# Removing Decal Adhesive



## Backslider (May 5, 2012)

Hello
I'm refurbishing 1980s Alumacraft Backtroller 17 and am trying to prep it for painting. I'm removing the boat-long decals (stripes, manufacturer name, model name)with a heat gun and they coming off but leaving a tacky adhesive on the hull. I'm thinking of trying to get rid of this stuff with an orbital sander, acetone, or wire brush wheel. Before trying that I thought I'd ask and see if anyone know if those methods will damage the hull. I plan on painting the boat with a swamp grass camo pattern. Thanks!


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## nomowork (May 5, 2012)

I use WD40 or equivalent to remove that stuff.


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## TheMaestro (May 5, 2012)

+1

Also goo gone/goof off works well


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## Gramps50 (May 6, 2012)

Be careful with WD 40 as paint doesn't like it. The painters I know say it's a pain to get off. From the smell of it Goo Gone is the same thing.

When I refreshed the numbers on my boat I used a heat gun to remove and then lacquer thinner and acetone to get rid of the glue. Actually the lacquer thinner worked the best. I used an old wash cloth for the rag.


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## Backslider (May 6, 2012)

Thanks for the help. I'm planning on painting,so I'll give the acetone and thinner a try.


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## bcbouy (May 6, 2012)

i used goof off to remove my 15 hp stickers (boats have to be registered if over 10 hp) its almost as good as lighter fluid.


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## Backslider (May 6, 2012)

Well, I tried some paint thinner and denatured alcohol...I think this is going to be a big time elbow grease project. The decals covered much of the hull. Maybe I'll need to try some grain alcohol  Would it hurt anything to use a rotary wire brush on it?


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## JamesM56alum (May 6, 2012)

knotted wire brush on a angle grinder, if it's bare alum and your just trying to strip left overs off and you plan on painting it anyways. Fast an easy and dont be alarmed when you scuff up the alum, i used the grinder to strip my entire boat and the paint stuck nicely and you cant even tell it was scuffed.


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## Sawdust Farmer (May 6, 2012)

JamesM56alum said:


> knotted wire brush on a angle grinder, if it's bare alum and your just trying to strip left overs off and you plan on painting it anyways. Fast an easy and dont be alarmed when you scuff up the alum, i used the grinder to strip my entire boat and the paint stuck nicely and you cant even tell it was scuffed.



Agree as long as you're just removing the left overs. Too much sticker and/or glue and you'll end up with more of mess than you started with.


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## Loggerhead Mike (May 7, 2012)

Starter fluid and a coarse rag


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## Gramps50 (May 7, 2012)

If I remember right I rubbed the lacquer thinner on with a rag let it sit for a few seconds, then took a putty knief and scraped off the heavy stuff then used the dampened rag to remove the rest.

I wasn't painting or I would have used the knotted wire brush method after removing the stickers with the heat gun.


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## Beefer (May 7, 2012)

+1 on the heat gun. $10 from harbor freight, and you'll find other uses for it. Goo Gone or Goof Off would be the next in line.


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## Backslider (May 9, 2012)

The results are in. I tried denatured alcohol, lacquer thinner,paint thinner, acetone, Goof Off, and WD 40 trying to remove the 40 acres of 30 year old decal adhesive on my boat. WD 40 was the hands down winner. Still it took 2 hours last night with the WD40, a wire brush, and a scraper to clean 3/4 of the way down the 17 foot boat. I hope the fish will appreciate all the work that's going into this...


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## nomowork (May 9, 2012)

Backslider said:


> The results are in. I tried denatured alcohol, lacquer thinner,paint thinner, acetone, Goof Off, and WD 40 trying to remove the 40 acres of 30 year old decal adhesive on my boat. WD 40 was the hands down winner. Still it took 2 hours last night with the WD40, a wire brush, and a scraper to clean 3/4 of the way down the 17 foot boat. I hope the fish will appreciate all the work that's going into this...



WD40 has also been known to be an effective chumming agent. :roll:


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## DaveInGA (May 14, 2012)

Backslider,

Check out my build in my sig. In it, you'll find where I found a couple chemicals that were highly effective with both sticker/paint removal and carpet glue removal. Sure saved me a lot of muscle work.


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## Auzivision (May 14, 2012)

For whatever reason, Acetone worked best in my case...

Thanks to some tips I read around here (in this thread), I decided to try using a heat gun to remove this old decal.








First, apply heat to sticker







And it will scrape off easier than scaling a fish







To remove the adhesive residue, I wasn’t sure what to use and set up a little “test”







First up were Goo Gone and WD-40, they both worked okay, but required more elbow grease than expected. 







Once I tried Acetone, in my case anyways, it was the hands down winner. Didn’t get around to trying anything else.


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## Wallijig (Jun 3, 2012)

Go to auto paint store. there is a glue remover for the big decals they are putting on now. I can not remember name of it though. Bought a pickup from a business that had huge decals on each side. I tried about all above mention items. then talked to guy who used this product. I sprayed it on pealed sticker off, sprayed again, whipped it off with rag it was really that easy.


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## nomowork (Jun 3, 2012)

I just finished pulling up old linoleum and vinyl tiles in two bathrooms at my son's house. I found a citrus (orange) based floor tile remover at Lowes that did a decent job of getting the old mastic off of the concrete floor. Flooring glue is one of the worst things to try and remove IMO.


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## Backslider (Jun 3, 2012)

I found that when I used the heat gun on the inside of the hull the decals peeled off the the outside of the hull real well, and only left a little bit of adhesive. The adhesive came off with WD40 and a scraper, but it was still a lot of scraper work.


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## GYPSY400 (Jun 3, 2012)

Also, gas line anti freeze works good too!


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## JMichael (Jun 3, 2012)

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned one of the 3m Stripe Off wheels. I've got a buddy that owns a body shop and that's all they use in his shop. They do such a good job that he can remove factory stick-on stripes/graphics and not even damage the paint underneath. I'm not sure it it would do as good on something that's been stuck on for 28 years or not but it removes the sticker and glue on the thing's I've seen them used on.


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