Boat Name Removal

[cliffb]

Hi,
I want to remove the vinyl boat name from my AWB. Anyone know if a hair dryer will damage the gelcoat? And having got it off .....will Thinners (to get rid of the residual adhesive) do any damage?
Any experience gratefully received. Thanks

 

[SilverBreeze]

A hair dryer cannot posibly generate enough heat to damage the gelcoat, but will help to ease the glue which sticks your lettering.

Scrape off the lettering with a stanley blade window scraper.

To get rid of residual glue, use acetone or Zippo lighter fluid or even petrol. Wash after with fairy liquid soapy water.

Sometimes, the edges of lettering cause a bulid-up of dirt. Use Cif cleanser and a green kitchen scrupper to gently remove. Cif is for fibreglass bathtubs, perfect for boats.

 

[BrendanS]

Re: Wax removal

Got some candle wax on matt emulsion painted wall. Done the usual things, kithen towel under an iron etc. But wax stiil on wall. how can I remove sufficient to paint over - do I need solvents?

 

[macca]

This site <u>www.boatnames.com.au</u> goes into it in great detail. Suggests turps rather than acetone.

 

[shetland536]

i wanted to replace some vinyl pinstrips on the side of my car, i tried allsorts for hours,in the end i got an extension lead and a full electric kettle and kept my finger on the button so it kept boiling,the strips came of in minutes and no sticky stuff left behind,gave it a polish and did not bother replacing them after all.any way it all depends where you boat is and how scarred you are to keep your finger on the button,steam steam steam. go on you know you want to.

 

[tcm]

Re:acetone

acetone is the stuff to remove old signwriting residue. keep it away fro varnish, fine on cured grop in small qtys.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Re:acetone

Agree with all the above, but after using acetone, wipe over with turps (not white spirit) to prepare the surface for the new letters.

 

[Gunfleet]

Re: Wax removal

If you can't get it off french polish seals just about anything enough to let you recoat with paint.

 

[Matthewb]

I took the stripes off the entire length of the hull using a cheap electric heat gun held well back (12" ish) so it warmed the vinyl and glue but didn't scorch the gelcoat. You have to be careful but it works a treat! Then you can use a Stanley blade to lift the edge and peel off the graphics by hand. Don't try to heat too much at once. I heated a short section, peeled back so far, heated the next bit and so on - it came off very cleanly. If you heat too much the adhesive becomes harder to remove.

As for the residue adhesive - I got some special unbranded Glue Remover which is allegedly not as harmful to gelcoat as Acetone can be, but i think the latter is OK if you are careful with it, don't use too much and get it off quickly.

 

[cliffb]

Thanks one and all.
As usual this is a great place to get advice.

Cheers

 

[aidancoughlan]

I took strips off the side of my Hull recently using a heat gun and a razor blade stripper tool. I used adhesive-removal 'Wipes' in a plastic can from B&Q to remove the residue. - like baby wipes, only covered in goo-removal stuff. Worked well.

 

[kmg3356]

how can i remove a painted boat name off my hull ? Thanks Keith

 

[BrendanS]

You don't say what your hull is made of, so as you are talking about removing a painted name, I'm presuming the hull is not painted and is grp/gelcoat.

Don't use ordinary paint stripper on a grp hull

This stuff is supposed to be OK on grp surfaces, tho I haven't tried it
http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/p/PALPA1/

or there are products like this which will remove antifoul effectively, so should remove other paints too, but might be good idea to call the number on the page and ask

http://www.paint-stripper.co.uk/removall_paint_stripper_marine.htm

Obviously you cannot use chemical strippers if your hull is painted.

Trying to remove the painted name by using fine grade abrasive would be difficult and time consuming without affecting the surrounding gel coat, though you may need to resort to this once the paint is off, as the gel coat under the paint will be a lot less faded than the surrounding area, so you will need to use a 3M or Farecla type product to take the gelcoat back (bit like T-cut on a car)

 

[ex-Gladys]

It's not quite correct that you can't use stripper if your hull is painted.... I used Dilunett on our antifoul, and the instructions on that are clear, it will not affect two pot finishes or acrylic. AS our boat is acrilyced and epoxied, it did not touch them.