You love decals and love giving your car a new look. But when the time comes, you also get bored with seeing the same sticker again and again. This is when you plan to take it off. However, taking it off with your nails or other sharp objects will not only leave residue but also will ruin the car paint. So today, we will deal with how to remove sticker glue from car paint without damaging the car’s body!
Steps on Removing Decals From Car Paint
There’s nothing wrong with changing the decals over and over again. But to do that, removing it is necessary. Check out how to remove glue from car without damaging paint in a short step-by-step process!
Step 1: Use Soapy Water
The first step for removing sticker glue from your car paint is to work with soapy water. Most people often try to scratch the glue and rub it to get rid of it. However, rubbing adhesive residues will leave marks or scratches on the car paint.
The before you take it off, cleaning it with soapy water is recommended. It will simply make your job easier. For doing this, get some water and add soap to it. Once the soapy water is ready, you have to get a cloth. Dip the cloth inside the soapy water and then start washing the decal area.
More than cloth, using a sponge will be a better idea. If you have just washed the car, you don’t need to settle for this process.
Step 2: Heating the Sticker
Well, as much horrible it sounds, the idea works. Here, you have to heat the sticker so that it’s easier to get rid of this decal. With heat, you can make the sticker loosen its adhesive. As a result, taking off the sticker will be cleaner. However, you are not going to use direct heat from your lighter!
Here, we are going to use hot air for the heating process. Get your hands on a hair blow dryer. Some people will think of using a heat gun. But if you don’t want to ruin the paint of your car, don’t go for a heat gun. Get your car in an open space.
Add the blow dryer to a long extension cord. Now it’s time to heat the area. Switch on the blow dryer. Make sure it is set at the highest heat settings. Once it is ready, start pointing the hot air towards the sticker and the surrounding area.
Distribute the hot air for about 2 minutes or close. And then you can move to the next step. We agree that you might not have a blow dryer to warm it up. It’s alright, get your hands on some boiling water. Use them on the sticker. It will get a bit messy but surely will do the job!
Step 3: Peel off the Decal
Once you have heated the area for 2 minutes, you are ready to pull off the sticker. Make sure you are peeling it off immediately after you have heated the decal. Otherwise, the area will get cold and the adhesive bond will be stronger like before.
To peel it off, the best thing you can use is a plastic card. Go for a credit card. Take the plastic card around the edges and try to remove the sticker. The decal won’t take long to come up if you have heated the area just the way we have mentioned.
After you have sued the card to loosen the sides or edges of the sticker, you can simply peel it off with your hand. Certify that you are using a piece of plastic equipment here and not anything sharp. Some people will tell you that using a knife or other sharp objects can do a better job.
Yes, it will but with the decal, it will remove the car paint too. You don’t want to damage the paint for a simple sticker, do you?
Step 4: Add Glue Removal Solution
So now, you already got rid of the sticker. But what will you do with the residue? In most cases, there will be glue residue left. Yes, you will surely get annoyed but you can still fix it!
You might think that removing it will harm the painting but it won’t. You simply have to use the glue removal solution for the job. Or else, if you don’t plan to invest in glue removal, you can go for vinegar.
In this case, white distilled vinegar is necessary. Add the vinegar or the solution to a piece of cloth and start rubbing the residue. Rub the area and simply take off the residue!
Step 5: Clean and Dry
Your sticker is removed and the residue is gone by now. However, you have to clean the area once again so that it matches with the other painting part of the car. Once again, soapy water will be at your rescue.
Simply go for some soapy water and with a cloth, clean that specific area. Don’t leave the adhesive remover there. After cleaning with soapy water, dry it off with a dry cloth. If you want, you can wax the area for protecting the paint too. Car wax can secure the car more than ever!
Tips to Remove Decal Glue from Car
- If you settle for boiling water for heating the sticker, use it a few times to get it done
- Never use a knife or a sharp object for removing the sticker
- Do not use a heat gun for loosening the adhesive
- Never scratch the glue with your nails
- Wipe down the area after using the adhesive remover or vinegar
learn more:
How To Remove Glue and Stickers from your Paint
Wrap Up
Removing stickers isn’t as complicated as people mention. All you need is to know the right method of cleaning the sticker glue. The first thing you need is to make the glue weak and then take it off. Getting rid of the residue is also easy with the solution too! Comment below and tell us how you remove the decal glue from the car paint?
