Removing Old Adhesive

I am trying to remove the old adhesive from the previous owners name on the front of my boat. I have no idea how long the graphics were on there. I have the lettering removed but the adhesive remains. You can still see the old name, especially the closer you get to the boat.

Here is what I have tried:
Denatured alcohol
Paint thinner
Goo be Gone
Flat razor blade

I have also used a blue scrubbing pad with the goo be gone to no avail.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Chris

Are you able to see the name because of the adhesive or because of the paint color difference?
May look odd but to remove all sort of adhesive I like to use finger nail varnish remover from any drug store (my wife does not like it as much as I do lol). Soft enough not to damage paint but hard enough to dissolve adhesive.

L

On a previous boat we had to paint the transom. He had metal flake vinyl letters and it literally burned the gel coat brown. We tried sanding but it went very deep. You might try a polishing compound and then waxing. Just don’t go with a really aggressive compound first. Start light and work your way up in grit.

I have also had good success with 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover.

Eucalyptus oil is usually effective but may be difficult for you to source. I`m yet to see a koala with an adhesive label attached .

3m general purpose adhesive remover. I use this product too often, but it really works on lots of things.

Lacquer thinner or acetone will remove almost anything

Heat gun is best with rigid plastic scraper, putty knife, or jackknife.
Clean up residue with acetone.

If you are trying to remove old adhesive follow the link that koliver posted. The rubber wheels can be used with a cordless drill. The rubber coats the adhesive with rubber dust and it just falls to the ground. All solvents do is melt the glue and allow you to spread it around, once the solvent evaporates the glue returns to being a sticky mess.

I am doing the same thing right now. I am using alcohol and a 1/8" flat screwdriver with painters tape over the blade. You can't use anything too wide. Otherwise it will go over the glue, rather than digging in and removing it.

What I found is that the alcohol will soften the glue. Then using the screwdriver, the glue will roll up in a ball. I use a rag too, but after rubbing for a minute the glue will build up. So I am always turning the rag to a clean spot.

Try Acetone, carefully.

pete

Use a polisher with foam pad and polishing compound. Is it really leftover adhesive as in sitting on top of the gelcoat? or a stain or uv fading around the old letters. Try some oxalic acid.

Maybe the porous gelcoat has absorbed some staining. Like Comodave says, it may have gone deep into the gelcoat, so paint them, little else may work.

If an impossible to remove adhesive residue, as in nothing is working, then sanding, polishing or even citri strip paint remover. Citri strip wont hurt your hands but it dissolves paint and adhesive. The only concern with it, does it dissolve gel coat too. It is a very slow dissolver, it is not a hot solvent, so you could control its use.

https://forums.iboats.com/threads/will-that-paint-stripper-damage-the-gel-coat.233375/
post #6 says he used it on his boat and it did not hurt the surface. Citri strip is neutralized by washing it off.

Greetings,
Mr. t. Try WD-40.

Lou_tribal said:

Are you able to see the name because of the adhesive or because of the paint color difference?
May look odd but to remove all sort of adhesive I like to use finger nail varnish remover from any drug store (my wife does not like it as much as I do lol). Soft enough not to damage paint but hard enough to dissolve adhesive.

L

Click to expand...

It is definitely adhesive. I can see the outline of the letters and the ridge left from the letters.

Thanks

ksanders said:

Lacquer thinner or acetone will remove almost anything

Click to expand...

I have tried acetone also with little effect.

Thanks

Comodave said:

I have also had good success with 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover.

Click to expand...

I will give that a try.

Thanks

Iggy said:

I am doing the same thing right now. I am using alcohol and a 1/8" flat screwdriver with painters tape over the blade. You can't use anything too wide. Otherwise it will go over the glue, rather than digging in and removing it.

What I found is that the alcohol will soften the glue. Then using the screwdriver, the glue will roll up in a ball. I use a rag too, but after rubbing for a minute the glue will build up. So I am always turning the rag to a clean spot.

Click to expand...

Holy cow that sounds tedious. I may end having to do that.

Thanks

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. t. Try WD-40.

Click to expand...

I will. Thanks.

Thanks to everyone. I have learned several options to try.

This is a great forum.

trihartsfield said:

I have tried acetone also with little effect.

Thanks

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Citri Strip has removed everything I tried it on, it works much slower and is a different technology than a solvent based paint remover.

trihartsfield said:

It is definitely adhesive. I can see the outline of the letters and the ridge left from the letters.

Click to expand...

I can't see it from here, but that by itself does not mean it is adhesive. It is common to have a visible and feelable raised border on gelcoat with vinyl letters removed. The gel coat has been worn away, except where protected by the vinyl.

You may have to color sand it. The usual method is wet sanding with 800 or 1000 grit on a block to start, then maybe 1500 then compound. You will know very quickly if it is adhesive, as it will sand very differently than gel coat.

DDW said:

I can't see it from here, but that by itself does not mean it is adhesive. It is common to have a visible and feelable raised border on gelcoat with vinyl letters removed. The gel coat has been worn away, except where protected by the vinyl.

You may have to color sand it. The usual method is wet sanding with 800 or 1000 grit on a block to start, then maybe 1500 then compound. You will know very quickly if it is adhesive, as it will sand very differently than gel coat.

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That is good to know about the gel coat being warn away. Didn't think of that.

Thanks for the information.

Chris

I would buff it away, 3M Finesse-It on a wool buffer pad first, and if not removed then a more aggressive heavy oxidation remover by 3M. On the plus side, it will leave a perfect surface for the new letters. I bought some Re-Mov to get rid of old 5200, but it is very labor intensive and didn't do what I hoped it would by penetrating bedding compound.

My local boat yard borrowed it and used it to remove lettering, but did comment it still took a lot of elbow grease... Of course this regimen would be on a gel coated hull, not painted. No idea what buffing would do to paint, but gel coat will come out looking like new and may encourage you to buff the entire hull and wax it. Easier when out of the water of course...

My favorite way to remove vinyl and adhesive is with a vinyl eraser wheel. Even after you remove the adhesive you’ll still see the old name. The gel coat under the vinyl has been protected from the sun while the gel coat around it has faded. Give it a year and it will have faded to match.
https://www.amazon.com/Stripe-Wheel...ocphy=9011930&hvtargid=pla-451421021261&psc=1

WD40, place absorbing clothe over the glue, saturate with WD40, cover with plastic film and allow penetration. use plastic scrapers to remove the glue.

Update: 3M adhesive remover is working. Spray on and let sit for 30-40 seconds, scrape with flat razor blade, wipe off and repeat. Then use rubbing compound.

The gel coat is a different color but will be placing new name decal over the same place.

If I have to do this in the future I will be using an adhesive removal wheel. Can’t find one local and don’t want to wait.

Thanks for all the help.

Chris

trihartsfield said:

Holy cow that sounds tedious. I may end having to do that.

Thanks

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Yes it is. I tried what I had on hand, WD-40, Goo be gone, 303, a furniture polish with orange in it. None of those worked as good as the alcohol. I am afraid to use acetone or any thing like that. But the alcohol did take it off.

The letters were about 8" high and 2 feet long. It took about 45 minutes to take it all off the side of my boat. On the back of my boat, the old name is on a board. I took the board off and put it on a flat surface. Than poured alcohol on the glue, and put a rag over it. Every 10 to 15 minutes poured more on the rag to that it get into the glue. After an hour the glue come right off.

I use a heat gun when I pull the lettering off, and then use electro-clean to wipe off the glue.

Just always have that cleaner around the bench, and it works great on sticker glue.