antiquepedaler
01-09-08, 05:42 PM
Finally tired of the cracking decals on our 7-year-old Santana, I spent a long snowy afternoon removing them. What a chore. Quickly finding that the old hair dryer trick wouldn't work I called the factory. Their painter's direction was to soak a rag in lacquer thinner and gently and patiently rub the decals off. Then to neutralize the thinner before it melted the clearcoat, wipe down the area with rubbing alchohol. Now the downtube decals are some 18 inches long and soaking the entire decal did nothing. I had to work a small area at a time.
As the afternoon progressed I found that the use of a small square of rag was best at is quickly soaked up melted decal and clogged up. But changing to a fresh rag after a couple of letters and using fresh thinner worked better. Then I quickly neutralized the area before moving on. The result was that the system worked fine but was certainly labor intensive. The decal material actually melted away rather than peeled off.
A couple of years ago I had removed the failing decals on the fancy Shimano wheels. Those just peeled off and I cleaned up the stickum left on the rims with goo remover.
Will I replace the decals? Naught! We like the custom look.
As the afternoon progressed I found that the use of a small square of rag was best at is quickly soaked up melted decal and clogged up. But changing to a fresh rag after a couple of letters and using fresh thinner worked better. Then I quickly neutralized the area before moving on. The result was that the system worked fine but was certainly labor intensive. The decal material actually melted away rather than peeled off.
A couple of years ago I had removed the failing decals on the fancy Shimano wheels. Those just peeled off and I cleaned up the stickum left on the rims with goo remover.
Will I replace the decals? Naught! We like the custom look.