Best Method to Remove Vinyl Lettering

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Bca8ball

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What is the best method to remove the vinyl lettering from the Gold Crown wood apron?

The wood is in great condition and in my table's location I would rather have the future grade wood appearance verses the Brunswick lettering.

Apparently, WD40 is a trick for removing left over adhesive; hoping there is a easier way to remove the vinyl then picking it off piece at a time.
 

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Lighter fluid would be my first choice for removing adhesive. As far as the letters you might try a paint heat gun on low and fan a letter lightly and when its warm try and roll it off. Paint guns are crazy cheap at Harbor freight or Home Depot. Just don't concentrate the heat.
 
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Use a hair dryer on it, then peel it. Warming it up will help soften the vinyl and the glue enough that you should be able to take full letters off, instead of pieces. As far as the residue, I would use a product like goo-b-gone or the like in place of the wd40.
 
3M makes a line of products for easy decal/stripe removal, such as Stripe Off and Adhesive Eraser.

They work well, but are not cheap and not for lacquer coatings.
 
Buy a plastic razorblade and use a hairdryer. You could also use an adhesive remover with the plastic blade. Either way, you're working it off.
 
If the lettering is original to the table, I would leave it on. I like it. But heat gun
for the vinyl, and naptha for the adhesive. If you apply the perfect
amount of heat, you can sometimes take the adhesive away with the decal.
 
I agree with using a hair dryer. Start with warm..not hot. Heat and peel gently.
If you use any kind of solvents after the decal comes off....SPOT TEST in an inconspicuous area.
Do not use a scrapper...plastic, razor, etc.

BTW...I like the letters on the table. . And they are expensive. Consider leaving them. We see a lot of GC's without them and not many with them. It makes your table somewhat different.
 
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GoldCrown said:
I agree with using a hair dryer. Start with warm..not hot. Heat and peel gently.
If you use any kind of solvents after the decal comes off....SPOT TEST in an inconspicuous area.
Do not use a scrapper...plastic, razor, etc.

BTW...I like the letters on the table. . And they are expensive. Consider leaving them. We see a lot of GC's without them and not many with them. It makes your table somewhat different.
Click to expand...

Hello Frank,
Personally, I like the official lettering; however, I removed an extremely attractive 7' Diamond Pro Am to install the Gold Crown.
The table is centered under an archway between my formal dinning and formal living room.
My wife's only comment during the table size upgrade was a dislike for the "Pool Hall" lettering.
Considering my hobby is the first sight from the front door and consumes over 300 sqft. of our home... I have no problem removing the vinyl letters.
 
Bca8ball said:
Hello Frank,
Personally, I like the official lettering; however, I removed an extremely attractive 7' Diamond Pro Am to install the Gold Crown.
The table is centered under an archway between my formal dinning and formal living room.
My wife's only comment during the table size upgrade was a dislike for the "Pool Hall" lettering.
Considering my hobby is the first sight from the front door and consumes over 300 sqft. of our home... I have no problem removing the vinyl letters.
Click to expand...

Enjoy that Crown. It's a beautiful table that will last for generations. Please post some pics of your room. Aside from using a hair dryer..... maybe a steamer if you have one with a fine nozzle.

Would also post this under "Talk to A Mechanic". You might get your best answers there...or on a wood workers forum.

I can post for you on a Penturning forum. Some of those guys eat and sleep woods & finishes
 
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Bca8ball said:
What is the best method to remove the vinyl lettering from the Gold Crown wood apron?

The wood is in great condition and in my table's location I would rather have the future grade wood appearance verses the Brunswick lettering.

Apparently, WD40 is a trick for removing left over adhesive; hoping there is a easier way to remove the vinyl then picking it off piece at a time.
Click to expand...

I looked online and found the sticker kit costs $100. Like others have said, if it's original keep it on. I kinda wish my GCIII had the stickers. Maybe I'll buy the kit.
 
cover it with a vinyl sticker in wood grain or black? that way it can stay AND it can go away too.
 
The reason I use a paint heat gun on low instead of a hair dryer is I want a quick flash on high heat. Just enough to get the sticker hot quickly but not the surface it is adhered to.

I work part time in a sign shop and we work with many kinds of vinyl and need to remove signs from Aluminum, plastic and wood. Lighter fluid(Naptha)is really good at removing leftover adhesive and leaves very little if anything behind.

I can't guarantee that the letters on the table are vinyl because there are a few other polymers that can be used but most will react in a similar way.
 
Thanks for all the input; figured I would post the following experience for the next person.

Of all the suggested methods of removing the Brunswick vinyl lettering on the Gold Crown aprons; Hair Dryer, Heat Gun, and Iron (dry) over a microfiber cloth, the iron concentrated the heat allowing letter removal the best.

Started with a hair dryer, the vinyl softens and starts coming off but cools too fast without constant use. Constant use get pretty warm on the fingers and prevent the use of both hands that helps keep letters from tearing where you have to pick another piece loose.

Moved to my heat gun, even at the low setting I simply wasn't comfortable considering the potential of heat and wasn't great for the fingers attempting to stay at it while keeping the vinyl heated.

The hot (dry) iron over a microfiber cloth seemed to work the best; I basically heated a letter and was able to peel it off.

Letter removal is by far the easiest part of the project as all methods leave a glue residue behind.
I tried everything I had on hand (after testing on small spots): Goof Off, Goo Gone, Lighter Fluid, Mineral Spirits (paint thinner) and be prepared to use elbow grease; this stuff is tough after the years. I had the best success with the Mineral Spirits.
In all cases, I immediately wiped the surface with water in sections as I went.

Ok, for all that recommended leaving the letters on… I agree, but here is why.
The glue from the vinyl stains or embeds into the varnish / coated surface. Even after removal, there is a Brunswick ghost flame appearance. Technically, it won’t be readily visible with the apron in the mounted position without lighting and specific angles but it’s certainly there.

In my case, the wood is in great shape, enough so that I have no interest in sanding and refinishing. If it gets to the point that it bothers me, I will reinstall lettering is a cream/light brown color verse the original bright white. That said, I’m wondering if staining the white lettering would have been an option; I will test that theory tomorrow with the material removed.

Long story short, if you want the clean natural wood look, buy a table without lettering.

No regrets here though, I bought a beautiful table at a great price.
 

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Glad it worked out for you.

If the ghost bothers you to the point of doing something about it and you like the look of the wood, one option would be a thin pinstripe around the outline of the Brunswick in a color of your choice. You would still see the wood, but the name would be a little more subtle.
 
P-nut

For glue residue I use peanut oil. Leave it on overnight. Edible=non-toxic. Also thick and gooey, so it doesn't run like various mineral spirits. Can put it on vertical surfaces (thin coat).
 
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