What Is Youw Vinyl Removal Process

[bpatrick3]

My landscaping customers has been bought by another company. I need to deidentify the pick up trucks which are mainly cut vinyl. And then also deidentify a trailer partial wrap and a transit van partial wrap. Was hoping to get some help with preferences that you guys have on chemicals, heating techniques and or eraser type products. I have never invested in any of this because I have never had a job sized to support the purchase. Also what kind of hourly rate do you get? Full rate 3/4 rate 1/2 rate,thank you

 

[OldPaint]

take it to a SIGN SHOP...... pay them to do it or remove it yourself......(it is a pain in the arse)and time consuming.......i charge more to tak it off then i do to put it on!!!!

 

[Bradley Signs]

Your finger tips are gonna be killing you when your done.... We use a blow Dryer to warm and peel by hand, if there is any residue left, I get out the Goof Off and remove the glue.... just take your time with the goof off.....
Also, depending on the color of the vehicles, and how long the graphics have been on there, there may be some ghosting of the lettering, and hopefully the new graphics will cover it...
I tell my customers all the issues they will have before I touch it, what it may cost, and what it MAY look like, and I send it in an email.... because that is my ticket to getting paid in the end.... there is none of that, "You never told me" crap! The courts love email proof....

 

[bannertime]

Vinyl removal $100 an hour. Heat gun and Rapid Remover by the gallon. No guarantees on the condition of the paint underneath the letter (even though it's probably nicer than the rest of the vehicle.) Some say they've had luck with a wall paper remover, but I don't think that will do much for cut vinyl. Unless it's like 7+ years old.

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

Wallpaper steamer...

 

[Gino]

Vehicles and any other type of outdoor advertising with vinyl, whether it's die cut or digitally printed are made to go on and stay on. Removing costs are greater than putting them on. I would double your normal hourly rate and if they don't like it, hand them a tweezers and tell them to get to work.

We're paid to letter things, not de-letter them, so ya pay extra when it's not the normal routine.

 

[Billct2]

We use a heat gun and fingers, then one of any number of adhesive removers we have...works fine if cast vinyl and not too old. Regular hourly rate.
Next job I get with any serious amount to remove I'm trying the wallpaper steamer method that so many recommend.
Best option though is for someone else to do it.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Heat gun to remove the material , rapid remover to remove the adhesive and time.... we charge full book for removal $95 an hour no estimates or time line... it takes as long as it takes.

 

[Glennora]

Heat, adhesive remover and Wensco's "Lil' Chizler" to save your nails. Adhesive remover can make a gooey mess that's hard to get off. I like to sprinkle it with baby powder or baking soda. It will turn into something similar to rubber cement and roll off. jmo
I hate taking off decals. I educate my customers how much they will save if they do it themselves.

 

[petepaz]

PITA!! no easy way to do it. if the vinyl hasn't been on to long or not weathered too much should come off ok just a lot of time. i use a torch or heat gun and peal. i also have a vinyl zapper for larger quantity jobs or really weathered vinyl. if you have a lot of lettering to remove well worth the money. it takes off the vinyl and the glue. very little if any glue residue to take off after the zapper does it's job.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Heat the vinyl with heat gun or torch. Pray that good vinyl was used and it peels right off. Discover someone used ShineRite on them and it won't come off. Cuss at the vinyl. Heat it some more. Start peeling little chips off. Get one strip long enough to grab. Pull it really hard. Rip the vinyl causing you to punch yourself in the nose. Cuss some more. Give up and just brutally scrape the vinyl off the truck. Use Rapid Remover to get off afhesive. Works wonderfully. Drop rapid Remover bottle and spill it all. Try to use lacquer thinner/goof off/3m adhesive Remover to strip the adhesive. Cuss at the useless adhesive removers. Finally get the adhesive off, discover you removed the shine from the paint. Wax the doors to make it look decent. Get busy and forget to buff the wax. Spend the next hour cussing as you fix the baked on white disaster the wax turned into. Call the customer and tell them it only took four hours and that taking it off is only costing them double what they paid to have it put on. Cuss at customer when they tell you they aren't paying that much since the shop who put on the cheap vinyl said they would do it for $20. Cuss other shop. See the the customer two weeks later realize that the other shop just stuck a piece of white vinyl over the old vinyl and the truck owner was okay with it. Wait for the customer to go into the store, flick boogers at his windshield. See the customer two weeks after that...whole new fleet of vans with fugly wraps on them. Notice the wraps aren't laminated. Cuss the whole industry and look for a job driving a back hoe.

 

[Baz]

Heat Gun, Regular blade scrapper but with a plastic blade |(like the ones in the Lil' Chizler) and Rapid Remover. We charge our regular hourly rate plus materials (Rapid Remover and lots of rags for cleanup)

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I removed decals from 101 oil field trucks two years ago... What I found worked best was I used the eraser wheel on a hammer drill (not battery powered). Hammer drill has a trigger lock so it stays spinning at a set speed and has a handel on it you can lock in any position you want. I used brake cleaner to get whatever glue remained.

I carried around a generator with me to run the drill. Also, the wheels I got on ebay. They were pinstripe remover wheels. The had "spokes" on them, not the solid ones.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

There is no "One size fits all" approach to removal. All vinyl adhesives are not created equal and each may require different attack avenues. Sometimes "heat" is your friend...sometimes it's your enemy. Sometimes "mechanical" or "chemical" process is the ticket. These are all billed based on time and consumables (plus). Large fleets can be tricky but profitable when all variables are properly considered such as "factory finish paint" vs. "repainted finish", vinyl material brand and series used, age of material, etc., etc. Mechanical process and equipment is a whole other subject.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

I do a lot of reflective removal off of fire trucks. It normally goes pretty much how Pat described it above. But, my approach is a Red Tred wheel in a 7" variable speed grinder/polisher. That normally takes everything off, residue included. Make sure to buy the Red Tred brand, they work the best. For times the eraser wheel won't work I use a heat gun and the sharp plastic razor blades. Then 3M specialty adhesive remover to take the goo off.

 

[S'N'S]

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Yep, that would be the one! It works on almost everything. It doesn't like some cheap reflectives though, it turns them into goo.

 

[boxerbay]

Removals are the worst because clients want to know a fixed price for an unknown amount of work. I double our hourly rate and let them know I have no idea how long it will take until i start. Call me around lunch time for an update. If they balk I tell them there are a few guys looking for work in the Home Depot parking lot that will probably work the full day for $100.00.

 

[Joe House]

Depending on how many there are, if they appear to be the same, provide a high quote, using whatever criteria you choose and let them know you can give a better estimate after you do a couple of trucks.

 

[coastguy111]

I have a fun removal coming up myself. 10+ year old printed full vinyl wrap on a ford e250 van. Its so bad, the entire wrap has triangular cracks over it entirely. No idea what vinyl brand was used. I do remember when going through a somewhat recent 3m training course learning that the air egress channels 3m once used were actually shaped like two triangles- diamond pattern i guess- and even had a boat inside the facility that had a portion that still had this older vinyl on it which you could easily see the "diamond" patterns.
Anyways, sorry to get way off track. will follow as I will be needing any bit of advise as well for a very tough removal.