Decal Removal

[craftyfox]

Hubby has taken off the large decals that were covering the lower half of our cargo doors and we are left with half the door white and the other half not so white. Does anyone have any suggestions for brightening up the area that was exposed to the weather? Maybe bleach? I've read where Fusion paint was used to bring yellowed trim, vents, etc., back to white but wonder how it would work on such a large area.

Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

[Weldon]

mwagner, how long has it been since the painting? Is the paint holding up the way you wanted?

[mwagner1948]

My decals were coming of my 2006 Allegro Open Road. They were especially bad on my passenger side cargo lids. As a master of incrementalism, I removed the old decals with a hair dryer. You just get it started and then you pull with the hair dryer behind your work.
I then cleaned all the dirt and glue off with iso alcohol using rubber gloves and a rag. I used frog tape where the old lines of the decal were and masked the other 12 to 18 inches with blue tape and newspapers.
Here is the best part. I repainted the old area of the decals with Rust-Oleum Universal Forged Hammer Paint and Primer, Burnished Amber.
It almost exactly matches the color and texture of the old decals. I bought the paint at Home Depot for about $8.00. The clerk warned me of the 30 minute to 2 hour recoating time or 7 DAYS, which is in the fine print. I will be doing more of this as the decals fall off. I think this is much better than new decals, and it costs very little. This project turned out great.

[JohnG3]

Found where I bought them: www.autobodytoolmart.com. They're a 3M product called Stripe off wheels. Autobody Tool Part# 4122 or 3M part number 07498.

[JohnG3]

tallpall888 wrote:
Don't remember where I got them but "eraser wheels" attached to a drill were effective for me. Got three of them off the internet and used them to remove severely cracked decals that had been exposed to Texas sun over a couple of summers.
These were solid discs of eraser, gum colored. You hold it up to the decal and it heats it up and 'erases' it. Some material from the wheel is sacrificed in the process, like a pencil eraser, but it is effective.
A quick search shows similar products available that are fluted. Don't know if they are better, but they sure cost a lot more. I got the original three disk, complete with shanks to be ready for a drill, for about 18 bucks. One disk is good for about a square yard of decals which will take about an hour..

They're called "Large Stripe Removal Disc". Eastmans or other on line automotive paint and body supply houses carry them. I bought a couple types and found that the solid wheel that is about 3 to 4 inches in diameter worked best. There is a disc that is about 10 inches in diameter made up of 8 layers of maybe 1/16 inch thick pads that attaches to a hand grinder. Found that was more work than the small wheel as the large one seemed to leave more glue on the trailer than the small wheel. Keep the RPM's down on the small tool and it will last longer. I used the drill motor at high speed and egg shaped a couple wheels before I found that a very slow speed actually made the job go faster than high speed.

[craftyfox]

He has used the eraser wheel on others but on these he used a single edge razor blade in a long handled scraper..the scraper handle was about a foot long...go SLOW and STAY FOCUSED..take your time. The adhesive that remained came off with several applications of Goo Gone. Looks great except for the difference in whiteness.

[tallpall888]

Don't remember where I got them but "eraser wheels" attached to a drill were effective for me. Got three of them off the internet and used them to remove severely cracked decals that had been exposed to Texas sun over a couple of summers.
These were solid discs of eraser, gum colored. You hold it up to the decal and it heats it up and 'erases' it. Some material from the wheel is sacrificed in the process, like a pencil eraser, but it is effective.
A quick search shows similar products available that are fluted. Don't know if they are better, but they sure cost a lot more. I got the original three disk, complete with shanks to be ready for a drill, for about 18 bucks. One disk is good for about a square yard of decals which will take about an hour..

[alexs]

better question, how did he remove the sticker? I am trying to remove some peeling ones and it is just flaking off.

[dclark1946]

I assume he removed them because they were in bad shape. If you have good digital photos of yout RV you can have the decals duplicated by a graphics shop. I had all of ours removed and replaced by a local sign shop. I got to pick a much better quality decal material for the new ones. Our 7 year old trailer still looks very nice with this issue corrected.

Dick

[BIKERK9]

The shadows left behind from removing decals are like a tattoo. They are permanent. A tattoo can not be 100% removed, it must be covered with something the same size or larger. And on a RV, that means replacing decals every so many years or paint in your choice of colors.
Paint increases the resale value of an RV compared to decals.

[beemerphile1]

Go camping and after a couple years it won't be noticeable.

[PMcColley]

You will not be able to get rid of the fade lines. That is the effect of the UV exposure. Over time as the newly exposed area now gets the same exposure it will lesson the effect but its not in the top layer of clearcoat so the buffing and waxing will only help if the exposed area is oxidized. The pigments in the base coat and fiberglass fade and the only easy way to fix it is a larger decal over the same area otherwise you can repaint or wrap the unit.

Same thing happens to cars if you a buy a new car you can remove the decals in the first year with virtually no shadowing.

This is also a common problem if you get your vehicle wrapped for marketing and then remove the wrap after 2 years any spots not covered by the wrap will have faded and cause the uneven shadowing in the paint.

[Hank_MI]

RV CONUS wrote:
Try Bar Keepers Friend, worked for mine; as well as other stains.

I removed the peeling Bounder stickers on our MH. Used Bar Keepers Friend and scotch bright pad, equal to "0" steel wool. If you know where to look and look hard enough you can see a faint outline of the old sticker. Most people will never notice though. This is on fiber glass not a painted surface.

I actually used the scotch bright and Bar Keepers Friend on the whole rig before applying Zep wet look floor polish.

[woodsmitch]

Go to a boat/marine shop and buy some 3M restorer. It will take the oxidation on the exposed parts aaway.

[RV_CONUS]

Try Bar Keepers Friend, worked for mine; as well as other stains.