Baked on decal removal

I am trying to remove the registration numbers on an aluminum lund multi species boat. Anyway I have tried the air dryer, then the heat gun trick and can barely get microscopic pieces off and at this rate would take days to remove. Even tried a couple so called decal/adhesive removers to no avail! Seen on youtube a gentleman used a 3M eraser wheel to remove his. Question is has anyone else used the eraser wheel to remove decals? Only 25 bucks on Amazon and thinking its my last resort.Any information would be appreciated. TYVM in advance....
Marky

Have you tried WD-40? Maybe spray it on, then stick a paper towel to it and saturate the paper towel.

Is this a painted hull? If not painted, some of the better solvents like lacquer thinner can give impressive results when other things fail.

I used a single edged razor blade. Just have to be careful with the blade angle to keep from getting into boat.

I watched a buddy use one of the eraser wheels to remove LOTS of decals from the sides of an aluminum trailer. Worked better than other methods he tried. He got his at a local Auto Parts store.

Catfan..Thanks and yes it is a painted aluminum hull. I did try a couple applications of WD40 , and also goo gone and some kind of aircraft decal remover. Have not done the paper towel deal tho. Think I will try that now and see what it looks like after work, but dont have a whole lot of confidence in getting these stubborn numbers off anymore.Thanks!
Marky

Thx Clint--If the WD40 soak doesnt work I will order the wheel. Heading up to my daughters in Wisconsin tomorrow so I would have amazon prime send it up there.Got some nice numbers from Iquana Grafix that will look real nice if I can manage to get the old off.
Marky

I always put my new ones right over the old ones. So far I haven't had an issue doing so.

:hesaid

I tried using those erasers on our big trucks to remove decals. They will work but sure got to be careful. They will get your paint so fast it will scare you. Most any solvent strong enough will get paint also. Just take your time.

Sometimes rubbing alcohol will work too. I have also heard of using brake fluid. Don't have first hand experience with either, but I have heard others say they work.

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I had a time with 14 year old reg. stickers too on a painted tin hull. These were the old style reflective mailbox stickers.

I finally had to use a razor blade and a heat gun. I had to get it really, really hot. It was doing the same thing, just breaking very small pieces and its what these stickers are designed to do. After losing patience, I would get a 1 inch area very hot and slip the blade under it as far as I could and press the corner of the number on the blade to stick to it and just let it hang until I got the area above it very hot. Having the corner of the sticker helped being stuck to the blade for puling. It took a little time, but didn't do anything to the paint. Just use a new blade, take your time and get it really hot. I hit the old glue with lacquer thinner to break it down and then it just wiped off with WD40.

Thanks guys. WD40 didnt phase these stickers! Hammerhead, I believe these are the old mail box stickers as I remember buying them at an old hardware store downtown a few years ago. Had my daughter order me the 3m eraser wheel and also the 3m adhesive remover so reckon see if that will work and if not take it to a body shop and let them figure it out. Looks like crap now after I botched one side up. Great site and alot of nice folks. Good luck fishing!
Marky

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Originally Posted by Marky

Thanks guys. WD40 didnt phase these stickers! Hammerhead, I believe these are the old mail box stickers as I remember buying them at an old hardware store downtown a few years ago. Had my daughter order me the 3m eraser wheel and also the 3m adhesive remover so reckon see if that will work and if not take it to a body shop and let them figure it out. Looks like crap now after I botched one side up. Great site and alot of nice folks. Good luck fishing!
Marky

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Get them hot and they will come off. They're multi layer decals and clear layer on the top will start shrinking when you know they're ready to pull on. Once you find out what it takes you can run through them pretty quick. Don't worry, they will bubble like a blister when you know that spot is a little too hot.

Appreciate it guys! Ill give it another shot when I get to the Northwoods on Wed.
Marky

The only reason to heat the decal is to allow the vinyl to stretch rather than break and it will soften the glue in newer decals. Overheating will break the vinyl memory and increase the brittleness. Your also gonna screw up the paint overheating it. Those decals were probably reflective which is a lot harder to remove. NAPA auto parts sells one of the wheels that will work and cause no harm to the paint if you follow the rpm requirements listed for it.
I've been making and removing vinyl letter for 25 yrs. never met one I couldn't remove and only used a wheel twice

Try "Goo-Gone".

I used fingernail polish remover(acetone), worked pretty good, still took 2 hours.

Just went through this in February when I bought a used (fiberglass) boat.
I used a heat gun to get the stickers off and it worked great. The adhesive left behind was tough. I sprayed WD-40 on it, let it soak a few minutes, and GENTLY scrubbed it off with steel wool so not to mess up the gel coat. It was steel wool/brillo pads with soap in it (not sure if soap made a difference). It worked fantastic.

Turtle Wax label & sticker remover from Auto zone did the trick for me.