whats the best vinyl removal method for a van?

[Joe McNamara]

Wallpaper steamer from Wickes….

Comes with two "heads" – Use the little one – bloody brilliant at getting vinyl off.

About £25.

I have 2 of em!

Cheers
Joe

[James Martin]

😀 Looks like I will be visiting Wicks in the morning then me thinks Joe 😀

Will it leave much glue residue behind?

Would Autoglym tar and glue do if there was ?

Jimmy

[Peter Normington]

James. if it’s been recently applied, and decent vinyl, it should just peel off without leaving much adhesive, heating can sometimes make things worse, I would just try peeling it with the aid of a blade to lift the corners first, and see how you go.

Peter

[Robert Lambie]

i use heat gun/paint stripper. strip vinyl. 9/10 times the glue is very minimal if anything at all… tar and glue does the trick no problem. 😀

[Peter Normington]

DO NOT use paint stripper,,, I think Rob was refering to heat guns, not nitromours,
Peter

[Robert Lambie]

:lol1: well, paint stripping heat guns… definately dont use nitro stuff :lol1:

[Joe McNamara]

quote Peter Normington:

heating can sometimes make things worse, I would just try peeling it with the aid of a blade to lift the corners first, and see how you go.

Peter

I know you have your opinion Peter but you shouldn’t dismiss other methods because you think you know best.

Heating will not make removing vinyl worse.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say that when it comes to vinyl removal.
As Robert said, a heat gun is good, but for someone new to the trade, it’s easy to burn a panel by accident, hence the reason for recommending the steamer.
Heating it with a wallpaper steamer won’t make it worse, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend using a blade to lift vinyl (especially to a newbie like James – No offence to you James! – too easy to scratch panels with a slip… ).
Just peeling it cold will almost certainly leave a lot of glue.

Use the steamer James, or a hair dryer will do the job just as well. If you use a heat gun be careful to keep it moving.

[Peter Normington]

James,
I wasnt dismissing the method, just pointing out that there is no definative method. Why buy a steamer when it may not be necasary? OK dont use a blade, if you are not confident, use your nails or a polypropolyne chisel,
I stand by what I say, from experience, heat can (not always) make the adhesive delaminate from the vinyl. So better to try a test bit first, then decide how to remove.

Peter

[Andy Gorman]

You’re right Peter, I stripped a window yesterday and the hairdryer was leaving more glue than stripping cold. I think it’s down to the vinyl, they all behave differently.

In any case, after only a couple of days the vinyl should be fairly easy to get off. If it is really difficult, at least you would have learned a harder lesson: don’t bugger it up next time! 😉

[Robert Lambie]

some vinyls do not leave allot of residue when peeled cold, but i think that is down to how it was applied and how long it has been left. and on some cases the type of vinyl /adhesive. in afct, room temp comes into play there too…
however, i believe that the main reason for glue residue being left is down to how the the area has been heat. warming the vinyl often results in delamination of the vinyl from the adhesive. the trick is to warm the area of the vehicle that you are about to peel, "keeping it warm throughout stripping the vinyl" not the vinyl… its the adhesive that has the bond, the vinyl just sticks to the adhesive.
all too often people get it right, heat the panel and begin peeling, but they turn the gun off when heated to temp… by the time they peel the area the panel is cooling. so when they are nearly finished the adhesive starts to appear… hence why you keep the panel hot throughout peeling.
anything left will be minimal and as i said, a few wipes with tar and glue remover and its gone!

note: after tar and glue remover or any adhesive remover always use something like meths to wipe away the T&G remover residue as it will result in vinyl failure if applying fresh graphics on top.

[Andy Gorman]

Good advice Rob. Do you think a beginner should play safe and use a hairdryer rather than a heat gun? I know I’m always nervous using a heat gun on someone else’s van! A hairdryer takes a bit longer to warm but is safer, and I never use heat guns on windows.

[Peter Normington]

just my opinion, we are vinyl application/removal specialists, not friggin hairdressers.
They dont use dewalt hot air guns, for drying hair, so why should we use hair dryers for removing vinyl? be a man, use the right tool for the job.
dont be a whimp….Andy you disapoint me 😀

Peter

[Andy Gorman]

Actually I do use a Dewalt for drying MY hair, and a scraper, that’s how much of a man I am!

[Peter Normington]

😀

[Shane Drew]

the very best vinyl removal method I have found is to get someone else to do it :lol1:

As has been said, if its only been on a day or two, should come off without leaving glue, if it is anywhere near decent tape.

Personally, I’d not use heat either unless it had been on a while or baked on with our hot weather. The stripper mentioned earlier is a very good method tho if you have a lot of area to do, I’ve done a whole bus in a couple of hours, without it has taken 8 or 9 hours previously.

Paint strip heat gun is pretty easy to use for small areas though.

[Robert Lambie]

i am going to be honest, i have never used a hair dryer…
a hair dryer will never reach the required heat needed in many cases. especially in this cold weather.
i would imagine it wouldnt last that long unless a decent make.
if a decent make you would probably be cheaper buying a good make heat gun.
even using a heat gun on a daily basis i get tons of daft "hairdryer" jokes/comments… :lol1:
a good make of heat gun these days like a bosch has "3 heat settings".
if practicing the likes of vehicle wrapping i think using a hair dryer for the initial softening of the vinyl a good idea for a beginner but even then, once in place you would need a proper heat gun to bake the vinyl in place as the required surface temp when baking the area of vinyl is anything from 100 degrees to 180 degress…

[David Rogers]

LOL (Shane), yup. Best method is having somebody else do it!

Failing that the best method I’ve found over the years is FIRST, try to peel it at the current temp – you might get lucky. (Not at this time of year).

Then, warm with a heat gun – none of that namby-pamby hairdryer guff – proper Bosh, Dewalt or Black & Decker with two/three settings. Just WARM it – usually peels perfectly then with no glue left behind.
There’s no fear of overheating, if you can keep your hand near the heat it’s not going to damage the paint & keep it moving around. Saying that, a customer wanted to help strip his van so I showed him how. He then used my heat gun & blistered his paint…his fault…kept it pointed at one letter for about 10 seconds.

Rookie mistake is to overheat the vinyl & it leaves ALL the glue behind.

Never, ever, EVER use a knife to lift it off a vehicle unless you are incredibly confident you’ll ONLY be lifting vinyl!! I left on of the lads to strip one of our vans…and he chipped the paint on every (insert expletive) letter ‘cos he’s got no fingernails & so picked up a scalpel.

Any residue can be taken off with ‘tar & glue’ remover, a citrus based adhesive remover or just plain old meths & a bit of patience.

Dave

[Robert Lambie]

David Rogers wrote:

quote :

Black & Decker heat gun

that’s a cigarette lighter 😉 :lol1:

🙄

[James Martin]

I actually have a heat gun but i bought the steamer today to be on the safe side.
Couldn’t find one of those polypropylene chisels so I went for a tough squeegee.
for the first few letters i heated and scrapped; it was tough and it left allot of glue but after a while i realised that by heating as many letters that the attachment would cover and scrunching up a corner of each with the squeegee I was then able to get a grip and one by one they peeled off.

then it was the next five or so letters.

tar and glue worked a treat

Still got some more to do and then its the reapply.

thanks for the ideas.

Jimmy

[Shane Drew]

crikey, how big a mistake did you make? :lol1:

[James Martin]

you’ll see it when its finished.

The customer wanted allot of lettering so that’s whats taking the time 🙄

[Craig Brown]

Surprised nobody has mentioned the MBX vinyl remover (German caramel wheel sold through JAG)

Great for removing reflective graphics and brittle film, but lethal in the wrong hands…wouldn’t want to use it on black paint work either but I’d recommend having one in your tool kit if you get involved in a lot of graphic removal work.

[Robert Lambie]

good point Craig…
the MBX tool is excellent for the likes of text work up to about 6 inches high. i see the MBX at its best on reflective text or even the likes of Diamond grade stripes.
i considered buying one a while back, but back then they only had the one powered by a compressor and that didn’t suit as i was working on site. by the time the new one with electrical plug came out i had completed stripping the 30+ vans and never got round to buying one.
i already had and still do have the solid caramel type wheel that fits to a power drill… again, these are nifty tools to have in your box but i wouldn’t really go any bigger than a 4-6 inch letter as they burn out too fast…
as you said also, in the wrong "apprentice" hands you can open yourself a can of problems. 😕

have they come down in price any?

[Craig Brown]

quote Robert Lambie:

have they come down in price any?

They are still a little pricey at £260 mark but I’d still recommend having one in the tool kit – mine paid for itself on the fist day we had it (purely time saved in labour)

Regards Craig B
PS sorry I didn’t come straight back to you – but you need to go to bed earlier :lol1:

[Darryl Seager]

quote Andy Gorman:

Actually I do use a Dewalt for drying MY hair, and a scraper, that’s how much of a man I am!

Is that why you’re wearing that hat on the avatar Andy

[Cheryl Smith]

petrol and match….unless youre gonna want to use the van again. Keeps you warm for a bit too and you can get to meet some nice firemen and nice young policemen and get to see the inside of a cell………fluffy, fluffy clouds…. :crazy:

[Martin Cole]

quote Shane Drew:

the very best vinyl removal method I have found is to get someone else to do it :lol1

After trying all methods Shane’s way is definately the way to go.

I detest removing vinyl. I am recovering a sign I did a couple of years back in a large 10mtr x 1200 digi print, but I spoke my customer out of using me to take off existing vinyl, his staff should be attempting it as we speak all 10mtrs of it, 4mtrs up. :lol1:

[Shane Drew]

quote Martin Cole:

quote Shane Drew:

the very best vinyl removal method I have found is to get someone else to do it :lol1

After trying all methods Shane’s way is definately the way to go.

I detest removing vinyl. I am recovering a sign I did a couple of years back in a large 10mtr x 1200 digi print, but I spoke my customer out of using me to take off existing vinyl, his staff should be attempting it as we speak all 10mtrs of it, 4mtrs up. :lol1:

Funny you should say that Martin.

Had a guy on friday ask me to quote on removing signs from his truck.

Quoted him $50 per hour per man, and we’d have to work slowly to avoid doing any damage.

He decided to do it himself to save money… works everytime 😛

[James Martin]

Well here is the finished article: finished on Sunday evening hence the poor light in the pic.

first vehicle.

Not my design but I think it looks traditional.

thanks for all the input.

It certainly helped.

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[Shane Drew]

well done James. It gets easier from here, as you get more experience.