm, you may be able to slide your card under the edge and go throughout the adhesive area.
If the sticker is not peeling off easily, repeat the second and third steps to remove it. You may also use your card back and forth to remove the sticker from the paint. If your sticker is on the car’s glass, you can use a razor blade or a box cutter gently making sure you don’t incur any scratches.
Step 5
Continue scraping off the sticker until it’s completely off the car. The stickers come off when the vinyl loses its texture and breaks apart.
Note: do not panic if the stickers break apart as it’s completely normal during this process.
Step 6
Once the sticker is completely off the car’s paint or window there are chances there might be tiny parts of the sticker left and also the area might be left sticky with the remains. In order to completely remove this, you may repeat steps 1-4. You may also use a few drops of tree sap remover. Just add a few drops on a clean rag or a towel and scrub away on the paint. If the residues remain on your car’s glass, use a razor blade
Step 7
When that part of the car is completely clean, you may use a quick detailing spray or a good glass cleaner to polish that area.
Step 8
To finish it off, you then use a light clay bar to remove the high spots and the bigger prominent parts of the residue. The light clay is a very sticky substance acts and functions just like your face wash which blocks the opened pores of your face. Well here, it cleans the remaining pores or residues on the car. It prevents damaging the color of your car’s paint.
Step 9
Spray some luber on the clay bar and on the sticker area (where it was present) and rub it on the paint. It may seem rough at the beginning but slowly becomes soft as the remaining residues of the car attach themselves to the clay bar. When it turns completely soft, it’s a sign for you to know to move on. You then squeeze the bar and get rid of the contaminants and repeat the step again.
Step 10
Use a clean and dry cloth to wipe the area. A shiny and clean car is now available for your service.
Conclusion
If you’re a car enthusiast, you wouldn’t want to ruin the look of your car by carelessly removing the decals. Instead of regretting it, it’s better to make some efforts and remove the decals according to the techniques mentioned above. You can easily find all the required tools for following this procedure in your house.
The appearance of your car speaks a lot about you regardless of what car you’re driving. Therefore, it’s important to maintain its beauty by putting in a bit of time and effort.
So, to conclude, give your car the look it deserves!