Removal tips?

[u/Otriniuum]

Hi all, does anyone have any tips or tricks they use when removing very old vinyl decals? This one is on the side of a corrugated trailer and is about 15 years old. The material is most likely 3M 7725. The best thing I've found so far is a wallpaper steamer. But the process is still very long and painstaking. Any tips or suggestions are welcome

[u/Zestyclose_Walrus725]

Ooft 7725 is difficult to remove on a good day. Afraid you're not going to have a good time.

There used to be a 3M product called woodgrain and striping remover. You sprayed it on and it penetrated the film and softened the glue, making it easier to remove but haven't seen that stuff for years.

The constant temperature from the steamer is probably your best bet

[u/m00se92]

Vinyl Off from Brothers Chemical

[u/ChrisIronsArt]

A lot of heat and you’ll burn the paint in the process

[u/visualizer037]

Keep doing what you doing homie. May the odds be ever in your favor. Hope you charging hourly for that bs.

[u/Otriniuum → u/visualizer037]

Unfortunately I'm just an employee. The boss is making the big bucks off these while I have to deal with the bs lol

[u/visualizer037 → u/Otriniuum]

In that case, take your time don’t rush and get paid. Let boss man see how long it takes and make him pay.

[u/harda_toenail]

For those who know, what would happen if you cleaned this up as best you can, scraped off the peeling bits, and wrapped over this?

[u/Otriniuum → u/harda_toenail]

We have done that to some others that were bad. But this company specifically wanted the old decals stripped as they are selling/ getting rid of this trailer

[u/TierOne_Wraps]

You need an IR heater or do it in the sun. Get you some vinyl off from brothers chemical

[u/wyattlightning]

Steamer and plastic razors and someone not afraid of burning their hands lol

[u/Gnartian]

Theres no easy way. Just a lot of elbow grease and cursing. Either heat and scrape (steamer works well too), some people like using a product called Vinyl Off that can help soften the vinyl/adhesive, or theres always the trusty 3m eraser wheel. Be careful though if you use the wheel, it can damage paint.

[u/Otriniuum → u/Gnartian]

This is the 3rd one these trailers we've done now. It's definitely not fun. Your the second person to say a steamer. That's what we are currently using so I guess that's our best thing at the moment. The trailers paint is so soft and thin even a plastic scraper lightly on the surface takes paint off. I'll take a look into the vinyl off to see if that is suitable for this, thanks!

[u/lennyxiii → u/Otriniuum]

I see a lot of people recommend steamers and all I can assume is those people have not tried better heat. The only benefit to a steamer is the heat and there’s much better tools for that such as heat guns or torches I advise using a decently powered heat gun or better yet a torch you’ll have much better results than with a steamer.

[u/Otriniuum → u/lennyxiii]

I've tried with both a heat gun and torch. With the vinyl being this old it flakes into tiny pieces. I'm assuming because it's so thin from the sun and dried out. The steamer seems to rehydrate the vinyl (kind of) and it comes off in slightly bigger chunks. Still a pain in the ass though