Removing shear stripes..tape not paint.

Tim R. · Jan 10, 2011

Use some heat on them. Use a hair dryer, not a heat gun. Run it straight at the tape for about 30 seconds and see if it gets soft. If so then it is vinyl. Heat will remove the tape but you have to find the right ballance between too much heat where the tape stretches and rips and not enough where the tape breaks. You will probably have to follow up with some acetone to get all the adhesive off.

If you try sanding them off you will likely grind adhesive into the gelcoat and have lots of trouble with the paint.

Old Skool Neil · Jan 10, 2011

There's a rubbery wheel type of tool that chucks into a drill and acts like an eraser. I think it's a 3M product and is specifically designed for stripe tape removal. I bough mine at an auto body supplier. Works great, actually better than great.

If you prefer the heat route, be very careful about heating the fiberglass. Enough heat will soften it to the point of mush. You'll be amazed how little heat is enough to cause damage.

Tim R. · Jan 10, 2011

Old Skool Neil said:
If you prefer the heat route, be very careful about heating the fiberglass. Enough heat will soften it to the point of mush. You'll be amazed how little heat is enough to cause damage.

That is why I said not to use a heat gun. Pretty difficult to damage gelcoat with a hair dryer.

Maine Sail · Jan 10, 2011

Old Skool Neil said:
There's a rubbery wheel type of tool that chucks into a drill and acts like an eraser. I think it's a 3M product and is specifically designed for stripe tape removal. I bough mine at an auto body supplier. Works great, actually better than great.

If you prefer the heat route, be very careful about heating the fiberglass. Enough heat will soften it to the point of mush. You'll be amazed how little heat is enough to cause damage.

The 3M Stripe Off Wheels work very well. I removed the stripes on a 24' Mako last year and it cut the time to about 1/10th what it was taking with heat. As Tim said use a hair dryer if you are not proficient with a heat gun. The 3M eraser wheels are pricey but work very well. Why not re-use 3M tape it's far less costly than Awlgrip, holds up very well, and is not permanent...

Rich (P303) · Jan 10, 2011

Are you doing the awlgrip yourself? If not... I would let them deal with the tape, as they have to prep anyway.

There... just just cleared up some time for another project!

Roger Long · Jan 10, 2011

How old? I asked these questions a couple years ago and got all of the above answers on a 1980 boat. They worked but I was left with tape residue that nothing would remove until someone suggested the 5200 remover called Marine Formula Debond.

http://www.marineformula.com/

Heat gun and scraper took off the tape. This stuff and a rag is incredible for what's left.

Alec · Jan 10, 2011

Old Skool Neil said:
There's a rubbery wheel type of tool that chucks into a drill and acts like an eraser. I think it's a 3M product and is specifically designed for stripe tape removal. I bough mine at an auto body supplier. Works great, actually better than great.

If you prefer the heat route, be very careful about heating the fiberglass. Enough heat will soften it to the point of mush. You'll be amazed how little heat is enough to cause damage.

I'll second the comment about the rubber wheel. I used one last spring to take off all my striping & the wheel made it really easy without the least bit of damage to the gelcoat. Do a google search on "vinyl stripe removal" & you'll find where to buy one.

caguy · Jan 10, 2011

I used some paint reducer that worked really well. I tried acetone but it just cause it to gum up and made it worse. I think the reducer has kind of an oil base and it keeps the goo from sticking after its removed. I did one side of the Luger 30 with acetone and it took me half the day. I did the other side with the reducer in less than an hour.

To remove the plastic stripe is used some heat and a razor blade scrapper.

Steve Dion · Jan 10, 2011

I suggest that you try using a wall paper steamer. Had some old stripes off in a matter of minutes. If you can borrow one from someone you have nothing to lose.

I have used some of the above methods and this one worked best on my boat.

RichH · Jan 11, 2011

Use moderate heat to soften the tape and its 'glue' and use a very sharp chisel held FLAT to the surface so you dont gouge (chisel BLADE only, handle removed), then follow up with GooGone, Acteone, etc. Simply SLIDE the sharp chisel blade held flat along the surface to cut the tape and its 'glue', not the gelcoat. If you're going to apply Awlgrip, you will need to 'fill and fair' other spots on the hull anyway and any small 'digs' that you put in the tape area can easily be filled and flat-sanded. Such will be MUCH faster than forever 'ditzing' with an abrasive wheel; as the wheel may abrade too much of the surface (ten-thousandths of an inch, etc.) - especially important if you are spraying the Awlgrip.

Get a carpenters wood chisel and break the plastic handle off, grind away the butt end so the chisel can be held FLAT against the surface, etc. 'Strop' the chisel point with leather (if you know how) to create a super sharp edge but use 2 hands on the chisel, so you dont cut a finger off.

Ed A · Jan 11, 2011

Ok ill put in my shot. the 3m wheel is the best buy far. easy to use no damage to the boat. I have used all the above methods and has some good results, if you dont concider scratches and a brown spot the size of a baseball in the gell coat. not to mention the burn on my arm and my wifes hand.
The 3 m whell can be pruchaced at auto body shop suppy houses. not usually at auto parts stores. get 2 while your there you will use them.
they are the bomb!

Scott T-Bird · Jan 11, 2011

My wife & I scraped off the 1" stripe on our topsides with razor blades and basically competed to see whose side could get done first. That wasn't very smart. I'll have to admit to doing more damage to the gel coat than she did ... and I wouldn't recommend thinking that the repairs won't be all that troublesome. They were, and they don't look good. We found that the stripes came off better in direct sunlight and not very well in the shade (it was a cool spring day). I recommend using heat, like Tim says, and being very careful with the scraping tool of your choice.

woodster · Jan 11, 2011

RichH said:
Get a carpenters wood chisel and break the plastic handle off, grind away the butt end so the chisel can be held FLAT against the surface, etc. 'Strop' the chisel point with leather (if you know how) to create a super sharp edge but use 2 hands on the chisel, so you dont cut a finger off.

or you can get a hand jack plane blade at the big box store for about $3.00 and hone it ...ware a glove on the holding hand......

regards

woody

Scott T-Bird · Jan 11, 2011

I applied new (tape) stripes while laying on the dock with the boat in the water. It came out looking a little wavy which I notice pretty readily. Oh well, it looks like I will have another attempt at this project!

Maine Sail · Jan 11, 2011

I will have to disagree with the suggestions of using sharp metal objects to scrape off your stripes. I am pretty damn good with a chisel and use razor blades to scrape bottom paint off yet it is still very easy, no matter how good you are, to gouge the gelcoat.

Most gelcoat can be restored to like new, unless you gouge it up, and you can very often put off a paint job for 10+ years or more. The 3M wheels were designed for autobody shops and for cars with paint and clear coats that are far softer and far more thin than gelcoat. They leave no residue and no scratches, gouges or "thin spots".

I have removed a LOT of striping over the years some with heat, thumb nail & chemicals and some with the 3M wheels and by far the method that causes the least damage and takes the least amount of time is the 3M wheel. On our Catalina 36 a PO had use a sharp metal object to change the hailing port and totally ruined the gelcoat on the transom. A little hair drier heat or a 3M wheel and it would have been fine..

MrUnix · Jan 11, 2011

Scotch-brite removal disc?

I know everyone has had good experience with the rubber 3M molding and stripe removal disc (#07498/07499), but my local NAPA doesn't have them, but do have the Scotch-Brite disc (#07501) that is supposed to do the same. In fact, both describe the product the same, except the Scotch-Brite disc package adds that it is specifically for gelcoat and painted marine surfaces, unlike the rubber one. Does anyone have any experience with these? I need to remove the 25+ year old cracked and faded stripes on my H23, and would rather buy local than online (plus the scotch brite discs are cheaper!).

Cheers,
Brad

RichH · Jan 11, 2011

Maine - he's painting the TOPSIDES, not restoring a shearstripe. There is no need to be anal about a hull topsides that obviously has to be filled/sanded/primed/sanded before painting.

Quote - "I want to remove them and it will be replaced with Awlgip paint (on the entire hull topsides) and/or Awlgrip paint striping hopefully this spring."

Maine Sail · Jan 11, 2011

RichH said:
Maine - he's painting the TOPSIDES, not restoring a shearstripe. There is no need to be anal about a hull topsides that obviously has to be filled/sanded/primed/sanded before painting.

Quote - "I want to remove them and it will be replaced with Awlgip paint (on the entire hull topsides) and/or Awlgrip paint striping hopefully this spring."

I read the "and/or Alwlgrip paint striping" to mean that he may or may not paint the entire hull and may just do the stripe. If I read it wrong then my bad.

You left out this statement the OP also made: "Looking for directions so I don't create more damage/work than is necessary. "

While you and I can probably do pretty darn well with a chisel, and know how to soften the corners with a strop to minimize edge gouging, many folks are not as competent with a chisel or razor blade.

I still don't see any reason to potentially gouge up the topsides only to have to fill & fair them when there are methods that take less time and do less damage. Chisel or blade gouges still need to be feathered before they can be filled or they will show right through the finish paint just like crazing and spider cracking will of it is not feathered. A Dremel can make quick work of feathering the edges of gouges yet it's still a whole other step not really necessary.

The 3M wheels to me are like the Magic Eraser, Rain-X, TegGel and a few other products that just do exactly what they claim to and work better than expectations.

On our 2005 Catalina I spent nearly two and a half hours with heat and finger nail removing just 6 feet of the silver cove stripe. It was the type that would not peel and would fracture and come of in chips instead. I then hit the local autobody supply shop and picked up a 3M wheel. In just 20 minutes the the remaining 25 feet of stripe was gone. The most recent boat I did was a 1996 Mako and though the stripe was nearly 3" wide it came off just as easily and quickly.

Before - Two cove stripes:

After - One cove stripe:

The 3M wheel saved me a lot of time...

Removing shear stripes..tape not paint.

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