vinyl or glue remover?

[David Hammond]

My go too are either:
Autosmart Tardis, or
Metamarks Adhesive Remover.

That said I still come across some jobs where the glue is like sodding concrete.

[Robert Lambie]

I have been using this stuff for as long as I can remember.

I have tried all the citrus and fancy cleaners. they are normally much more expensive for a far less amount and do not do as good a job.

be wary of chemical suppliers selling in bulk unbranded bottles. it is often diluted.

[Gordon Smithard]

A mate of mine swears by a wallpaper stripper, the steam type, to remove vinyl. I suppose any adhesive residue will be a different story, I’ve persevered with white spirit myself but never tried any of the others as I rarely get to remove graphics.

[Mark Johnston]

thanks lads that gives me some good options.

has any of you used or heard of a vinyl remover liquid?

[David Hammond]

Yes, 3M did one and I had some from an old sign supplier.

It doesn’t work all that well, and I’ve found steamer, heat gun, or toffee wheel to be more effective. Plus I heard horror stories of it damaging plastics, ie headlights and bump strips.

[Robert Lambie]

As David mentions… 3M graphics remover.

I used the 3M vinyl remover many years ago and “from memory” I found it messy!
Maybe the 3M vinyl remover has advanced since then but it wasn’t for me.

I prefer a heat gun and tar and glue remover. keeps it simple, and I know it works.
There is a process for removing vinyl properly and like most things, people “think” they are doing it correctly because after all, what could they do wrong? 🤨

There is also a process to properly remove adhesive residue, again, some “think” they are doing it correctly and they are not.

another job from many years ago…
I had a fleet of about 50+ box trucks that I had to strip of Oracal cast.
I knew it was cast because I originally installed the colour change wraps. but now I had to strip and re-wrap them in digital prints.
We had 4 lads stripping these and taking a full day minimum, for one truck, blistered hands and more…

So, I bought “Vinyl Off” from the USA. minimum order was about 30 litres or so. (Six bottles)
You must clean the vinyl thoroughly with soap and water and dry it.
Then spray it with vinyl off from a pump bottle.
Leave it for 15 minutes in direct sunlight.

I followed the process and sprayed the truck and all else.
I left walked around the truck and picked the corner of the vinyl, gave it a hard tug and the entire side of a 7.5 ton truck came off in one single swipe. zero adhesive residue left!

We couldn’t believe our eyes, amazing! we continued the rest of the day doing as much of the fleet that was available.
we arrived the next day, the same process, but the result was completely different. it just wasn’t coming off good at all. yes, it helps greatly in comparison to what we had experienced, but just wasn’t close to the day before. i just could not work it out.

we carried on spraying and prepping 4 more trucks, but the day ended up with little to none completed.
we returned the next day and similar situation. BUT… I noticed white blemishes in the plastic bumpers and door moulding. the parts were bleaching white. basically, everywhere they vinyl off had been dripping onto after repeatedly spraying the day before, was staining the plastics of the four trucks.
4 brand new Merc Atego trucks. Fortunately, i was friends with the customer and we sprayed all the mouldings with grey Apollo ink, and it was sorted within a few hours, but lesson learned, one that could have been very costly.

So what happened with the vinyl off?
from emails and phone calls talking to them. the vehicle MUST be in a warm room or for best results, outside in direct sunlight. perfect if you live in America, not if your in the UK.
our first day using it, it was hot and sunny, the second day was warm/cool and heavy overcast.

[Mark Johnston]

thanks guys. i got a small can of the tardis stuff from a mate and a tub of the tar and glue online.

i hope this is the answer for future jobs. 😎

[Robert Lambie]

The next time that you are removing adhesive, it would be interesting to know how you get on with both types of adhesive remover, Mark. I don’t mean for you to go out of your way at all. I just mean if you have a large patch of adhesive, wipe a bit of both side by side and see which performs better.
I am always interested in better ways of doing something if not better products to use. The Autosmart products have a good reputation, hence why I ask. 🙂