anyone have any experience with a vinyl removal liquid?

[Philip Gibbs]

I think the solvent in the american product is cyclohexanone (I looked into it a year or so ago but cant remember the product name) which, i think, is the same as "vinyl off". Have a look at the ingredients of your vinyl off. If it is the same then the american product will be no better.

I’ve been experimenting with pvc pipe weld glue which sort of works and turns vinyl into mush but very messy. Not something I can recommend for a customer’s vehicle.
I think Clear Primer for the glue might work if you can find it. Purple Primer seams to be viewed as essential for plumbers in the usa but not in europe and its solvents should soften the glue but the purple colour might dye the paintwork.

Is it a wrap of just flat panels. I was sold an "eco friendly" vinyl (that turned out to be polypropylene) that came off in tiny wafers of material but it would not do anything other than flat surfaces. I removed that with HG Glue remover when I mistakenly decided to try it on our old van.

[Robert Lambie]

Vinyl Off – under perfect conditions for it, comes off amazingly easy!
Cast vinyl which was taking over a day to strip off cast vinyl on one side of a 7.5ton truck came off in (i kid you not) around 10-15 seconds in one piece with zero adhesive left behind.

The trick is that you wash the vinyl areas of the vehicle properly, sponge and water. let it dry in direct warm sunshine.
ONce dry, and in direct sunshine, Spray a mist of vinyl off over the entire surface and leave 10-15 minutes.

Pick a corner off and pull, it comes off clean and easy, just like Plasti-dip! 😉 😆
Seriously though, it comes off with zero effort.

Downside, in UK climate, your never in direct sunshine for long. if the case, it does not work.
maybe indoors with a space heater or IR heater warming the whole side of vehicle at once may make it work. but without the continual heat and the chemical stimulating the vinyl. it simply does not work!
Furthermore, if vinyl off drips over plastic parts of a vehicle like bumpers, side door moulding, front grill etc it will stain it white or light grey. I have that T-shirt too!

in a nutshell.. it works great in the correct conditions. but handle with care also…
Based on UK weather, results are poor and would only use during warm summer days.

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My guess is the vehicle has been wrapped in some sort of regular cast vinyl.
I have come up against this myself and the work was done by a so called reputable Glasgow wrapping firm.
The vans were all wrapped in 48inch wide Avery cast… It was not for budging and i was not about to spend the hours required to remove the vinyl and adhesive as you are experiencing yourself.
I advised the customer to go back to the glasgow firm and outlined why the vinyl they used was not recommended blah blah blah and that "they should strip the vehicle for free" or pay for the damages to their 8+ vans already wrapped in same. I do not know the outcome, but i heard no more, so i am sure they have the blisters to remind them to do the job correct! 😉

anyway, my point here is…
YOU may, at some point lift paint along with the vinyl.
YOU may uncover scalpel marks in the paint.
YOU may damage, dull, lift paint with the chemicals you are using.
YOU may damage the paint with your MBX wheel.
The list goes on… you need to outline the situation with your customer and ask them to agree if they want you to continue. However, if you do, this must be at an hourly rate.

3M also do a paint on paste. you will get this from the likes of william smiths. i have tried this in the past and its too slow, tedious and messy for my liking but its another option if you want to try.

Without seeing the job first hand, but key is to keep a "consistent" on the area you are stripping.
that doesn’t mean heat with heat gun, sit gun down, pick it, heat with gun, sit gun down and pick again… "consistent heat" like an IR heater facing the panel. if it wont pick off, try a sharp teflon blade window tint squeegee and pretty much smear the vinyl off. "if" successful… and left with adhesive. remove it with tar and glue remover or similar.
no matter what you do, its going to be slow and tedious, lots of blisters and so on…

Another option would be a steam clear. old style wallpaper strippers do similar job, i just find them very slow to continually build up heat but these new style pods appear to hold the steam longer and apply it more concentrated areas.

as i say, all just suggestions and guess work unless i can see the job in hand.
Please do me a favour. take some pics and share photos of the things that can and do go wrong by so called wrappers doing a job with budget or wrong vinyl media. they ruin a thriving growing exciting area of our industry which is just getting bigger by the day!

[Jon Marshall]

A latex printed wrap?

I have some car header boards here with a print on that does the same, laminate peels off clean…

I wonder how many other latex wraps are going to be causing issues in the future?

[Barry Smith]

I don’t think it was a latex print, although i did apply a vehicle the other week with the new 2D fleet from spandex printed with my latex , I had a little trimmed off an overlap and was alarmed at how easy the laminate peeled away from the printed surface, heres hoping it cures better after time.

Thanks for all the comments and recommendations, i will look into these.

cheers

[David Stevenson]

When using a streamer to remove vinyl which type do you use? Steam gun like the type you’d use in cleaning the kitchen / tile grout etc, or the one with the square plate designed for wallpaper removal? Thanks

[David Hammond]

We stripped a fleet of 17 vans with partial wraps, including the roofs, in what I think was Oracal 970,the back door recessed panels were flooded in possibly 751.

We picked up two wall paper strippers from Screwfix, absolutely flew through them, we were stripping 3-4 vans a day :thumbsup:

These are the strippers we used https://www.screwfix.com/p/earlex-ss77- … 240v/55559

[Stephen Morriss]

I use a steam cleaner and wall paper stripper all the time for vinyl removal, safe, clean and no residue (apart from when some glue is left behind)

I’ve found that when using heat it’s the panel that needs the heat as this makes the glue release easier and steamers get a lot of heat onto the job without overheating the vinyl.

Interesting to hear about the vinyl off though.

Steve

[David Stevenson]

Cheers guys. Must get one and give it ago. Getting caught to remove advertising for a local garage more and more