I made the mistake of using permanent adhesive vinyl on a temporary window job, After scraping off the painted portion it took forever to remove a 2 ft. square hunk of the stuff. Is there anything (besides the overpriced solutions sold at sign supply stores) that will loosen this stuff up for easier removal. Once the vinyl was off all the glue was a pain to remove.
Posted by Jason Davie (Member # 2172) on :
Rapid Remover.. It's not overpriced though... It works, or you could just use a hammer Posted by Jon Jantz (Member # 6137) on :
A Wagner steam wall-paper remover from Lowes or Home Depot. It will make your life much easier.
"Overpriced solutions" aren't overpriced when you consider what your labor is worth and the fact that a little goes a long way. Sometimes, it's hard to want to throw more money into a job that is costing too much time and expense as it is but sometimes that's just the way life is.
Although cleaners like Goo-Gone are available at Wally World and may do the trick, I haven't really found them to be any cheaper to speak of than Rapid Remover. Before I found Rapid Remover, I sometimes used 140 flash naptha, however, it leaves an oily residue which also has to be cleaned off.
Some may debate the merits of Rapid Remover compared to other approaches but one of the things I appreciate about it is that it's part of a proven system that cleans without leaving potential problems behind. Cleaning loads of adhesive off isn't fun with any product but it can be done using the right ones.
Rapid Tac is a merchant here and he has numerous videos available on the proper use of his products.
Edited to add: I'm referring to getting adhesive off if you've already stripped the vinyl and left the adhesive behind. Heat, such as the steamer mentioned by Jon does wonders and often allows you to not get into the situation in the first place or will help keep it to manageable levels. Even judicious use of a propane torch can heat the vinyl up to where it can be stripped easier.
[ February 18, 2008, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: David Harding ]
Posted by Kevin Mann (Member # 7161) on :
Sounds like Rapid Remover is the ticket-overpriced or not. Thanks for the tips
Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :
I'm uncertain if your dilema was over removing the vinyl or glue. For vinyl on glass, I use a razor blade scraper. Heat works too but I'd be afraid to try that on glass. For glue removal, rapid remover and a lil' chizle is the way to go! Let the remover sit abit and do it's job though.
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
last summer i was redoing a trailer., Both sides had a large graphic.
There was a large spot of adhesive on both sides. It wasn't long before several neighbors came over to see what was going on. All of them had their favorite gunk remover. We tested them all. Goo gone. Goop remover,Citrus remover, goof off and a few other I don't remember. There were at least 7 different products all of which the volunteers each swore it was the best..
Yes some of them loosened the adhesive. But, it wasn't loose enuf. It left behind residue that took several more cleanings to remove completely.
All of those off the shelf cleaners just didn't have what it took to do a good job. One of the better ones needed several tries before it got all the gunk off.
While all that was going on I was using Rapid Remover. All of us tired all of those products and all of us got a good education in removing vinyl. Rapid Remover was the only one to move that nasty snot with the least amount of work and the least amount of juice used. Yes, one other product was much cheaper. But it took the entire bottle and several redo's to clean a 12" in square spot.
In the end. All of us agreed that the job was a nasty snotty mess. And that Rapid Remover was the only one that worked the best.
Posted by stein Saether (Member # 430) on :
stanley window knife with 1992 blade and some soapwater. fast easy cheap and safe
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Stein does bring up something I learned from my sister who has a window cleaning route. When using a razor blade or the like to remove bits of adhesive and gunk, some water does wonders. It keeps the adhesive from resticking itself to the glass and it all cleans up much easier.
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
A window should be easy to strip with a sharp one of these:
Handled right it usually leaves a very tiny amount of residue behind, which can be cleaned up with denatured alcohol.
Other surfaces can be harder but heat is generally a big help. My newest favorite tool is a MAPP gas torch which has instant on/instant off trigger. Very handy.
I use a dulled version of the scraper above to remove vinyl from vehicles and flat sign surfaces. It takes some practice, but it really works. It leaves adhesive residue behind, which Rapid Remover takes care of easily. If you're charging enough, the price of Rapid Remover shouldn't be an issue.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
The bottom line is not How much you spend to complete a project. It is how much you get to keep(per hour) when the project is completed.
Even if your shop rate is as low as $50 per hour(and no one should be giving themselves away for less than that), and it takes 1/2 hour to remove with Rapid Remover, and 1 1/2 hours to remove without it, not buying the Rapid Remover Costs you $50. You can buy a GALLON for less than that, and will use less than a pint on a large job.
The same works for the steamer, and you still have it to use free on your next job, which by the way, you have the extra hour to spend making money on the next job.
"Overpriced tools" (Rapid Remover is a consumable tool) are cheap when they are used properly to save you time, which is actually what we are getting paid for.
Posted by Nikki Goral (Member # 7844) on :
Kevin,
I do a lot of window jobs for a local bank...28 branches in our area and they are CONSTANTLY changing things. I only use HP vinyl. So when I need to remove, I use the Heat Blade tool form Fellers. Around $30, was the BEST TOOL I HAVE EVER USED! It removes vinyl from glass without leaving adhesive behind and for REFLECTIVE, even removes the silver lining and leaves just a tiny bit of residue.
For cleaning the adhesive, we use Trapper, a non-VOC product made from orange peels. Kicks the tar out of Rapid Remover. We stripped a 24' trailer and used RR on one side and Trapper on the other. It took us 2 hours less with the Trapper to remove adhesive (calendared vinyl).
Trapper will dry out our hands terribly and for me at least, causes redness & burning (but I get that from peeling any citrus fruit too), so wear gloves. If you do get irritated hands, have big tubes of Lanacane and Udder Cream in your kit.
Trapper is available from Superior Chemical Company. They have a lot of GREEN cleaners. We use a bunch of their items, since I have health issues with many chemical cleaners.
We do final wash up after the Trapper with soap & water and then a final clean for install with denatured alcohol.
Posted by Sheila Ferrell (Member # 3741) on :
I feel your pain Kevin.
All advice given is great. Other ideas which are also practical and among items you likely have on hand: a hair dryer to warm the vinyl, so you can peel large areas . . . have you noticed whatever you can peel up without a razor under it seems to peel cleaner . . . the razor leaves glue residue since the razor gets between the glue and vinyl. I've use laquer thinner to soften glue residue and mineral spirits, but my favorite thing is mid-temp reducer you can get at an auto paint store. It pretty much disolves the glue so that you don't have as many gummy-worms piling up . . .lol
I've never tried it on glass, but has anyone tried the rubber-ring drill attachment that gets vinyl off vehicles so well??
Posted by Nikki Goral (Member # 7844) on :
Yep. Used the 3M adhesive and vinyl remover discs. But only on calendared vinyl removals. Otherwise it is a heat gun and burned fingers!
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
If you don't mind the chemicals, there are products you can apply directly on top of the vinyl and after a few minutes it penetrates the vinyl and its adhesive, allowing you to easily peel the whole mess up.
3M has one called Stripe and Woodgrain Remover Kleen Strip's version is called Sticker Shock.
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