Removing decals from boat hull.

Hi Dudes and Dudettes,

My brother and I own a '99 Moomba Outback and we are looking at removing the factory decals that came with the boat that year. We will be most likely replacing them with the current graphics of the new Moomba's. Is there an easy and sure fire way of removing decals from your boat that will not do any damage to the hull? Any ideas and comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!!!

PS: Spring is coming right around the corner!!

Hair dryer & Goof Off will work well and there shouldn't be any damage at all.

Thanks Tommy, where would one pick up some Goof Off?

hair dryer works, but if you can get a heat gun that works even better.

Will a heat gun not do damage? Those things throw some serious heat? I use them when changing baldes on my hockey stick and they can burn if used incorrectly.

I would recommend not using the heat gun. They get hot ebough to melt paint and possibly gel coat? You just want to warm up adhesive. The hair dryer is perfect.

Goof off is available at hardware stores. It works very well.

Goof off can be purchased at home depot. I think most of mine came off with just the hair dryer. I would use the goof off sparingly. It's pretty strong stuff.

Instead of using Goof Off, use WD-40. I'm not kidding. It will take a little bit longer to dissolve the adhesive residue, but it is much safer. I used some Goof Off to clean up some residue left from removing the pin striping on my truck and it trashed my clear coat.

John is right...it is pretty strong stuff.

You might also use acetone (nail polish remover) if there's any glue left. Test a non-conspicuous area of the gel coat to ensure it will not cause damage.

Check with your dealer, they might have a recommendation for removing the glue.

Thanks Guys, all the pointers will be considered. Probably the safest way will be the WD-40...I don't mind spending some extra time.

WD-40 Saved me hours in sticker removal. I took off all the stickers off the Mission2ride boat in my profile. Only took about 2 hours.

so I take it you heat the decal up with the dryer, then start to peel off decals, after it's all removed use the WD-40 to remove the glue?

exactly, but don't be suprised if you see a faint ghosted image on the hull. It will be the outline of the old decal. should come out with a little buffing

You are going to want to make sure that there is going to be NO signs of the original stickers left on the hull. Most likely there is going to be some fading or discoloration in the gelcoat or finish of the boat hull, and it is really going to show when you remove the stickers. Where the stickers were is going to be darker, or more shiny. I removed some factory stickers on my MC (was 2 yrs old at the time), and although it looked fine at the time, in the right light you can tell where the stickers were. I tried to buff, clean, shine the hull where they were and had no luck..Can still see the outline. Good luck and be careful

If you use this stuff:
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/products/index.cfm?prodID=2089&src=SRQZ

You can usually buff out any faded or slightly oxidized gel coat before applying the new stickers. It is not wax. If you use wax to buff it up, then just make sure you remove any wax prior to applying the new stickers.

John,

So apply that stuff after removing stickers, then apply new stickers, and finally finish off the job with a nice new fresh coat of wax? We may even leave the hull with a "clean" decal free look. Its a white hull.

That stuff removes oxidation, so you would remove the old sticker and the old glue, then remove the oxidation with the stuff I recommend. Since it's a 99 and it's white, you may not have any shadow left behind.

You probably will not need to wax it to bring it to a very shiny state if you buff well, but if you do use a wax after removing the oxidation, it's ok. Just use a wax remover before applying the new sticker.

Thanks a lot John, you have been great help.