How to remove stickers from your car without damaging the paintwork
We all like to put our personal touches on our cars. Whether that be a custom paint job, an interior that reflects our style, or even something minor like a bobblehead that sits on the dashboard, or maybe a car bumper sticker.
The unfortunate thing is, that one person's personal touch, is another’s undesired one. This doesn’t matter too much, but if you purchase a second-hand car, then it sure does. With large modifications like a custom paint job or modified interior, you probably wouldn’t purchase the car in the first place. And with a bobblehead, you’d just throw it in the bin.
But what about stickers? They can be removed, but carefully so you don’t damage the paintwork. There’s a knack on how to do it, and we’ll tell you how.
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Best way to remove a sticker from a car
1. Have your materials at the ready
Before you remove the car sticker, gather the materials beforehand. The materials you will need to carry out sticker car removal are:
- Hair dryer
- A stiff card like a credit card
- Rubbing alcohol (you can use methylated spirit or turpentine as an alternative)
- A microfibre cloth
- Degreasing cloth like the PaintNuts Panel Wipe degreasing cloth
- Warm, soapy water
2. Clean the area
Although not necessary for car sticker removal, cleaning the area removes any dirt and debris that may get caught up in the process and scratch the paintwork. To clean, use a clean cloth or sponge and wash the area with warm, soapy water. Once the area is clean and dry, you can start the process of car sticker removal.
3. Warm up the sticker
Warming up the sticker will loosen up the adhesive glue, making it easier to peel off. Do not use a heat gun as this could be too intense, which could damage the vehicle paintwork. Instead, opt for a hair dryer and set it to the warmest heat setting for the best results with car sticker removal.
Holding the hairdryer about 6 inches away from the sticker, distribute the heat evenly over the sticker.
Be cautious when applying heat to paintwork. Too much heat and the paint can be damaged, which could require a costly repair. Just a little warmth can often be enough to loosen a sticker’s adhesive. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so err on the side of caution.
4. Carefully remove the sticker from the car
Now and again, check if the sticker is loose enough to peel off by testing it with your piece of card. If it still feels firm to remove the car sticker, and isn’t budging enough, warm the sticker for a bit longer.
If the sticker is loose enough, use the piece of card to lift the corner or edge of the sticker. Once you’ve lifted the corner or edge, slowly peel it off as you push the card more and more under the sticker.
If the sticker is quite large, you may need to continue to heat the sticker as you go. Smaller stickers tend to come off fairly quickly so the adhesive should remain loose enough to peel it off without more heat.
5. Clean up the area again and remove the car sticker glue
After you have carried out car sticker removal, there will likely be some residue glue left on the paintwork. To remove car sticker glue, you will need to use rubbing alcohol. Alternatively, you can use methylated spirit, white spirit or turpentine.
Apply a small amount of rubbing alcohol to your microfibre cloth and gently rub the adhesive area in a circular motion. If the glue isn't coming off, you may need to apply a little more rubbing alcohol. Once all of the glue is removed, wipe the area dry with the degreasing cloth.
What if I scratch the paintwork?
Sometimes, accidents happen and you might still scratch the paintwork, or you may remove the sticker and find it was there for a reason - to hide a scratch or scuff.
In this event, assess how deep the scratch is. If it’s only a light scratch, you can try PaintNuts Scratch & Scuff remover, which is specially developed for permanently removing light scratches and scuffs.
To use the PaintNuts Scratch & Scuff remover:
- Clean the area and remove any dirt and debris that could cause further damage.
- Apply a small amount of compound to an applicator pad - available in the PaintNuts Scratch & Scuff remover kit
- Apply even pressure in a straight back-and-forth motion side to side and then up and down, until the scratch or scuff has been removed or reduced
- Buff the area with PaintNuts Micro Fibre Polishing Cloth to remove the compound residue
If the scratch is deep, it will need touching up with colour matched car touch up paint. Simply enter your car reg on our website to get the correct colour match and select the appropriate product for you. We offer a touch up pen, bottle and brush or aerosol for scratches and scuffs, and to use just follow the instructions.
Order your car touch up paint
We stock dozens of touch-up paint colours. No matter what paintwork you need fixing, we likely have the paint colour for your car.
PaintNuts can mix all modern car and most classic car colours for colour match touch up car paint, available as a high precision pen, bottle and brush or car spray paint/aerosol. Just enter your car reg on our website, and off you go.