removal of adhesive from fabric

26 posts in this topic

Posted

The builder of my Fat Avid put vinyl tape on the wings for "stripes". I removed the tape and it left behind the adhesive. It is very hard to remove without taking off the MEK based PolyTone paint. Is there a solvent that will remove the adhesive without stripping the paint?

Thanks!

Chris

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Posted

I use Goof Off on mine works well and does not touch the Poly Tone also works on polycarbonate and is available at Home Depot, Walmart and Amazon to name a few.

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Posted

I tried all kinds of different things to get some masking tape glue residue off my Kitfox 1 wing,  this is what finally worked.  3M general adhesive cleaner #08984.  Still had to put some elbow grease into it, but it did work when many others failed.  JImChuk

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Posted

Not sure how it will work for u but sure did a great job for me on the pa12 airframe removing the green stewards glue b4 installed the Oratex

image.jpg

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Posted

That's the stuff.  I had used lacquer thinner to thin the poly fiber coats, and used blue painter's masking tape for the trim colors.  Found out later you need to use the green 3M masking tape if going over lacquer, and even then, don't leave it on any longer than you have to.  JImChuk

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Posted

Polyfiber c-2210 cleaner. It will remove tape adhesive.

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Posted

Thanks for the suggestions so far.  I Tried the 3m product. Did not harm paint. Didn’t remove adhesive with my limit at patience for it to work. I think I am pretty patient. If it had worked it would have taken a week to do the job I have to do!  Goof Off was very effective at softening the adhesive, but after the adhesive started coming up so did the paint. This adhesive is tenacious. Thanks for pointing out the polyfiber product. That is what I prolly should have tried in the first place if I knew about it. Will report back after trying the c-2210.

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Posted

A soft large erasure for pencils seemed to help to roll the glue up and give it something to stick to as well.  JImChuk

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Posted

Maybe try to dab some duct tape over the adhesive and see if that pulls it off.

Usually a solvent that evaporates quickly sucks at removing stuff.

I know mineral spirits works well for keeping the surface wet also WD-40 will not harm the finish and might remove the adhesive

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Posted

Chris, I used the C-2210 to remove a eagle decal  on my Champ. It took the adhesive off with a little rubbing. It also took off the adhesive from some of my vgs after they fell off. Good for removing wax and oil residue and will not harm the polytone.

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Posted

Howbout this: wait till a really sunny day, roll the bird out in the sun and warm up the skin for at least 3 hrs. Then, use the 3m adhesive remover.  It's like gettin' laid, Yeh if you worked hard enough you could getyasome', but with a couple of glasses of wine, gettin' some will be so easy it's like "Falling off a log"! Good Luck!

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Posted

I have this belt cleaning “eraser” for sanding belts. I used it with a hair dryer with some luck but brutally slow and still not very effective. I also tried WD40 with no luck whatsoever. This stuff is thick and gummy. Did I say it is really really tenacious? I really want to try the polyfiber product, but if it doesn’t work I’m afraid I’m going to have to use Goof Off then MEK and repaint in those areas he put this tape. Not what I was looking forward to as Oshkosh nears.

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Posted

Some consider step one to be to use a hair dryer (not a heat gun) when the sticker is removed - if you missed that step, try it on the adhesive in conjunction with your solvent of choice.

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Posted

When removing the hard, dried adhesive after peeling all the packing tape from my A+ fuselage, the best solvent was Naphtha i.e., Coleman stove camp fuel. A close second was cheap isopropyl alcohol, I used wifey's 91% Target brand lightly with a soft scrubbie pad. Both have a pretty quick flash off. I don't *think* it would harm PolyTone, but I would use rag on fabric and test 1st obviously. Heat helped.

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Posted (edited)

Turns out I have a gallon of c-2210 paint cleaning solvent, and that was the very first thing I tried. I just didn't know it by the part number. Didn't work worth a hoot. I will try again with some heat since ti does seem lie the best stuff to use..

This vinyl tape I removed reminds me more of leading edge protection type tape I have seen. Very stout tape (could actually have been urethane tape I guess, but I don't know for sure. It's not your mother's adhesive that's for sure! 

Also tried isopropyl alcohol and 190 proof grain alcohol. Neither of them worked either.

Edited by Chris Bolkan

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Posted

Your gonna have so much money stuck in chemicals you could have cheaper just did a recover ha:P

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Posted

Ouch! :-)

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Posted

Have you tried soap and water? Sometimes that works better than chemicals. Just a thought

 

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Posted

Yes that was girl friend’s idea. She came out for a hour and tried Ajax and very hot water. Didn’t work.

Retried the polyfiber paint cleaning solvent. Same luck as last time. It cleans so well maybe it is taking a small amount of the adhesive off, but I can’t really tell for sure and it would take forever with the amount of this adhesive all over the wings.

I just tried straight MEK. Works same maybe a bit better than goof off. Doesn’t remove the paint any quicker and I’ll bet is more pure. 

Think im stuck stripping and repainting wherever this tape was. For the most part I can get the adhesive off before going thru to the silver...for the most part. High spots go down to pink.

guess I’ll paint blue stripes wherever the tape was.

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Posted

I was re reading this thread to see if there was something I might have missed and saw Doug's suggestion to use white gas. Well I just tried it and it does something! It softens the adhesive (very slowly) but doesn't seem to strip the paint. Going to give this a good honest try. It might work. Thanks Doug!

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Posted

Well, After giving the white gas a real good try I gave up on it as a remover. I does clean well though.

I've come to the conclusion (and it is a big guess) but this adhesive seems cohesive as well as / rather than adhesive. It's like the only chemicals that will remove it also remove the polytone.

It's like if it was metal, this adhesive is brazed to the paint as opposed to being soldered. i would say welded, but there is a distinct material difference between the adhesive and the paint.

So I've started down the MEK and million rags and respirator, because I will be at this a long time. 

I am hoping, maybe naively so, that the surface left after/ under the removal of this crap will accept the polyfiber/polytone again.

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Posted

sorry to hear that. Maybe some vinyl graphics? Or sand and paint.

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Posted

I know this is an old thread but found out today tha mineral spirits removes duct tape glue without touching PolyTone paint.

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Posted

I wonder if toluene would have worked. That is what we thinned and reactivated the yellow glue we used on deicing boots.

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Posted

I'm with Paul, Goof Off. I used it to remove decal residue off a Expedition we bought that was a former city P.D. rig. It comes in regular and "pro" strength. Of course I used it on car paint with no damage, I'd try a small spot first.

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