For those de-stickering and having regrets about doing it:

[ecain63]

You may or may not have side effects to removing your stickers after being on for a couple of weeks now. For those with issues, here is a little trick i discovered today when pondering what to do with a particular issue i was having.

Yesterday i had a bit of a mare. Firstly i pulled off a 2" triangle of clear coat on the roof, which pleased me immensely. Luckily the MB bodyshop guy reckons the paint may have been flawed to start with so that story concludes later. Secondly i noticed a couple of these:




Basically, they are what look like white cloudy marks on the edges of where my vinyl triangles were applied. They are below the clear coat and i tried all sorts to get them out. Tried heavy doses of T-cut and even alcohol rub to remove it. Nothing shifted it. After a bit of Internet research i read about using a heat gun, because apparently these marks are water particles trapped under the clearcoat, between that and the paint itself. The heat should in theory force the water particles out through the clear coat and that'd be that.

I tried the wifes super-duper hair dryer set on hot with no effect. It was hot enough for sure, the paint was too hot to touch even. Then a eureka moment. Why not try boiling water?

I boiled the kettle and poured it straight onto a mark i had on the boot. Amazingly it vanished very soon after the boiling water hit it. Only a cup full was needed to clear each patch, of which there were 3. As a bonus it also took a couple of tar spots off the rear bumper, saving me breaking out the tar remover.

So, if you think youve got moisture under your clear coat due to your stickers being on for a while, try a kettle of hot water.

Eddie

[J-Tuner]

Good tip With the hot water there!

That said I had no issues - may or may not be down to the laying down a good coat of some wax before applying the vinyl. Peeled off cold with no major issues.

[JordanVXR]

The problem usually comes from when the stickers were put on, For future reference make sure car has been clayed and then waxed before applciation. When applying the stickers make sure you use clay lube or lots and lots of water. Push the water out or use a heat gun.

When removing make sure the stickers are hot, so either use heat gun or leave in the summer sun (please note not advisable in the uk) :-) After removing the stickers wash and clay the car once again and the muck will be removed.

We have stickered ours cars allot over the last 4 years and never a problem :-)

[Bolognese]

JordanVXR said:

make sure car has been clayed and then waxed before applciation.

Thats what I have done this year and they came off with no issues - even without heating them.

I pulled some lacquer off when removing them last year

[GruFFnuTT]

EXCELLENT!!! A reason not to remove my stickers