Solvent for removing stickers?

Johnny5

Johnny5

Well-known member
The previous owner of my bike put on some relfective stickers on the forks and a couple other spots of the bike and i want to remove them but the problem is they are brittle now and crack when you try to peel them off. Does anyone know of a good solvent that i can wipe on with a rag that will melt them off? I'm thinking maybe Acetone? I don't want anything too abrusive or to have to scrap or brush them off since that could scratch the metal. Any suggestion on something i can use that isn't hard to find?
 
Hair dryer helps first by softening the old adhesive. Rubbing alcohol at Shoppers Drug Mart or "GooGone solvent at Canadian Tire, Home Hardware etc. will dissolve the remaining stuff. Acetone will mess up the paint.
 
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I used my friends heat gun to get sickers off my bike and that got the chunks off then gas on a cloth got rid of the sticky stuff off. Then cleaned the gas off to make sure it didn't take any paint off my bike.
 
Don't you have kerosene? That's the best of the bunch and you need it to clean your chain anyway.
 
FiReSTaRT said:
Don't you have kerosene? That's the best of the bunch and you need it to clean your chain anyway.
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My bike is a shaft drive so there is no chain cleaning. I have a heat gun and i picked up some Goo Gone from Crappy Tire i'll give that a go.. Thanks for the replies everyone.
 
Varsol and acetone will probably dry things up (like the glue) which is not helpful.

Just like removing the stickers and associated glue from on furniture an oil will work, like vegetable oil on wooden furniture, kitchen items for example. Try it on the gas tank, fairings.... it will not damage the paint. Oil washes off with soap and water.
 
I don't know if it's available retail but you can check it out. Works great but be patient:

http://www.rapidtac.com/products/remover.html

Varsol usually works well on the residual glue too but most stickers need to be peeled off first because the remover won't penetrate through to the glue.
 
Methyl hydrate will remove glue, won't hurt your paint and won't get you high like goo gone.
 
dricked said:
Methyl hydrate will remove glue, won't hurt your paint and won't get you high like goo gone.
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Some of us pay the premium on that stuff so we can enjoy those side effects.
 
3M makes a rubber wheel like a big eraser.. it takes off decals,, the glue, and polishes the paint clean! fast! it chucks in a drill.
 
+1 on the lighter fluid. You can pour it directly, swab it around and once it's soft and soggy... use your nail to get it off.

It works so well it almost sounds dirty.
 
Kerosene works just as well, 1l costs about the same as 100-200ml of lighter fluid and can be used as a degreaser.
 
Using Acetone will mess up the paint and goo gone is not that effective. I'd suggest you to do what i have been doing for years. Use the wonder products - Wonder Wheel and Wonder Blade. The Wonder Wheel, made of soft rubber works fine for the heavy duty jobs and removes decals within minutes.

The plastic Wonder blade is perfect for the delicate jobs and it can too remove decals within minutes, without damaging the paint or leaving any ugly residue.

With the Wonder Wheel, I have removed all types of decals on bikes, cars, jeeps, trucks, and boats. Watch this video to see how to remove decals using Wonder Wheel: http://youtu.be/orOF0jKNgwM

You will find the Wonder Wheel here: http://decalstickerremover.com/
 
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