Tips on removing decals?

[spotrot]

After 7 years of mostly outside storage, the decals on my Itasca 30B are peeling at the edges - and they are stained and sun bleached.

Plus I want to remove them because the (extra cost) VETROLITE sides have micro-cracked and need to be painted.

Any tips other than using a heat gun and glove?

Thanks

John

[spotrot]

Great suggestions, thanks to all.

The 3M wheel was new to me so I searched it and found a YouTube video where a couple used 4 of them over something like six 8 hour days (Yikes!)to remove the decals from their RV.

I decided to at least try the heat gun first, mindful of the warning about panel delam. The 1400 Watt heat gun on the low setting worked well. The panels never got above 140 - 160F (which I figured is no hotter than the panels get in sun in AZ).
The decals pulled off after heating with a broad tip held 1/4" off the surface. Holding the gun so that the hot air blew away from the area being pulled off enable me to slowly pull entire labels off in one long motion (after a little practice).
My decals were only 7 years old, so others types or ages might be much harder to remove.
Interestingly only the blue decals looked bad and started peeling on the edges. Perhaps the tan decals didn't get as hot.
Thanks again - this info should be of use to many forum members.
If I buy another RV, it will have full body paint not decals if stored outside!

[Busskipper]

spotrot wrote:
After 7 years of mostly outside storage, the decals on my Itasca 30B are peeling at the edges - and they are stained and sun bleached.

Plus I want to remove them because the (extra cost) VETROLITE sides have micro-cracked and need to be painted.

Any tips other than using a heat gun and glove?

Thanks

John

One thing I used when I did this to take decals off a car, Cut up a couple of old plastic credit cards or the like to then use the sharp edges to lift and pull the vinyl off. The plastic is soft enough to not scratch a clean surface, then I used alcohol to remove any residue left behind.

JMHO,

[viajante]

I used a hair dryer and a plastic scraper (used very gently). The decals came off very easily. After removing I just used a little wax/cleaner and you could not see that a decal had ever been there. This was on a rig with full body paint.

[rgatijnet1]

I would use a hair dryer instead of a heat gun. If you get the sidewall too hot, the glue that is used to attach the sidewall to the foam/frame will soften and the sidewall could start to de-laminate.

[MountainAir05]

Second on the 3m wheel. No damage

[usn2beagles]

I highly recommend using 3m eraser wheels,they are quick and do no damage. You can get them most anyplace that sells body supplies...

[ScottG]

You need a heat gun. Hold it about 8~10" away and pull the sticker at a sharp angle back on itself. If you just pull the sticker off at a 90 degree angle to the surface it may leave behind residue. Using the heat gun you will be able to pull off large area's at a time. You'll know your getting the sticker too hot if it starts to stretch and tear.
It's goes fairly fast once you figure out exactly how close the heat gun it should be. I removed all the graphics on the front of my TT in 30 minutes.