Decal Removal Tools

I am absolutely amazed! There literally dozens and dozens of corporations, companies, businesses and Mom and Pop organisations on the internet advertising that they are in the business of manufacturing decals and stickers from tiny one inch X one inch up to covering the cargo sides on trucks and even buildings. Yet not one of them in their web sites tells or advises how to remove these decals and stickers from objects when their use by date has arrived. I am also amazed at the number of different materials decals and stickers are manufactured from, paper, vinyl, metallic gold and silver, reflective, clear vinyl, dome (3D), the list is long.

I then checked in some blogs and once again was amazed because there were so many people asking how to safely remove decals and stickers off cars, trucks, motor cycles, windows, machinery, earth moving equipment and so many more but at the top of the list were motor vehicles and trucks. This must be one of the best kept secrets in the decal and sticker industry. I have had over 25 years in the sign industry and it had always been a problem until I found the answer. One of the toughest nuts I have ever had to crack is how to remove security signs, I mean the small plates affixed to some types of expensive vehicles and machinery, they have a simulated metal face but if you ever try to remove them they break into tiny parts and will not come off with a hot air gun. There is only one way to remove these and that is with the best kept secret in the sign industry. It is called the” Wonder Wheel” and I have personally been using this for the last six years and it certainly has made my life easy. It is ever so easy to use, all you need is an electric drill and the “Wonder wheel”  fits into the chuck.  I have taken pin striping off cars in minutes and I don’t have to wear out my finger nail in the process. It is fascinating how and where and different types of decals and stickers it will remove butI have said enough, if you are interested go to their  web site

www.decalstickerremover.com

It certainly is a busy world we live in today, everyone has so much to do and there never seems enough time do and see everything.

Last night I needed to have some stickers made for our vintage car club to go on the windscreen to advise that the owners membership was current for the year. We only needed 100, decided to have them made circular with a few words, the top line will say “Goggomobil Register & Club”, second line, “ Member” and third line “2013”. It then occurred to me I didn’t have a clue where I could get them made so went into the internet. Need I say I was bamboozled by the number of sites there were. There were sites for stickers to do with practically anything. Paper, white vinyl, transparent, dome, metallic foil, silver/gold metallic, dome (3D), religious, fraternity, flower, safety, sorority, glitter powder, custom, instructional, static cling, tribal, advertising, and so the list goes on it seems endless. At long last I found a company who seemed to know what they were doing  so sent off for a quote and the reply came back today so will get them to do the job.

Bet you have never heard of a Goggomobil car? There were made from 1956 till 1962 and were a microcar, less than 10 feet long and had a tiny twin cylinder two stroke engine. They were extremely popular in Europe where over 200,000 were manufactured and due to the good fuel consumption and small price tag they were highly sought after. They were made both in Germany and Australia (under licence). Have included some photos below so you may see these cute little cars.

In a few days we should be posting out our new membership decals to members.

An American past time love is touring the country in a RV Motorhome.

After many years of working, the fortunate couples who have worked hard for their retirement, often buy a Motorhome and tour the USA…. And you can see why with the amazing sights of the Rocky’s, Grand Canyon, and so many historic tours.

I have found over the last few months and maybe it because we are moving towards the summer, I have been receiving enquiries to remove decal strips and stickers from RV motorhomes (campervans).

Couples sometimes buy a RV motorhome that is second hand and some of the older styles campervans have large decals or stripes down the side of the van that need to be removed

Due to the size of them, and often because they have been baked on by the sun, they are hard to remove.

To remove these, I recommend the wonder wheel and recently have had some excellent feedback with the use. One recently happy customer wrote to me saying

“thanks for inviting the Wonder wheel. I ended up buying 3 of them and now have a motorhome that looks brand new”

RV Motor Home - Decals to be removed before touring USA

Happy travelling

Peter

P.S – I didn’t invent the wonder wheel, though appreciate the compliment

I had an enquiry the other day to remove a massive decal from a factory sign.

The company produces glass and had recently re-painted the factory, I presume, to look smarter. (and yes, the business looks very professional now).

The reason I was surprised I had an enquiry from them, is that they produce glass…. and glass often has decals on them. The reason they didn’t know how to remove the decal is they produce the glass and are not involved in the cleaning of glass that can sometime have decals on it.

Anyway, there sign is about 30 foot wide and they had gotten the office jnr to try and remove the massive sign with metal razor blade, heat guns or factory kitchen cleaner. The result, they didnt work that well.

Hence I sent them a demo wheel as I knew they would need a few and guess what, they loved it…..

Below picture is not of the factory sign deacl, that a picture I saw the other week…. a big decal

basketball court decal

I have been struggling to remove some stickers from my motorhome, and I couldn’t believe that no-one has done anything specific for it then I found your website.
However I decided  that I would just carry on and use the hairdryer and fingernail solution, (how hard could it be?) but after another few hours I have given up and bitten the bullet. I ordered a wheel and scrapers from your website a few minutes ago!
I have attached a photo of the motorhome. The stickers on the cab were easy enough to remove, but the stickers on the sides of the habitation have proved to be difficult, I think the aluminium sidings have reacted differently to the glue. In addition to this the pale blue decals are even worse as they don’t stretch when you heat and pull them off they just break (different decal material?) I guess they have been on there over 13 years.
Do you see any potential problems?

______________________________________________________________

No doubt many of you reading this have had the same problem or a similar one and you also have spent long hours with a hot air gun and worn your finger nails down to the skin on the top of your fingers.

I know that when our enquirer receives his Wonder Wheel he is going to be ever so delighted and happy how quickly he can do this job in a fraction of the time even though they have been on the vehicle for 13 years. Believe me I was in the sign industry for almost 25 years and without the Wonder Wheel life was hell and we had to charge customers time to take the old signs off before we could lay down the new signs.  I will definitely be in touch with the gentleman above and let you know how he enjoyed getting the old vinyl off which is no longer a difficult task.

If the sign is an irregular shape, say a can of food, a state map or a piece of machinery, the computer has this shape in its memory from the original artwork and the “cutter”, which forms a part of the large ink jet printer can cut this exact shape over and over again and again into the thousands so the huge decal becomes a kind of artwork.

Originally small stickers, for example instruction information to place on machinery, were silk screened onto sheets of vinyl and then cut to size on a guillotine. Approximately 20 years ago this all changed when a mechanised system driven by a computer with a program for layout, design, color,

sign writing, graphics together with deals and stickers. This machine is the Gerber Edge and today there are similar types of machines available with similar technology. The design is set up on the computer screen and for a job where large amounts of labels are required these can be stepped and repeated. The graphic area is up to 35 cms (13.75 inches) high and as the vinyl comes in rolls 38 cms wide (15 inches) with punched holes along both edges to give a sprocket driven drive  for the feed of the vinyl through the machine. The length of the job is almost unlimited so if you have a label 11.2 cms  (four and a half inches) high and 15cms (6 inches) long, this will allow three labels high to be produced and if your order is for 1,000 labels to be produced the length of the sheet when completed would be 166 feet or 50.59 metres. This printed material is now fed through a cutter plotter that will cut out 1,000 individual labels.

Gerber cutter plotter & foil printer

 The Gerber Edge uses rolls of colored foils instead of ink. If for instance you were printing a copy of a colored photograph you would use magenta, (red) cyan, (blue) yellow and black foils to give a perfect colored copy. If you were only after a white decal/sticker with red letters you would use white viny and red  (magenta)foil.

Rolls of Gerber Edge vinyl

 I once saw a decal that was used as a joke and was a free giveaway in a convention pack. I measured 5 cms x 5 cms (2 inches x 2 inches) and said “Please do not throw you cigarette butts into the toilet as we find them soggy and difficult to light”.

Whenever you wish to remove decals and stickers always use a Blaster Wonder Wheel!

The art of making signs using brushes and paint has almost disappeared in today’s world and the same can be said for decals and stickers which are of the same family. These have been replaced by very thin adhesive backed vinyl as a base material and is available in a huge range of colours plus reflective for traffic signs and metallic surfaced vinyl.

Roland inkjet printer for making signs, decals and stickers

Computer driven machinery can be programmed to cut lettering and shapes in colored vinyl or by using white vinyl  and a huge inkjet printer, almost any effect can be created. Below is a photo of a Roland sign making printer which can make signs up to 1200 millimetres (4 feet) high and by any length to suit. Artwork can be scanned into the computer and then printed or composed on the screen with by means of a sign making program. Complicated, ornate and photographs can easily be reproduced. No doubt you have seen semi trailer with whose sides on the cargo trailer have huge advertising graphics, perhaps a huge hamburger or a rural farm scene for food producers, in fact any kind of graphic you can imagine. If the sign is of irregular shape or size, for instance the map of a state,  a bottle with colored label or of a motor vehicle, the computer has this shape in its memory as part of the art work and the “Cutter” which is a high speed razor sharp knife which will cut out the exact shape required so this huge decal becomes almost a piece of art.

Signs and graphic produced on these large Roland or similar inkjet printers are now produced  with inks that are ultra violet stable and will not fade with light or sunshine  for a period of five to seven years. When the signs need to be replaced the Wonder Wheel is the ideal method and tool for this job, it is quick, easy to use and the most efficient method.

Had to take my two children to a friend’s house two weekends ago for a fourth birthday party for one of his boys as all the children attend the same preschool. The kids had a great time in the cubby house and riding toys plus all the usual party games and of course “the kids’ banquet” and birthday cake.

The favourite ride was a red “Wiggles” car. It has an electric motor drive, very slow really, not a racing car but almost walking speed. The children loved it and Andrew our host said his children never tire of it. The great thing about it is the child can drive it as it has an accelerator on the floor just like a real car or an adult can guide and drive it by a small radio control unit just like radio controlled toy aeroplanes and cars use.

There are decals and stickers all over it for decorative purposes and they are brightly colored. They have had this car for about 18 months and because it is used all the time the decals and stickers are looking “a little bit second hand” due to being scraped, trodden on, rubbed and cracked.  Andrew said he would love to replace these  as he could buy a set of new ones  but already he had tried to remove some of the existing decals but was unsuccessful and if he did do it would take a long time.

I told him about the Wonder Wheel and that it could remove them ever so quickly and I had a spare at home and could bring it over one night during the week. So Tuesday night I returned to his house with a Wonder wheel and cordless drill. Unfortunately the attached photo was taken with the old stickers on and due to the camera angle you cannot see all the stickers as I took it with my son, Nicholas in it at the time of the party.

It took less than 15 minutes to remove 15 decals and the wonderful thing is that although the car is made from molded or blown plastic it did not mark or damage this. Andrew and his wife were amazed and apparently it took a considerable time longer to put the new sticker set on.

Fifteen decals on this little car, not all visible in this photo.

Am sure you must be thinking “What does Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing have to do  with decals and stickers?” The answer is interesting.

I have loved riding motorcycles ever since purchasing a second hand 1954 Lambretta 150cc motor scooter in 1958 and this started a passion (or rather disease) that has lasted 54 years and I now ride a 500cc Gilera Fuoco. So great is this passion that I have ridden a motorcycle over the highest road in the world topping 18380 feet in the Indian Himalayas close to the Chinese border.  Next was riding my own Harley Davidson across the USA from coast to coast and north to south from Canada to Mexico. Next big ride was 3500 kilometres  through Bolivia, Chile and Peru and lastly 3000 kilometres through Mongolia on a Russian motorcycle.

During these rides have  broken down in the high Andes, fallen off many times in Mongolia in the deserts due to the sand, spent many days very cold, wet and hungry and also baked in the heat.

Highest road in the world

But back to Grand Prix racing. This is an ultra competitive sport and the manufacturers who win can look forward to greater sales. The majority of the motorcycles are designed and built in Japan, Italy, Germany and England.

The streamlined fairing on these motorcycles are covered with advertising decals and stickers generally  for products associated with the vehicle, petrol oils, tyres etc and of course the sponsors.

As the competition moves from country to country (and there are 18 meetings in 14 different countries between April and November this year), that means there will almost a full be a need for full time person to remove and apply new decals and stickers. I have repaired and restored many motorcycles and have always thought it would be a dream to be part of a pit crew or mechanic in a racing crew, but facing reality I think the only job I could get would be removing decals with a wonder wheel and applying the new ones (if I was lucky!).

Things commenced to change in the early 1970s. Vinyl lettering was available but as single letters mounted on paper, the lettering had adhesive already on the reverse side. It was time consuming and laborious as each letter had to be mounted individually. There were two basic colors, black and red and a limited range of different type faces and sizes, it certainly was a step in the right direction. A vinyl letter cutting machine together coupled to a computer was the next step. Sign writers were tickled pink for here at last was a machine that had many different type faces and the size of letters could be changed by the press of a button on the keyboard to enlarge or reduce.  In the seventies computers were very expensive and limited in their capacity. One of the other great joys was that you now could make graphics in almost any color just by changing the roll of coloured vinyl you set up in the machine The largest letter one could make was 18 inches (45 centimeters) high and the smallest just over one eighth of an inch (4 millimeters). The letters were cut by a scalpel like razor sharp blade very similar to a stainless steel hobby knife blade. As  the machines were improved  the cutting speed of the machine increased dramatically. Once the letters had been cut it was then “weeded”, the non necessary vinyl removed off the base sheet, that is the vinyl surrounding the letters or graphics and the insides of some letters such as the center of the letters O A D B Q R P G 6 8 9 0

The Gerber Edge was the next step and the advent of computers to  manufacture decals, stickers and graphics was firmly entrenched. The Gerber Edge actually printed onto vinyl using a foil and by four separate color foils  (cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the same colors in you inkjet printers) perfect coloured illustrations or reproduction of photographs or artwork could be reproduced. This machine was also perfect for making small labels, for example small instructions signs to go on machinery, computers, plant and equipment and could produce these in the hundreds or thousands and all cut to size ready to mount.

The industry now has huge “inkjet printers”, a simple way to describe them, these will take vinyl up to 12 feet or larger wide and the length of the signs can be dictated by the operator or made into panels for easier installation on the sides of trucks or large advertising areas ,eg  buses, trolleys and tram cars.

Strangely enough early in the early 1970s when the vinyl cutting machines first commenced appearing  and in their infancy an old timer sign writer I knew very well told me, “ Computers and these new kind of machines will never be able to do the work that a sign writer can do. I will not be buying one”. I haven’t seen the fellow for many years and I wonder if he has a job now.