Pretty much all boats have decals on them. They are used to display the name of the boat or boat number.
If your boat has a fiberglass hull, then I strongly recommend not to use a metal razor blade as its easy to damage the surface.
The other method also used to remove decals is a heat gun or hair dryer. Now I would suggest that this technique is fine for cars and trucks, though with boats and a fiberglass hull, I caution against this method.
The reason is that heat can affect fiberglass in an unusual way.
The steps to follow to remove the decal are
1) Use a plastic razor blade (so the surface is not damaged) such as Wonder Blade to lift the edge of the decal
2) Once you have lifted the edge of the decal, slowly push the decal along to remove the whole decal
3) Use some Eucalyptus oil to remove any adhesive left on the surface
4) Wash clean with tap water so the surface is like new
Before you read any further, I have to admit, we have not received the feedback from the customer to how our product worked in removing a decal from the plane.
Apparently these days, even private planes have marketing on the side of them. And when that plane has new owners, that old marketing slogan is no longer needed.
Due to the size of decal, we recommended the Wonder Wheel. This marketing advertisement was about 4 x 2 foot so a single Wonder Wheel would do the job.
Now most planes are painted with a high quality grade paint so we were comfortable that removing the decal would be fine. We did caution the guy who was removing the decal not to use any man-made / or flammable adhesive removers on the job, due to the strict levels of safety in the aviation industry. We recommended he use some naturally produced eucalyptus oil to remove any adhesive left on after the decal was removed.
So hopefully we have another happy customer and a fresh looking plane, free of decals.
About three months ago we received an enquiry from the food catering division of an International Airline - Emirates.
Apparently, those trolleys the air hostess push up and down the aisle’s that contain your meals, get a lot of decals on them. We are not sure what type of decals, but we know they need to be removed.
Generally the trolley’s are made from aluminium so there is no concern about damaging the surface. The customer was after the fastest way to remove the decals. Our suggestion… the Wonder Wheel.
There are other products out there that work at removing the decals. They could have used a metal razor blade (though I guess they didn’t due to employee safety and the chance of cutting yourself) or they could have used a plastic razor blade, such as the Wonder Blade. These products works well, though better for smaller and delicate areas where speed is not the most important element.
So what was the outcome… well the Airline must have a a lot of decals to remove as they have used a bunch of Wonder Wheels and from what I hear, they are pretty happy with the results
I was recently travelling through Honduras and came across the situation when a decal / sticker ended up on the back on my iPhone (well actually it was young niece who asked which Dora sticker I would prefer).
So I have a great iPhone, though with a sticker on the back that has only half come off. I tried initially peeling it off, though only the shiny sticker part came off. What was left was the adhesive and some rough paper.
I was cautious of using any spirits or chemicals to remove the sticker as the back of the iPhone is plastic, so didn’t want to damage the surface. Hence I decided to use some Eucalyptus oil.
Good stuff – the adhesive easily rubbed off and my iphone is looking cleaner than ever
(P.S – I haven’t told my niece that the Dora sticker is no longer on the back of my phone)
A couple of weeks back, a buddy of mine got a car parking ticket PLUS a massive 1 x 1 foot parking sticker put on the side of his window. Now this sticker is big, plus has so much adhesive that you can not pull it off.
He spent 30 minute’s using his fingers nails and got no-where.
The reason it’s so hard to remove is because there is a huge amount of adhesive used to keep the sticker on the window – I guess the parking officer’s use these almost impossible to remove stickers to deter people from parking illegally in future (in addition to the fine!!!)
So the good news is I managed to help my buddy out. I took over a Wonder Wheel and after about 15 minutes, had removed the whole decal…. He was most impressed. However, as there was so much adhesive, we did need to wipe some of this off at the end (we used Eucalyptus oil – which is a natural product so doesn’t affect your hands)
So hopefully you avoid getting parking notices in the future and if you get one of these big, ugly and hard to remove parking infringements stickers, then you know where to go to get the tool to remove it. (there is even a video of seeing the Wonder Wheel in action)
Safe parking
A lot of trailers and trucks come with decals or signage along the side of them. This is a great marketing tool. However, over time, brands change or trucks need new marketing so you need a way of removing these decals.
The suggestion we have for removing the decals from the side of trucks are:
1) Plastic razor blade. The Wonder Blade can be used to get under the decal and lift it off. As the blade is made from plastic, it won’t rip or damage the tarpaulin
2) Metal Razor blade. We don’t recommend this as its easy to rip the tarp. This can turn into a very costly exercise.
3) Heat gun. A heat gun works by heating up the adhesive so it loses it sticky quality. This then lets you peel back the decal. We recommend testing in a discrete spot first as a heat gun can sometimes affect the tarpaulin
Good luck removing those decals
Have you noticed how many stickers are stuck on trains. You know, those one’s that some bored person has stuck onto the inside of a train carriage or the back of a train seat.
So how do you remove these?
The suggestion we have for removing the decals are:
1) Wonder Wheel. This is a great tool when moving larger decals. It works by the soft rubber wheel wearing away the surface. There is a video demonstration you can view of it working. We recommend testing it first in a small area to make sure it doesn’t affect the surface
2) Heat gun. A heat gun works by heating up the adhesive so it loses it sticky quality. This then lets you peel back the decal. We recommend testing in a discrete spot first as a heat gun can sometimes affect the surface – especially if its plastic
3) Plastic razor blade. The Wonder Blade can be used to get under the decal and lift it off. As the blade is made from plastic, it won’t damage the surface
4) Metal Razor blade. We don’t recommend this as its easy to scratch the surface (unless the decal is on glass, then it’s okay).
Enjoy your commuting
It’s not a common problem though if you own a motor bike, especially a 2nd hand one, then removing an old decal from the petrol tank can be quite annoying,
What is needed is a simple method that won’t damage the surface and is effective. For this application we recommend using
1) Plastic razor blade
Using a plastic razor blade is simple and won’t damage the surface. As petrol tanks are often painted you need to be cautious not to damage or scratch it. Using a plastic blade such as the Wonder Blade is the safest option
(Using a metal razor makes it too easy to scratch the surface so we don’t recommend this).
Using a product such as Eucalyptus is a good idea to remove the adhesive that can be left on the surface once the decal is removed.
Enjoy riding
Often PC’s come with manufactured or asset labels that need to be removed. Due to PC’s being made from plastic then using a chemical is not recommended due to the way it can re-act with the surface.
What is needed is a simple method that won’t damage the surface and is effective. For this application we recommend using either
1) Plastic razor blade
2) Metal razor blade (only if it’s stuck on the back of the PC)
Using a plastic razor blade is simple and won’t damage the surface. As outer casing of PC’s is made from plastic you need to be cautious not to damage or scratch it. Using a plastic blade such as the Wonder Blade is the safest option
If the decal is on the back of the PC, then it’s possible to use a Metal razor blade. We don’t recommend using these on any areas on the front of the PC due to it being able to scratch the surface (and also the ability to cut yourself)
Last week we talked about removing decals from a basketball court and how a plastic razor blade like the Wonder blade was the best tool.
Well I received an email from the same guy, now wanting to know how to get rid of the adhesive that the decal left on the court surface.
For this situation we took a different approach. We don’t normally recommend man made chemicals to remove adhesive because of the adverse affects they can have on your skin – we have seen some bad stuff.
Firstly, you have to ensure that the surface area where the decal has been removed, hasn’t affected the polished floor boards. If you use any chemical on a non polished (no lacquer) floor board, then the chemical can really affect the wood. (i.e. making it swell up or bubble)
So after our buddy confirmed the wooden floor boards were still polished and he hadn’t removed any of the lacquer we recommended he use eucalyptus oil. This is a natural product from gum trees and works really well at removing any goo or adhesive.
The result a clean basketball court with the sponsors decal removed
