removing old decals

[knotatwork2]

Hello,
I have an 1987 Hunter 23 and I was hoping to get the best method to remove the old decals [stripes ] off the gelcoat, they are looking pretty shoddy.
Thanks, Ken

 

[Gene Neill]

Hair dryer or better yet a heat gun will make them come off easy.

 

[Rick Webb]

ditto
if your a novice a hair dryer and plastic scraper, ice scraper or a plastic spatula

 

[rgranger]

Yep.... done it a few times. Hair dryer.

 

[Dan_Y]

I used hairdryer and plastic putty knife. Worked great. Found that if I could get the decal to peel, then little to no adhesive was left on gelcoat. If I had to scrape the warmed decal, it came off fine but left adhesive. I used a can of the 3m adhesive remover and that stuff worked like magic, at least on hunter decals from 2008. Dan

 

[BlowMeAway]

If you’re careful and patient, a single edged razor blade in supporting handle works awesome, without a hair dryer or heat gun. You know, like the kind used to scrape an inspection sticker off your windshield. This is how I got my graphics off, and this is my bro-in-law prepping the transom for the new graphics. No gouges, no scratches. Just old brown vinyl lettering came off. We prepped with 1200 grit wet sanding to remove the UV damage, and an Isopropyl Alcohol final wash before new graphics.

...and this is with the new name (graphics) applied.

 

[Hunter Ad Bot]

 

[knotatwork2]

These decals are on the coach house sides and they don't look like they are vinyl to me. The blue stripe on the hull looks more like vinyl. The decals are cracked and some came off when I accidently hit with the pressure washer

 

[Siamese]

On my 1996 Catalina 28, I used a hair dryer and fingernails. Somebody also makes a rubber tool that chucks into an electric drill motor to remove old vinyl. I'm to lazy to google it, though.

 

[richk]