I've figured out what makes my beater bike so ugly. It's the decals. The frame is just white behind and silver in front and on the fork; the decals say CCM and ELIPSE in big stupid fonts with a royal blue stripe. Even though it's a crap bike (a modern CCM-branded thing) I'm not trying to completely debrand it. The headbadge is classy enough. It's just the decals that are tacky.

Does a weak acetone solution like nail polish remover work, or do I have to get something stronger? It almost seems like I might be able to start peeling the decal off with nothing at all -- or will that pull the paint off with it? What about scraping up a corner of the decal and using weak acetone to help dissolve the glue so that I can just peel it back?

I'm not looking for the quickest and dirtiest way to do it, I'd rather use a minimum of fume-producing chemicals and I'm willing to put some elbow grease into it.

In case the acetone softens the paint of clear-layer, I'd suggest applying it to the decal only. Then wait and see if the decal will come off easily. Repeat as needed with applying acetone. But don't use "elbow grease." That might start to take off some paint. And don't have any open flames or spark-sources near the work area. Acetone is highly inflammable.

Do let us know how/what works. I have one-to-go as well.

Acetone will certainly remove most decals but it is likely to attack the paint too. "Weak" acetone either won't work at all or will act just like the straight stuff.

I used acetone to remove decals from my Litespeed but it's bare Ti and there is no paint to worry about.

You might try a hair dryer as a gentle heat gun to see if it will loosen the decals without harming the paint.

if it's a "sticker" vs a decal; just try to pull it off and use chemicals to clean any residue..WD40...Goof-off maybe even gently applied heat,,,like a hair dryer or heat gun......acteone can be pretty rough on hands, noses, environment, etc....

It also depends upon whether the decals have been clear-coated over. In which case, you won't be able to get them off without damaging the top layer of clear paint.

Look carefully at the edge of the decal, is it sharp with a square edge you can catch with your finger? If so, it's a sticker and you can peel it off.

However, if the edge is smooth with a layer of paint over it, it's probably a decal that's been painted over and will be difficult to remove.

Actually, stickers is probably a better word for them than decals. As I said, I can get a fingernail under the corner, so they're not clearcoated over. I'll try a hairdryer and see if that will loosen up the glue enough. Thanks!

slow and easy.....try to pull it away from the frame at the most severe angle possible; give the adhesive a chance to fail before the sticker tears....plus heat.......

get a mask and use carb cleaner--very caustic but it works.also, without chemicals--
a hair dryer!

If they're not clearcoated over you might be able to get them off. I've used a credit card to remove flaking decals before. I had tested acetone on one of the chain stays and it was really destroying the paint. Scraping the decals off did only a small amount of damage to the clearcoat and none to the paint and hey it's a beater bike anyway, right?

Acetone is the wrong tool for the job. Period. Acetone is a polar solvent and the adhesive is nonpolar. You need something that is 'like' the adhesive (like dissolves like). Nonpolar solvents are things like mineral spirits, gasoline, xylene, kerosene, diesel fuel, etc. Of the list, mineral spirits and kerosene (the major component in WD40) are the least hazardous and cheapest. Mineral spirits is readily available at hardware stores and evaporates faster than kerosene and doesn't leave lubricant like WD40.

If the stickers are in good condition (not torn, flaking, etc) and you can get a fingernail under a corner you can probably just carefully peel them off. If it starts to tear, stop before it rips through, switch to a different corner, and start peeling from there instead. Maybe try adding a hair dryer if it's stubborn (though the one time I've de-stickered a bike, just peeling them off by hand worked fine and took maybe 15 minutes tops). I wouldn't even bother trying to think of clever chemicals to try until I'd at least failed to get the thing completely off the obvious way.

Actually acetone is both polar and non-polar. It'll dissolve polar compounds with its carbonyl group and non-polar compounds with the two methyl groups. It actually is a stronger cutting agent than xylene, kerosene and mineral-spirits. The problem here is that it's TOO strong of a solvent and will dissolve both the glue under the sticker AND the paint as well.

Sorry but a chemist (I am one) would unequivocally call acetone a polar solvent. It has a high dipole moment and high dielectric constant. Definitely polar.

Pressure adhesives, on the other hand don't have much polarity at all. I just got a new FTIR with a cool sampling accessory that allows me to sample the adhesive on tapes and sticky notes (without the backing paper or plastic interfering with the spectrum). Both have lots of C-H bonds that are typical of nonpolar materials.

Operationally, acetone will just cause the adhesive to clump up like a wax and not dissolve it. Mineral spirits will actually remove the material by dissolution.


Uber

Correct, cyccommute. Ability to dissolve non-oxygenated molecules doesn't make a solvent non-polar. I know from experience that acetone will dissolve a great many things - far more than a more selective solvent such as a non-polar one like xylene (xylol in hardware stores). So do try the gentle-heat method here. A non-polar solvent may not dissolve as many things as a polar one - like acetone - but it does an excellent job of dissolving what it will dissolve. If this happens to be your paint job...Get the idea? I thought so! LOL.

Let us know what worked. I have a nasty old sticker on my Reynold's 531 Puch A-D frame. I'd love to give it a Viking Funeral. But not the paint beneath it.

I believe we've had this discussion before.

You are absolutely right but, nevertheless Acetone does work to remove decals (and price tags for that matter). It detackifies the adhesive and the decal or tag rubs right off.

OMS or Kerosine will work on pressure sensitive adhesives but I believe some "water transfer" decals don't use that type and acetone works on them by dissolving the decal itself.

Polarity aside, there's a good chance Goo-Gone will solve this issue and leave your bike smelling like an orange without damage to the paint.

I just did this to the arm of a Softride and it took the beat-up stickers right off.

Dissolving or clumping/bond weakening, it all doesn't matter if the solvent also ruins the paint along with removing the goo.

Stick to mineral spirits AKA "low odor paint thinner" used in oil based house paint. The only thing it'll affect is the wax on the frame by making the area a touch dull at most which can then be re-waxed to shine it up afterwards.

This stuff is the bomb. I used it on a car to remove pin stripe adhesive. Doesn't touch the clearcoat. Used it to remove adhesive on many other items as well. One can has lasted me a while. Spray it on - let it sit for a few minutes - adhesive wipes right off.

somegeek

Keeping the paint from dissolving is one of the points of using mineral spirits. The other is that the mineral spirits just does a better job. It requires less mechanical effort to remove the adhesive of pressure sensitive stickers.

Acetone, by the way, is a good solvent. It dissolves all kinds of stuff. Part of the reason it's so hard on the paint is that it does a better job of dissolving the paint polymer than it does the adhesive. However, it's just the wrong tool for this job.

Why is that?

I know you are trying to bait me but...

The adhesive and the paint are two different materials. Acetone does a great job of dissolving some polymers and a terrible job on others. Water does a great job of dissolving some polymers and a terrible job on others. Same for xylene, kerosene, mineral spirits, etc.

Polyurethanes are fairly soluble in acetone as are epoxy resins. Since these are more commonly used in paint for bikes, it's a good idea to keep acetone away from them. The same resins can stand up to aliphatic hydrocarbons quite. The adhesive can't. The adhesive, however, doesn't dissolve in acetone like it does in the hydrocarbons. It will just clump and stick and require more application of acetone with the possible damage to the paint that can ensue.

+1...we use the same thing under a different name.......it's basically souped-up kerosene.....

Or expensive mineral spirits. MSDS matches regular mineral spirits (not odorless)

+1

Acetone does not work very well on the acrylic adhesives used with stickers. Goo-Off works and sometime vegetable oil.

As far as solvents. n-propyl bromide is great if you can get it. But you need to use silver shield gloves because some of the population can have a sever allergic reaction to it on the skin. The best thing to peal the sticker off and try some of the different over the counter methods.

Someone 'round here pulled the decals off their LHT with duct tape. I haven't tried it so I don't know how effective it would be.