Will the vinyl vehicle signage wrap be easy to remove from my car? This is a question we hear a lot, and if your machine is wrapped in high quality 3M vinyl, then yeah, information technology is piece of cake. All yous need is a scrap of heat and some hard yakka. However, before you lot kickoff ripping your graphics off your vehicle, information technology is important you follow certain steps to avoid damaging the vehicle. We volition walk you through the pitfalls of removing vehicle vinyl and tell you how all-time to go about it. At Signs WA Joondalup we recommend having your 3M Specialists doing the removal for the best possible outcome, but if you've decided to embark on a removal yourself here is what you need to know.

  • Don't leave it too long.
    High quality vinyl volition last for many years, but all vinyl degrades over fourth dimension, and it's of import to remove the vinyl before information technology degrades as well much. Make sure yous regularly inspect your vehicle for damage and failure points. What you lot demand to go along an eye out for is major colour degradation and pilus line cracks in the vinyl. When this starts to happen, it is definitely fourth dimension to remove the vinyl. If you continue to leave information technology on, at that place is a hazard that the heavy lord's day exposure on your automobile will bake the vinyl onto the surface of your vehicle and cause damage to your paint. We do advise removing the vinyl before the cracks start to appear for the all-time possible effect. Not only can leaving the wrap on for too long damage the vehicle, but it can likewise make the removal of the vinyl a lot harder than if you'd decided to remove information technology before. Damaged vinyl volition exist hard to remove in big pieces and tin take days of chipping away at small $.25. Go along an eye on your wrap, and when the vinyl starts to look tired and the colours are fading, have information technology removed and save yourself the pain of removing it later.
  • Care for y'all wrap while it is on.
    If yous intendance for the vinyl while it'southward on the vehicle, your wrap volition not only last a lot longer, but it will too be easier to remove. A lot of the degradation that will eventually happen to a vehicle wrap tin can be stalled past treating your wrap right. We accept actually already done a post on how to intendance for your wrap, and then have a look and brand sure y'all become the nigh out of your wrap, and when it's time to remove it, you lot know y'all've washed all you tin to make the process go smoothly.
  • Use estrus.
    Using heat while removing your wrap will assist brand the vinyl malleable and soften the adhesive to allow for the vinyl to be pulled back slowly, but be careful, don't heat the vinyl too much when removing. Too much heat tin cause burning. We recommend heating your vinyl to approximately 50°-60° Celsius when removing for the best possible result. Go along to heat the vehicle in small areas at a fourth dimension and work the vinyl off in increments working at a slow pace to avoid gum balance existence left behind. We suggest pulling the vinyl in a 15-20° angle for the smoothest result. Use both hands with fingers spread while pulling dorsum. Exercise NOT YANK the film. If your vehicle wrap is over three years erstwhile, there's a practiced run a risk the adhesive is strong, only resist the urge to pull too hard. Yanking the vinyl can cause separation from the vehicle and laminate, making the removal process harder than it needs to exist.
    For a visual example, please see the 3M video on how to remove vinyl from a bonnet.
  • Use ISO
    3M vehicle wrap vinyls are designed to not leave any mucilage residue behind when removing the vinyl, simply on lower quality vinyls or if the vinyl has been on for too long at that place may be some balance left behind. If in that location is residue, don't get full on with a scraper, and NEVER use a metallic scraper. Our suggestion is to utilize Isopropanol to soften the residuum. When using ISO, delight be sure to employ gloves to protect your skin. Wet a cloth with the ISO and rub it in circular motions over the gum. The glue will showtime to soften, making it easy to wipe off. For more ingrained gum residue, you might have to work a little harder at information technology, and at times a plastic scraper can be utitlised to great result, just be conscientious when using a scraper, even a plastic 1.
    ISO also works great when removing old and sun damaged vinyl where pulling information technology off in big strips simply isn't an pick. Information technology'south specially useful on those areas where the vinyl has disintegrated the nearly and volition soften it up before y'all go over it with a plastic scraper. Another option for older vinyl is to use a steamer, which we will touch upon farther down.
  • Plastic scraper.
    On harder vehicle removals, we recommend using a plastic scraper to assist where the vinyl comes off in small bits, or to help remove mucilage rest. As we said in our previous point, never use a metallic scraper on your vehicle. Using a metal scraper will most definitely harm the paint, so be careful. For the nigh part, a scraper is not necessary, and information technology should but be used on glue residue, or actress damaged pieces of vinyl. When using a scraper on vinyl, information technology'south still a good idea to employ oestrus to assistance soften the vinyl and making removal easier. Be careful when using a scraper, even a plastic 1, as damage tin can occur.
  • Employ a wallpaper steamer.
    A wallpaper steamer is especially useful for removing glue residuum and older vinyl. It helps soften up even the driest glue and bit vinyl pieces and lets you wipe it off without much effort. If you're interested in keeping your hands safe from ISO then this may be a proficient selection for you.
    During removal of the wrap itself, a wallpaper steamer can also be used to help soften the vinyl for like shooting fish in a barrel removal. So if y'all don't have a heat gun, this is a great option.
  • Hard Yakka.
    Removing vinyl from a vehicle is hard piece of work, and it can have a long time, depending on how damaged the vinyl is upon removal. If you're removing your vinyl yourself, be prepared for having to sweat for it. Be patient with your vinyl removal; If you lot blitz, y'all might gamble damaging your vehicle.
  • Get a professionally removed.
    At Signs WA Joondalup we recommend always enlisting professional assist when removing vinyl. Vehicle installers are trained to do this type of work and volition ensure your vinyl is removed without causing harm to your vehicle.

Warning: Some vehicles wraps are installed using what is called a primer to speed up installation. A primer is substantially a crook to assist cheaper vinyls adhere to the vehicle and to brand wrapping the edges go smoother and faster. We believe that primers should non exist used for installing vehicle wraps, and if the installer takes their fourth dimension with the vehicle during installation, there is no need for information technology. The apply of a primer will make removal of the vinyls a lot harder down the line, and if you're removing a wrap that has primer used during installation, there is a higher chance y'all volition damage the vehicle. To this point, it'south important to note that primers are necessary when installing boat graphics to ensure adhesion in h2o, but that is another mail service for another day. At Signs WA Joondalup, we only use the best vinyls, so we never need to utilize primers to install vehicle graphics. For the best possible event, nosotros recommend you non try to remove the vinyl yourself, particularly if you lot don't know how information technology has been installed.

If you lot desire a quote on vinyl removal, call our friendly sales staff today for a chat.