I want to repaint a set of plastics and was looking for hints and methods for removing decals, race #s, the residue left afterwards. Thanx!!
Use some heat to remove the stickers -- a hair drier works fine. Then I use some 3M decal remover that I bought at the automotive paints store. It removes the glue residue that's left behind after a sticker. My only issue with the 3M stuff is that it gets everywhere! Definitely something done off the bike and outdoors far away from cleanup concerns. However, the last time I prepped for painting it looked like the sanding took all that residual glue off anyway. I don't know if there was any left on the microscopic level but it looked fine through the ole beer goggles.
Heat will get the sticker off in one piece. GooGone [tm] and CitraSol [tm] will take care of the sticky residue. Sanding off the sticky stuff will clog your paper.
Yep, there are several products for the goop left over. Just check out the painting aisle at your local Home Depot or Lowe's. I removed the "warning, motorcycle riding is dangerous and yadda yadda" stickers with GooGone (as Pants mentioned). Worked well.
I got a giant eraser that fits into a drill. It will take off vinyl stickers without harming the paint, if you don't get too vigorous with it. It's about a 3" disc with a 1/4" stud that you can chuck up, made literally out of eraser rubber. Got it from a place that sold vinyl stickers and body graphics for cars.
