Peeling liner from acrylic sheet

[MHester]

This may seem like an insignificant question, but I'm spending too much time peeling liners and there has to be a faster way. I have a 3'X5' sheet of acrylic I use to make backlit signs with. There's a protective brown paper liner on both sides. Every time I start peeling it off, it tears and I can spend 20 minutes peeling the darn thing off. Any tips from the pros?
Thanks.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Try spraying it with some rapidtac and squeege then peel

 

[Billct2]

we use paint thinner to wet it down

 

[Gino]

If it doesn't come off in one or two swoops, then it's either old stock from your vendor or old sh!t you have laying around the shop. To peel a 4 x 8, takes maybe 15 seconds. Ask your vendor to show you the packing slips of when his stock arrived.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

We use a roll core and tape, then roll it off. We've even hooked up a drill to go faster

 

[F1225hgB42w]

We tend to put packing/shipping box tape at the starting edge so it won't tear (hopefully), then we peel the three or four inches of liner that has the tape and like 2CT Media said, we wrap that around a 2" or 3" core and use that to unroll the liner.

On Gino's point it COULD be old, but it CAN ALSO BE the type of the acrylic/liner you are buying. We use a company called Calsak Plastics to buy our acrylic and we've told Calask we require a 2 to 1 liner (not sure if that's a true term/name) but we mean that we need twice the thickness of the craft paper to the thickness of the adhesive holding the liner on. We go through 300 + sheets of acrylic a year (we do photo/fine art face mounting) and have found that the kraft liners work best for protecting acrylic (vs. the digital blue plastic liners) but you need to request that the blend of the liners are more kraft paper than adhesive or it will continue to tear and leave small spots of liner as you pull the liner away.

best of luck to you!

 

[MHester]

So, wetting it down with Rapic tac only made the paper separate from the adhesive. Ergh.. I have a feeling it's old stock. Even though I just got it from Grimco a week ago, they may have sold me old s*&t. Pain in the butt! I have vinyl cores handing around, I'll try taping it to that and see if I can roll it off on the next sheet, as well as tape the edge with packing tape so I get off to a good solid start on the initial peel. DSGI, this paper feels real thin, maybe I can find a better supplier that can give me a thicker weight liner like you did. I don't go through nearly as many acrylic sheets as you do, maybe one every 2 weeks. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

 

[F1225hgB42w]

So, wetting it down with Rapic tac only made the paper separate from the adhesive. Ergh.. I have a feeling it's old stock. Even though I just got it from Grimco a week ago, they may have sold me old s*&t. Pain in the butt! I have vinyl cores handing around, I'll try taping it to that and see if I can roll it off on the next sheet, as well as tape the edge with packing tape so I get off to a good solid start on the initial peel. DSGI, this paper feels real thin, maybe I can find a better supplier that can give me a thicker weight liner like you did. I don't go through nearly as many acrylic sheets as you do, maybe one every 2 weeks. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Hi MHester -

You don't need to buy in bulk, I recommend you look at Plex G or Optix Acrylic from someone like Laird Plastics, Calsak Plastics, or Piedmont Plastics - they should be willing to sell you individual sheets, i just buy 80 sheet pallets because I know i will use it and I get better pricing when doing so.

 

[MikePro]

NO! close, but not close enough. use rapidremover, not rapidtac. works like a charm.
just spray the surface of the paper with rapidremover/citrusbasedadhesiveremover, and spread it around with a rag/yourhand. let sit for 1-2min, and you'll see the paper turn that greasy color like the bottom of a bag of cheeseburgers.

the wet/oily paper resists tearing, while rapidremover also weakens the adhesive that is holding the paper on.

edited to add: DO NOT use goo-gone brand adhesive remover. that stuff is garbage, and notorious for spider-webbing plastics.

 

[Bly]

We use a roll core and tape, then roll it off. We've even hooked up a drill to go faster

This is the answer.

 

[MikePro]

and its not an insignificant question, we've thrown away tens of thousands of dollars worth of stock/scrap (over the course of ~20yrs) simply because we stopped wasting time/effort to peel the paper off "old" sheets. I started using citrus adhesive remover to "soften the paper" about a decade ago, and haven't had an issue since.

 

[MHester]

Success! Packing tape on the leading edge to get it started, then wrapped it around a 3" core and rolled it all right off. Both sides in 4 minutes total. Saved me so much time, thanks folks. Won't have to waste any liquids that way.

 

[Craig Hanslik]

I second the use a roll core so it comes up evenly technique.

 

[2B]

for the paper liner on acrylic we use a smaller rod, similar to this

 

[signbrad]

We've even hooked up a drill to go faster

I have used a length of half-inch threaded rod. Get the liner started around the rod, chuck it into a half-inch cordless drill on the slow setting, the strong setting. Then pull the trigger. It's so fast it's scary. And it's fun!
Be careful with thin sheets like 1/8-inch. Have someone hold the end down, and maybe peel it in 2 or 3 trigger pulls instead of one big one.

There used to be a video floating around of a guy peeling a liner in about 3 seconds this way. I haven't seen it for a long time.

I used to enjoy watching people's eyes get big when they first see this done. It is one of the things I miss about working in the shop.

Brad in Kansas City

 

[signbrad]

Ha!
2B found the video before I posted.
I type too slow.

 

[Outputtech75a]

We use a roll core and tape, then roll it off. We've even hooked up a drill to go faster

I favor this one

 

[ams]

Being in NC, you should be on Harbor Sales delivery route. Check with them, always a fresh product and cheapest you will find.

 

[eahicks]

Prefer the 'tape-to-core' method. But if I want to spray it down I just use alcohol. Releases the glue with the paper.

 

[Jester1167]

Save the core and use it over and over. The exposed adhesive from the last one makes it easier to attach the second. We used 1/2" dowels for smaller pieces like 18" x 18".