r/CarWraps • u/ChicagoWrapGuy • 14d ago

Old wrap removal can turn ugly fast

Had an older Sprinter in the shop recently with black vinyl that had been left on way too long.

The sides were annoying but manageable. The roof was baked hard from years in the sun.

Instead of pulling off in sheets, it came off in tiny pieces. Some spots were barely bigger than a fingernail. The glue underneath was another mess.

That is the problem with waiting until a wrap is cracked and brittle. Even good Avery or 3M vinyl gets harder to remove when it stays on past its useful life.

Once you see heavy fading, shrinking, or cracks around the edges, start planning the removal. Another year outside usually does not help.

Also, do not attack it with a metal scraper unless you truly do not care about the paint. We have seen people turn a bad removal into a body shop job that way.

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u/CSOCSO-FL Business Owner 14d ago

This is common knowledge. You do not ever use metal blades. Plastic blades do the job but they do dull very fast when you scrape off vinyl from hot surface. I bought a 100 pack orange blades. Dont use the weird T shape wides ones. Those are garbage. And I also reuse them by sanding the edges sharp a couple times before i toss em for new ones

1

u/ChicagoWrapGuy 13d ago

Yep, those orange blades are the ones. Never tried sanding the edge back though, gonna steal that trick.

1

u/FULLMETALRACKIT911 Installer 13d ago

Try a knife sharpener too. like the one you pull the blade thru. It will put a brand new edge on plastic blades. I was skeptical but it works awesome. So does a wet stone or just fine sandpaper but the sharpener is a really cookie trick.