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Dealer Stickers

M2G

Paddler
Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Messages
368
Location
Port Townsend, WA
Being a semi-reformed car guy, I've never liked getting home and having to peel some car dealer's sticker off the paint of my nice new Volvo, Ford, BMW or whatever.

Even worse, in my world, is a kayak shop plastering their shop's sticker on the hull of a $4,000 boat…on each side. I've been working on getting these insane things off my hull and doubt I'll ever buy another boat from this known local shop if they feel they must do this for each kayak they sell.

I've stickered things up before and I'm not some anti-sticker elitist, but hand the things out to buyers and let them decide if and where they want to stick it; otherwise, they may tell you to.

End rant.
 
While I am totally with you on brand new stuff, you might consider the following:
If that dealer has a rental fleet you can't really blame them marking their property. Buying a boat out of a rental fleet usually means "as is", stickers included. :wink:
 
red kite said:
While I am totally with you on brand new stuff, you might consider the following:
If that dealer has a rental fleet you can't really blame them marking their property. Buying a boat out of a rental fleet usually means "as is", stickers included. :wink:

This kayak was never part of the rental or demo fleet.

I'm good with that though! Boats going out in the hands of others or out on the water as demos sure, though I didn't see a single high end boat in the demo area at the Port Angeles Kayak Festival with dealer stickers on them.

So, from what I've seen, it's not the norm but I have noticed a couple of shops that put stickers on both sides of the hull on all the boats they sell.

The ones I'm dealing with, are anything but easy to get remove. Using a razor blade and that's going very slow. I know there are some chemical removal options but I'd rather not go that route.
 
Ron,

In the realm of milder agents, consider cooking oil, Simple Green, one of the citrus cleaners, and lighter fluid. Soap and hot water wash afterwards will remove these agents. They are easier on a shiny hull than scraping with a razor blade because a plastic paint scraper can be used in lieu of the razor after the sticker adhesive has softened. The plastic scraper should not scar the hull.

Amongst what most folks call chemicals, I would avoid acetone and lacquer thinner on any polyester resin hull. They leach out unreacted styrene monomer, which is the prime odor in a fresh hull, and, some say, a good plasticizer for such hulls. And, they will dull the surface a bit. Any good paste wax will restore the shine.

The killer removal agent, full of noxious chemicals, but quick, fast, rapid, and therefore demanding the least exposure for the hull is 3M's Windshield Adhesive Remover. Again, hot soapy water removes this stuff quickly. If you can cadge a little of this stuff, work with it only out of doors and consider wearing an organic vapor mask. Definitely wear thin nitrile gloves, such as those used for working with epoxy (Pygmy Kayaks in PT has them). I have used this on lots of projects, only when nothing else works.

Fifty years an organic chemist tells me I can work safely with chemicals if I protect myself ... and dispose of the used materials properly ... remembering that my vehicle has close to 20 gallons of very toxic, volatile, flammable chemicals for fuel, which I have learned to live with ... carefully.
 
Thanks Dave. I actually have the majority of this in my garage but I was just trying to pull the things off first and when and that was enough to post here. I have some 3M spray which seems to do a great job at this without harming anything. Also a nice variable heat gun and a host of non-harmful cleaners.

Making the point, is all. :cool
 
Yeah, I try to get by with the mildest stuff I can, reserving the heavy hitters for desperate cases. What 3M spray do you mean? That is a new one on me.

I really do not like stickers on boats at all, either. Or bumpers.
 
Astoriadave said:
Yeah, I try to get by with the mildest stuff I can, reserving the heavy hitters for desperate cases. What 3M spray do you mean? That is a new one on me.

I really do not like stickers on boats at all, either. Or bumpers.


http://tinyurl.com/nx2enr9 That's one of them from 3M Dave. They make several and it looks like the can I have is out in my RV. Remember putting all the solvents, etc. for my move in that since I wasn't supposed to have them brought up in the moving truck. My can of adhesive remover, from memory, is black with orange and red detail. Used it on my vehicles to remove military base decals when selling them. Worked great on a few plastic fairings found on BMW motorcycles, etc. Not sure if it would be wise to use on a kayak but I don't plan to.
 
Ron, that 3M spray adhesive remover is a lightweight version of the windshield adhesive remover I cited. Not as toxic but still to be used with good ventilation, out of doors, etc. The MSDS identifies ethylbenzene and xylene as the prime baddies. The stuff I have also contains tolene, making it worse.

No worries on a decent gel coat. In particular, the vinylester gel coat on the Tiderace is more resistant to organic solvents such as ethylbenzene and xylene than the usual styrene-polyester resin, IIRC.

The composition of the layup on the Tiderace really impressed me, and I am a strong believer in epoxy composite construction over styrene-polyester resins. That boat should be a strong one. You made a really good choice, I think.
 
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