Any one have experience removing decals . I was wondering what the best solvent may be for that , evidently my concern is using something that will not have adverse affects on paint , BTW the labels have no clear coat on them

thanks
Steve

Are you talking about decals, or stickers?

For decals, I have had good luck removing decals from an old bike by carefully using the back side of a butter knife to rub/scrape it off.

For stickers, I recall reading about good results with all of the various anti-goo products or WD-40 for removing the residue.

Hair dryer works pretty good to loosen up old adhesive a bit

stickers with pressure-sensitive adhesive respond well to heat, I use a hair dryer set high and gently pull the hot vinyl as I move the heat along. It often comes off completely clean with no residue. Water-slide decals (like a 531 tube decals) that aren't coated with some kind of varnish or clear will usually scrape off with a fingernail...or just by staring hard at them . For residue and sticker gunk I used to use WD40 and solvents like Goo Gone but now I find naptha (AKA lighter fluid for Zippos and Ronsons) works even better and leaves no oily film to wash off. But make sure it doesn't harm the paint, so far not a problem on any frame I used it on.

Ditto Unworthy and TheSlav.... Hot hair dryer works wonders. This is accomplished by holding the hairdryer (on hottest, high setting) directly on the decal, about an inch away from the surface, for about 15 seconds. It then peels off easily.

This also worked to take off my "TOYOTA" decals on the gate of my truck, and just about every decal I've ever tried it on.

i tried the hair dryer last week for the frst time...it was like magic.

+1

I had a Lemond with, like, nine "Lemond" decals. I decided to take one or two off with my wife's hair dryer. It worked so well, I ended up stripping the entire bike. I like my frame in its new stealthy form.

''with my wife's hair dryer"

uh-huh, yeah

How about on a naked carbon fiber frame? I just bought an older frame with scratched up decals, but don't want to risk damaging the carbon with chemicals or excessive heat. Any ideas?

Woe

Some early decals were not a waterslide nor an adhesive backed type, nor were they clear coated, but they tended to survive very well. They were a varnish-set type (placed onto a wet clear varnish which had been applied on top of the enamel). These had a strong varnish coating on the actual transfer itself which gave the effect of being painted onto the bike once the paper backing was later soaked and removed. I think the only way those can be removed would be to chip and scrape them off as you would to remove spots of dried on enamel. I believe the head tube and seat tube transfers on my old Frejus is a good example of this type. They have chipped in spots over 35+ years, but still have the textured feel of hand painting over the beige enamel, and there is no question that they will not peel off - like the ol' 531 decals did, almost instantly.

The hairdryer won't hurt carbon fiber bikes.