removing factory stickers and glue advice??

Ok I started this tedious process yesterday with heat gun and a plastic scraper and my fingers, sucks but it working to get a lot of sticker material off but leaving a lot of glue and sticker backing.

What is best way to get stickers off and more important what the least harsh chemical to get glue off the easiest? I don’t want to damage gel coat too much but getting desperate.
Ok I’ve tried lacquer thinner, WD 40, brake fluid, acetone, and carb cleaner,

They all failed 100$ accept the acetone which takes some off but not hardly effective enough.

rich it may have worked on the deck glue but baked on sticker residue is a whole other issue. None of this hardly makes a dent in it. More research and advice needed….

How about a Goof Off product?

Try a product from Titan Laboratories called Oil Flo. (not oil flo 141). We just recently removed some decal adhesive from a hull and it worked amazingly well. It breaks down the adhesive and it washes away with water. It has some odor so use in ventilated areas only. Ph 800 475 3300.

bill, sounds like your boat is totaled and you need a new one...just kidding... i had good luck with mineral spirits, warm the glue via sun or heat, put on the mineral spirits, work it in with your fingers, let sit a minute, then remove with clean cloth. I usually follow that up with a little acetone since the mineral spirits leaves a oily residue.
If you want to bring out the big guns, go to an auto paint supply house and get a sticker eraser. It's a round eraser like rubber that mounts onto an electric drill. Messy, expensive, and will burn the gel if you're not careful with it. but will work.
good luck

ok this is what worked,

Ok I started this tedious process yesterday with heat gun and a plastic scraper and my fingers, sucks but it working to get a lot of sticker material off but leaving a lot of glue and sticker backing.

Ok I’ve tried lacquer thinner, WD 40, brake fluid, acetone, and carb cleaner,

They all failed 100% accept the acetone which takes some off but not hardly effective enough.

this is the only thing that worked for me,

Klean-Strip EAD908 Aerosol Decal & Adhesive Remover, 18 oz-Klean-Strip EAD908 Aerosol Decal , got it at Oreillys auto parts store 12.9 a can , so far i used one can and it removed all glue on transom and starboard side of boat and only took an hour.

I sprayed on and let sit for one minute for just glue area and did one foot at a time with plastic putty knife. You take putty knife and scrape and it rolls the now wet glue up into a snot ball type consistency, you wipe it onto a damp rag and repeat.
Don’t let the stripper dry too much or it re hardens,

For the areas with more backing on you let sit 5mins, then do the same thing

For a lot of sticker let stand 15 mins and repeat until its gone, then

take wet rag and wipe down area to make sure it’s all clean, then soapy water and rinse with hose and wipe dry.

so far using heat gun to take stickers off 60% of boat and glue removal and rinse ive invested 3 hours, most likely about 2 hrs left.

I hope this is enough prep to save me a lot of money for the Wrap I am having designed for the main hull of the boat.

Pictures to follow.

Originally Posted by roomservice

bill, sounds like your boat is totaled and you need a new one...just kidding... i had good luck with mineral spirits, warm the glue via sun or heat, put on the mineral spirits, work it in with your fingers, let sit a minute, then remove with clean cloth. I usually follow that up with a little acetone since the mineral spirits leaves a oily residue.
If you want to bring out the big guns, go to an auto paint supply house and get a sticker eraser. It's a round eraser like rubber that mounts onto an electric drill. Messy, expensive, and will burn the gel if you're not careful with it. but will work.
good luck

No the opposite, i am getting it prepped for aface lift, I am having a wrap designed and they should have an estimate by tomorrow, so i wanted to save some money and time by prepping it myself, i am sure they would have wanted my first boarn to do it as part of the estimate.

this is the stuff that made it easier and actually worked.Klean-Strip EAD908 Aerosol Decal & Adhesive Remover, 18 oz-Klean-Strip EAD908 Aerosol Decal , got it at Oreillys auto parts store 12.99 a can . so back to the other side that left for me to do.

goo gone all the way. get the big spray bottle.

Heres some pictures of this project , still in progress,

ok well i cant promise you that goo gone will work, those look pretty cooked on.

Originally Posted by Michael

ok well i cant promise you that goo gone will work, those look pretty cooked on.

well if you noticed i found something that is working, nothing about this was a surprise that it was hard to get off but there are some after shots in there that show my progress. ill be finished by tomorrow..

Yon could go to Napa and get an Eraser wheel that you can put in a drill to take the stickers right off, its used to take pin strips off. I did it on my old super sport.