Offshoreonly.com - Cleaning adhesive residue from gelcoat

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3M eraser wheel will solve all of your issues if the chemicals dont

3m adhesive remover or wd 40 are the 2 go 2 solvents to try 1rst
as stated let saturate the adhesive and wipe with microfiber towel
as it softens add more and repeat till gone
harsher solvents as in laquer thinners and acetone do the job faster but also sucks some of the sealer/wax film off the gelcoat

They sell adhesive removers at Advance/Autozone. I used them to remove my hailing port stickers and name when I put new on…..

no damage

3M Adhesive Remover. Buy it in the quart can on Amazon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTScott (Post 4904160)

My 93 Formula came with some giant decals from previous owner that covered half the boat on both sides of the hull... I thought they looked kinda dumb so I removed them years ago. They came off easy enough by warming with a hair dryer. I scrubbed and scrubbed after I removed them, but the adhesive reside remained, and it has collected dirt and looks even ****tier. I tried one of those rubber wheel rollers on a drill, but it seemed to just move it around... I could give that another shot I guess, but I'm hoping there is an easier way.

I thought about using acetone, but I figured that wasn't smart on gelcoat, and could damage the oem decal striping below the area if it dripped down - I could maybe mask that off though to catch the chemicals.

Can anyone suggest a safe product and/or technique to clean the adhesive residue from gelcoat?

MTScott,

I've always used gasoline. I haven't found it's match yet. I just soak a blue paper towel and rub until it loosens up and rolls off. It sometimes takes folding the towel the OTHER way and going at it again, but it has always worked. Then I just cleaned with Greased Lightning or similar.

Thanks. Brad.