Sticker removal

zelmo · April 30, 2020

There is a warning sticker in the cell phone charger tray that I want to remove. I tried soaking in hot water and when that didn't work I tried Desolvit. That didn't work either. Before I try something more aggressive I wanted to ask here if there was a easy way to do it.

I am also trying to decide if I want to tackle the airbag warnings on the visors. I have done that to other cars with varying results. What is everyone's experience with that project?

mike5511 · April 30, 2020

I've found it usually looks worse if you pull the stickers off the visor.

zelmo · April 30, 2020

5 minutes ago, mike5511 said:

I've found it usually looks worse if you pull the stickers off the visor.

I know what you mean. I have had some come out great and others did not. They are especially egregious when you have a convertible but since that is not the case here I may just leave them alone.

What about the sticker in the cell phone tray?

Edited April 30, 2020 by zelmo

BigBlueLB756 · April 30, 2020

Two things that work in varied situations:

WD-40

Smooth peanut butter (no kidding!)

zelmo · April 30, 2020

So far nothing I have tried has put a dent in the cell phone tray sticker. I even tried a product made to soften decals and it had no effect. It is as though this one is molded into the tray.

I am debating using the ultimate solvent - MEK. I am afraid that I will damage the tray using that. I may try it in some small spot to make sure it doesn't melt the tray.

OnTheReel · April 30, 2020

https://sunvisorsolutions.com/

I would cover the visor stickers but not remove them. Too much residue, it’ll look like crap.

Wireless charger label removal seems like a high risk venture too. Most solvents are likely going to harm or at least alter the surface.

Thomcat · April 30, 2020

3 hours ago, BigBlueLB756 said:

Two things that work in varied situations:

WD-40

Smooth peanut butter (no kidding!)

Won't work on the visor stickers.....they are heat welded into the fabric. Even if you take hours carefully chipping, soaking and removing piece by piece the plastic based fabric underneath has a "melted " shadow which looks much worse. Try it and you're gonna regret it!

Way to go is with a coverup sticker, custom made with logo or lettering

https://www.streamlinedesign.com/store/p146/Custom_Visor_Graphics_-_GM_-_PAIR.html

zelmo · April 30, 2020

8 minutes ago, Thomcat said:

Won't work on the visor stickers.....they are heat welded into the fabric.

If that is accurate it is a new development.

I had a 2002 Silhouette that I took possession of 5 days after the build date. The visor stickers peeled right off. I also had a 2003 Grand Prix that I got almost a year after the build date. Those visor stickers were impossible to get off.

Staying in the GM family I took the visor stickers off my 2017 C7. You can hardly tell that they were there.

Thomcat · May 1, 2020

17 hours ago, zelmo said:

If that is accurate it is a new development.

I had a 2002 Silhouette that I took possession of 5 days after the build date. The visor stickers peeled right off. I also had a 2003 Grand Prix that I got almost a year after the build date. Those visor stickers were impossible to get off.

Staying in the GM family I took the visor stickers off my 2017 C7. You can hardly tell that they were there.

My '07 and '12 Avalanche wasn't so lucky and you can tell if you will have that problem. Look very closely at the surface of the sticker.....ones that cause problems are very thin...whether caused by heat welding brittleness with age or chemical bonding over time..removal will be just as difficult. Perfectly smooth, no problemo, but if the surface of the sticker is slightly matte finish bearing faint traces of the surface pattern of the fabric underneath you are better off not wasting your time and just buy a coverup sticker......you will have to do it anyway because it will look like crap after removal.

If you can't start peeling off easily starting a one corner, don't keep going and make a mess.

zelmo · May 1, 2020

6 hours ago, Thomcat said:

My '07 and '12 Avalanche wasn't so lucky and you can tell if you will have that problem. Look very closely at the surface of the sticker.....ones that cause problems are very thin...whether caused by heat welding brittleness with age or chemical bonding over time..removal will be just as difficult. Perfectly smooth, no problemo, but if the surface of the sticker is slightly matte finish bearing faint traces of the surface pattern of the fabric underneath you are better off not wasting your time and just buy a coverup sticker......you will have to do it anyway because it will look like crap after removal.

If you can't start peeling off easily starting a one corner, don't keep going and make a mess.

I got around to checking out the visor on the truck. It is a smooth finish that looks like it will be difficult to get off. They remind me of the ones that were on my Z4. Those HAD to come off as it was going to look horrible going down the road with the top down and the visors up. I had to use a solvent to melt them which also made the visor wavy. I then had to use a heat gun to melt the visor back smooth.

I don't want to go through that again.