Remove stickers from a car

How to remove stickers from a car without damaging the paint

There are two ways to remove stickers from a car; soaking with an adhesive remover and scraping OR using a rubber eraser wheel. Rubber eraser wheels are often used in body shops to remove old pinstripping and trim adhesive. As long as you don’t use too much pressure, these rubber wheels work well and don’t damage the paint. Here’s a video on using a rubber eraser wheel

What you need to remove stickers from a car

• Hair dryer to soften old adhesive
• Paint friendly adhesive remover citrus oil-based, not solvent-based remover
• Plastic scraper
• Rubber eraser wheel and drill

Start removing stickers from a car by softening the adhesive with a hairdryer

1) Warm the sticker and the glass or paint. But don’t overdo it. You don’t want to cook the adhesive, just soften it.
2) Peel up the top edge using a plastic scraper and adhesive remover
3) Add more adhesive remover to the top edge and let it soak
4) Peel the sticker down from the top
5) Once the sticker is off, use a soft cloth soaked in adhesive remover to remove the left over adhesive.

Best adhesive removers for removing stickers from car

You want an oil based remover so it doesn’t damage the paint. Goo Gone, De-Solv-it, 3M #38983 adhesive remover all work well. Or, use a 3M Strip Remover

Products to avoid when removing stickers from your car

These heavy duty solvent-based product will remove stickers from your car much faster than the products shown above. But they also hold the potential to remove paint, so avoid them:

Goof Off is an excellent adhesive remover. But it’s not a good choice for use on car paint.

Acetone is an even better adhesiver remover. But it’s also not a good choice for car paint.

WD-40 is a general purpose lubricant. It contains solvents and oil and many people use it to remove adhesive. It does work, but it will take much longer than any of the products listed above. If you want to spend way more time than is necessary, then choose WD-40.

©, 2021 Rick Muscoplat