How to remove stickers

[RatRodDad]

Everyone seems to agree that I need to remove the stickers from my cruiser. Any ideas on the best way to remove them?

Will heat do it? Or maybe Goo Be Gone or some other solvent?

If you have any experience with it, let me know. Thanks.

Here's the bike. It has stickers on the down tube, on the chain guard, the front forks, etc.

 

[Vroom]

I use a paint strip heat gun , this warms and reactivates
the glue . Don't use a scraper as it will scratch the paint,
I just use my thumbnail.

After most of it is off I just remove the residue with paint
thinner.
It probably does not apply to your frame , but some are
clearcoated after the decals are put on. This will leave a
"ghost" of where you removed the decal.

Good Luck, Vroom!

 

[62Higgins]

I have had decent luck with a standard hair/blow dryer on a low setting. I have found that going real slow while pulling them off can be a big help.

A good dose of WD 40 left to soak on it will do a pretty good job of removing any residue.

Not all stickers are created equal and the cheaper ones seem to leave the biggest mess when you remove them.

 

[RatRodDad]

Thanks, guys. I don't have a heat gun, but I do have a hair dryer, so I will give that a shot sometime and see how it does.

I know that Goo Be Gone does a great job at removing old adhesive from tape, etc. Even stuff that's been on something for years. So that might also help in the "clean up" once the stickers are gone.

 

[PastorRat]

...I know that Goo Be Gone does a great job at removing old adhesive from tape, etc. Even stuff that's been on something for years. So that might also help in the "clean up" once the stickers are gone.

Lawd, be careful with the Goo Bee Gone! Before you know it you'll be down to primer and then bare metal, and then you'll be swearin, and it won't be "Get behind me Shimano!" Try ever so small amounts of rubbing alcohol on a cotton cloth. If no luck move up to fingernail polish remover. But go slow. Don't rush yourself.

Now the bigger question RatRodsDad, is what is that purdy 10 speed vintage lightweight that just barely peeks into the picture? Oh how you tease P-Ratty. Now I'm saying "Get behind me Shimano!" :mrgreen: I can't help but notice the chrome on the tines of that fork. It's Show and Tell time here on RRB.com.

 

[RatRodDad]

PastorRat, thanks much for the tip on the Goo Be Gone. If I use it I will be sure to try it on the bottom of a rail first to make sure it doesn't do any damage to the paint.

Here's a shot of the 12 speed road bike you saw in my other picture. I just sold it yesterday using Craigslist. It was one I bought probably 8 or 9 years ago at a garage sale and then only rode once or twice. It's been sitting in my garage ever since.

It was a tall bike (33" step over) which made it hard for my short legs to touch the ground (notice the seat position) and I also found out I'm not the Lance Armstrong type - riding bent over all day - so I finally got it out, cleaned it up, and sold it.

I will stick with my cruiser bike. That's the kind of bike I can handle and actually enjoy riding.

 

[PastorRat]

RRD,

Thanks for sharing the picture of the 12 speed and it looks very nice indeed. You did a nice job making it ready to sell. Most of my riding is on vintage road bikes. My main ride until this past November has been a '79 Schwinn Traveler I bought new with wedding money a little over a 1/4 century ago. This year alone I rode it nearly 2000 miles, 1/2 of which was on a trainer during the winter months.

For the past year I have been restoring a '66 Paramount, Schwinn's top of the line road bike. While the frame looks the same as the Traveler, that is the only comparison. It is really awesome to ride. I completed everything except the wheel build the end of October so I rode it in November but it is now put away for the winter.

I have yet to find a suitable bike at the dump to Rat Rod, but one will come. I have faith. :wink: :wink: In the mean time I have some interesting projects to work on during the long cold winter.

 

[RatRodDad]

Thanks for sharing the pics of the road bikes, PR. They both look good.

I will have to stick with my cruiser, though. I don't think my poor back would handle much of a road bike ride anymore.

 

['72 Eliminator]

I have a twist on the removing decals question. How would I go about removing a decal intact? The reason I ask is I'd like to be able to remove several old decals in hopes of creating reproductions using a scanner.

One I have in mind atm is the old BMA/6 sticker on 70's & 80's Murrays. I have already made available on my website a reproduction but am not satisfied with it at all. One bike I currently have has this decal on it in pristine, like new shape, and it kills me that I can't just get the thing off. (I've fubared several over the years trying.)

Any ideas how to go about this without mangling it?

 

[RatRodDad]

'72 Eliminator, using a hair dryer losened them up for me, but I wasn't trying to be careful when removing them. Some did come off whole, but others tore as I pulled them off.

It could be that if I got them hotter before trying to remove them they may have come off more easily and then come off whole. Or I could have done it a little more carefully had I wanted to save them.

One thought is that you might just take some good high pixel digital photos of the decals before messing with them. If you can use a scan to make a reproduction then maybe you could do the same thing using a high quality photo.

 

['72 Eliminator]

RatRodDad, thanks for the info. I had considered using the hairdryer idea as mentioned earlier in the thread but I was worried about mangling it. I will try to lift the decal today using this idea. Once it is nice and hot I plan to use a razor blade to try and lift the edges to get it started. I figure if I can get someone to hold the hairdryer for me as I work I may be able to lift it slowly and carefully enough to remove it complete and intact.

The reason I wanted to use a scanner to copy it is my experience with trying to copy from digital photos. On a flat surface like a chainguard it's rather easy. Using a piece of onionskin paper over the decal you can trace it's exact dimensions, size, and such so you have a reference. The digital picture can then be run through a combination of photoshop & paint till you get it just about how you want it. However, when it comes to decals on tubing it gets alot more tricky! There is nothing quite as futile as trying to coordinate three seperate digital pictures into one image.

Anyway, here is a jpeg version of the BMA/6 decal I have on my website in the Download section. The one on the site is in photoshop format so I rendered it to jpeg for display here. As you can see, digital photos are not the way to go when trying to deal with decals such as this one.

I'll let everyone know how it went.

 

[RatRodDad]

I see what you mean about the image not being true compared to the actual sticker.

Once I heated up the stickers on my bike I could just scratch up a corner and then begin to peal them off. So hopefully if you get the sticker hot enough and use a razor blade to get it started, it will come off in one piece with no problem.

Lots of luck on it.

 

[nogoodnic42]

Just wanted to give this a bump because I really had to search deep to find it. I'm building up an old BMX for one of the kids at church and after stripping the frame to bare metal I realized that I forgot to do the forks. The paint on the forks isn't too bad so I'm just going to strip the stickers and build the bike up. Thanks for the help...Kelly

 

[Fotog_ink]

STICKERS

Ever since I was in ART SCHOOL back in 88....my teacher taught me to use a hair dryer, and I have ever since. From Dishes at Target, to bnike parts.
It really does work great...and what you cant get off, try WD-40 - an d yer fingernail . I've also had a lot of luck with Automotive Windshield wiper fluid. Leaves little gunk behind. My problem with STICKER REMOVERS like GOO BE GONE, and the like...is the citrus or oils they add- leaving it hard to get 100% clean.

 

[razzerx]

Heat gun to remove the sticker and WD-40 to get rid of the glue left over.

 

[new_dharma]

+1 on the heatgun

 

[raleigh boi]

Heat gun to remove the sticker and white spirit to remove the glue.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[PHXKSTM]

i'm working on this today to the top

 

[bigredddaddy]

I've used zippo lighter fluid to get the leftover glue junk off. My .02

 

[sensor]

3m eraser wheel mounted in a drill with a cheater valve(for that perfect speed :wink: )