Removing vehicle vinyl – How much to charge

[Richard Urquhart]

£80 to get on site and this covers as much as you can do in one hour, then £40 per hour after.

[Malcolm Elliott]

I had budgeted for around £35 per hour so in the right ballpark but what do think about the t-cutting, is it necessary?

[Jill Marie Welsh]

I dunno what t-cutting is (is it buffing?)
I charge $40/hr + materials but when I am done the vehicle is free of vinyl and clean of adhesive.
I use a hair dryer (heat guns are too hot) a L’il Chizler, and Rapid Remover (expensive but good) and a lot of paper towels.
Final cleaning would be with Rapid Prep or Prepsol, then Rapid Tac or Windex.
There are some on here who use a wallpaper steamer, and I know some others who use big automotive heat lamps.
The time depends on the vinyl itself. Some come right off, others are surely what it’s like to be in Hell and picking off the vinyl with the end of your nose for all eternity.
Love….Jill

[Richard Urquhart]

yes a c tut will help after using tar and glue remover. Rich

[Martin Oxenham]

"I dunno what t-cutting is (is it buffing?) "

T-cut is the brand name of a cutting compound or paint restorer used to take off a fine film of paint for removing scratches and marks. Often used by valeters (detailers) etc.

I would tell them that you can not guarantee that you will not be able to see any remains of the old numbers. How well it cleans up will rely on many factors….How much the paint has faded, when they were applied etc.

[John Childs]

Be careful Malcolm, sometimes you can T-Cut until you are blue in the face, but you can still see a ghost image. On one occasion I even saw a van that had had a re-spray and I could still see where the old graphics went. Obviously it depends on the age of the van, and how long the graphics have been on, but the warning is not to let your customer have too great an expectation, which you can’t live up too. Disapoinment lies down that road.

Jill, T-Cut is really the domestic version of the Farecla cutting compounds used in body shops. It is an abrasive liquid which is intended to cheer up old paintwork. It does that by abrading away the surface of the paint, thereby revealing pristine stuff below.

For us, as we know, ghost images are where the van paintwork has been abraded by daily wear and tear and, when we remove old graphics, the exposed paint is like new. So, the idea is go over the whole thing with T-Cut, and hopefully you will bring everything back to the same condition.

added on edit: Beat me too it Martin. 😀

[Martin Oxenham]

Years ago I had a van that was Sign written and I took the paint back to the bare metal to remove it. When it was sprayed in primer you could still see the old letters. Unbelievable !.

[James Martin]

quote John Childs:

abraded

New word. Nice one!

[John Childs]

quote James Martin:

New word. Nice one!

I can’t claim credit for that James, it comes straight out of the dictionary.

tr.v. a·brad·ed, a·brad·ing, a·brades
1. To wear down or rub away by friction; erode.
2. To make weary through constant irritation; wear down spiritually.

And sometimes the second definition can be more useful, especially when dealing with a certain type of customer.

Mind you, I have been known to make up words, or find new uses for old ones. One of my favourites is the word for a flat battery. Flattery – because it gets you nowhere.

[Martin Oxenham]

Flattery……. :lol1: :lol1:

[David Rowland]

We use Auto glym tar and something remover for glues, no t-cuts

[Derek Heron]

we also use auto glym
but were given some sun chemical screenwash SCLO00925
and use a soft scraper or pink chiseler to colect the gooo
and this is even better and much cheaper we always finish off with isoprop

Derek

[Paul Humble]

Rapid Remover and a powerwasher for us. I still hate doing it though and try my best now to get the customer to do it themselves.

[Dan Osterbery]

we use heat to remove the vinyl, then wipe with petrol then scrape off residue with lil chizzler!