Best way to remove vinyl stickers

What is the best way to remove vinyl stickers that are on the paint job? I have the "TDI Sport Edition" badges that I want to put under the side markers. So What is the best way to get these off?

Tweezers, hair dryer, and lots of patience!

The way I've taken a vinyl dealer decal off a car once was to heat the decal(s) up with a hair dryer and CAREFULLY peel it up using the tweezers while continuing to heat it. Then I used some bug and tar remover to remove the last little bits of adhesive residue.

The adhesive will eventually soften and let go when it gets hot enough. Work slowly, carefully, and patiently and the decals will come off cleanly and easily. Then apply some bug and tar remover to clean up any remaining residue.

Use a hair dryer, not a heat gun! A hair dryer should get everything hot enough for the adhesive to soften and let go but not so hot that the paint/clearcoat gets damaged. The risk with a heat gun is that it can get things too hot and start to burn stuff.

The lettering on the back of my Golf is white reflective vinyl, put on by a local sign shop. I hope I don't have to take any of it off anytime soon.

Good luck.

~ n1das

Actually, 3M makes a vinyl removal wheel that you can buy at any auto body store. Spin it in a drill... works like an eraser. Worth every penny!

Goo-gone.. Usefull for anything that is sticky.. not sure of what it would do to autobody paint though.

I have found that some coin-op car washes have enough pressure to easilly remove those stickers. Just point the hi-pressure water spray parallel to the paint... once it gets under the sticker... it peels right off. (not the paint...the sticker LOL)

i do vinyl stickers as a side job and i use a heat gun it just gets it hotter faster and just when its hot to touch like being out in the hot sun is all the hotter ill get it then it peels right off.
if ya need new stickers of any font let me know

Removing vinyl from the car? Time to unpimp ze otto!

n1das said:

Tweezers, hair dryer, and lots of patience!

<snip>

The lettering on the back of my Golf is white reflective vinyl, put on by a local sign shop. I hope I don't have to take any of it off anytime soon.

Good luck.

~ n1das

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I took the lettering off my 02 Golf last year. I did it in 98F degree summer weather. I let the hot afternoon sun bake the car before working on it. The heat served to soften the adhesive. Then I carefully used my fingers, lots of TurtleWax Bug 'n Tar Remover, and a lot of scrubbing the area with a soft cloth covered in Bug 'n Tar Remover. After an hour and a half of scrubbing, all traces of lettering on the back of the Golf were gone. I was also just about dead from heat exhaustion from being out in the heat in direct sunlight during the afternoon.

Bug and Tar Remover worked great to help dissolve the adhesive. I only used my fingers to peel the letters off to eliminate any risk of damage caused by a tool. The back of the car looks like it never had any lettering put on it.

I let it sit in the sun as well, then peel off with my fingernails. I remove the residue with rubbing alcohol. Real stubborn stickers might need very careful use of the Pampered Chef plastic scraping blade. (Don't tell my wife.)

jbrone said:

Pampered Chef plastic scraping blade.

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lol! Me too!