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3M Adhesive remover


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I read a post about removing the adhesive after removing the 3M film. I don't remember if it was in the old forum or this one. I have tried searching but am unable to find it. Does anyone know how to remove the adhesive after removing the 3M film?. Doing a google search has quite a few products but i'm looking for someone that has had real life experience removing it.

 

Tim K

05 Windsor PDQ

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Wayne Michalski at “Ugly Shield” did my removal and the result  was great with no damage.  He is located in FL. They do sell the remover and have several YouTube videos on doing the removal.  The remover is called “Ugly Juice” if doing yourself.

Edited by David White
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Wife and I did our '06 Endeavor, and it took about 60+ hours to remove it all.  I tried just about every product/method that was mentioned in all of these forums, the best I found was using a wallpaper steamer, plastic razor blades, and Quik-N-Easy solvent  (or something like that).  Not a very difficult job, just long and tedious.  And your fingers will wish you'd paid a neighbor kid to do it for you.

For whatever reason, the stuff was already off the right side and middle of our '08 Camelot when we got it.  Remembering back, I opted to let the detail people at LazyDays Tampa finish the job for me.  Took them almost no time flat to do it, but they wouldn't tell me their 'secret ingredient'.

If you do it yourself, just be careful as some of the suggestions will actually damage the paint/finish (I know this now).   Like they say: "test on an inconspicuous spot first".

Oh, and take some photos, it's very satisfying to look back on your before-and-after work.

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10 hours ago, slvfox1954 said:

I read a post about removing the adhesive after removing the 3M film. I don't remember if it was in the old forum or this one. I have tried searching but am unable to find it. Does anyone know how to remove the adhesive after removing the 3M film?. Doing a google search has quite a few products but i'm looking for someone that has had real life experience removing it.

 

Tim K

05 Windsor PDQ

I have heard that xylene will work but I have not used it. I paid to have mine done and they would not tell me what they were using.

https://tinyurl.com/vk6qz9w

 

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This is what I am currently using based on a post somewhere.  And plastic scrapers. On warm days. 

Orange-Sol De-Sovl-it Contractors Solvent 10131 33 OZ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P0MJRC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_HzCJhoTHs4EgM

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I used a large steamer to get the plastic film off.  I tried a bunch of different solvents for the adhesive, even went to a local body shop and got some remover, but what worked for me was using plain old gasoline.  (I do not recommend this for anyone else).  My wife had a bunch of puppy pee pads that are very absorbent with plastic on one side, I would saturate the pee pad with gasoline and then lay the pee pad across an area and wait a couple minutes and then use a heavy plastic scraper to remove the congealed adhesive.   It took me about as long to get the adhesive off as the film, 40 hours total.  

 

 

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2 hours ago, Steven P said:

This is what I am currently using based on a post somewhere.  And plastic scrapers. On warm days. 

Orange-Sol De-Sovl-it Contractors Solvent 10131 33 OZ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P0MJRC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_HzCJhoTHs4EgM

How is the solvent working? I'm paying a guy to take off the shield using a steamer. It removes quite easily but the adhesive film is the issue. I have tried WD-40, gas and  goof off. 

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Its works pretty well.  It's the only thing I've tried. I spray it on, let it soak about 10 min and then start scraping.  Living in S Alabama, it's hot so I'm not working on it now. Mine is covered by a bra so I just do a little at a time.  You can see some of the work.  

20190727_131144.jpg

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Also went to Wayne at Ugly Shield. Excellent outcome!  He does sell”the juice” and has made an excellent series of videos for doing it yourself. I watched them do it and believe paying him was worth it. It took two people two days and it is hard smelly work!

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  • 8 months later...

I had read elsewhere that 3M made an adhesive remover in a spray can.  Sure enough my local hardware store had this product in stock and the clerk stated that it was the best product he was aware of.  I will be renting a wallpaper steamer first and then giving this stuff a shot afterwards.  Hopefully it works.  I'm told that Diamond Shield used a different adhesive so it might not work for those covers.

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When I was removing in I used a steamer which helped to remove the mask itself.  Removing the adhesive was a whole other job.  I tested different solvents and even went to a local body shop to ask for advice and they sold me the 3M solvent they used.  It did not work very well.  I finally resorted to using gasoline, using puppy pee pads soaked with it and laying it against the coach getting creative using bungee cords to hold it in place.  I actually removed my front generator door and laid it flat to work on it.   It still took a while to remove it.

Edited by jacwjames
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I have been doing this job now for a couple of weeks. Not because it is hard but because I am not in any rush and work only when it is hot enough to heat up the front of the Camelot. What I found that works real good and does not hurt the paint is of all things "GOO GONE". First I peal off the film with a plastic razor blade. Then spray GOO GONE over the glue from the film. Let it sit for a few minutes then scrap off the gooey stuff. Finally I spray it again the GOO GONE and wipe the paint with a Microfiber towel. It is not hard work just time consuming.

Goo Gone.jpg

Edited by dlelsner
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I'm thinking the best solvent would be the base for whatever 3M uses in their adhesive, whether acetone, alcohol or some other material.  I have used other products such as Goo Gone, wax/grease remover, brake cleaner, etc. based on what I was trying to clean and it is always a crap shoot unless you know ahead of time what you're dealing with.  Thanks for the suggestions however.  I guess I'll find out what works when I get to this job next week.  🙂 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well we have had a spot of warm weather here in the north country and  my tools arrived.  Before starting I removed both headlight assemblies and fog lights rather than tape them up.  For me this is about a 10 minute job.   I utilized my wife's floor steamer (which converts to a hand held unit) combined with a sharpened plastic chisel to remove the plastic shield.  It turns out that whatever was on our coach was different on the generator housing than the rest of the coach so the process was somewhat different for both.  On the main body the steam worked wonders allowing me to clear off about 1 square foot at the time.  On the generator it was a much slower process with the residual adhesive decidedly thicker.  I decided to only work on the upper part of the body given the weather so I stopped at the bumper trim level for now.  This part of the process took an afternoon. 

Next step was the adhesive removal.  As an experiment I tried various products (Goo Gone, Citrus tool cleaner, 3M Adhesive Remover, automotive wax/grease remover, paint thinner and WD40).  I ended up using the wax/grease remover as it was by far the best product.  I would brush it on, wait a few seconds and start scraping with a plastic razor blade.  Usually I had to soak the glue 2-4 times and keep it wet as I scraped.  This took off 99% of the adhesive in some areas and all of it in others.  In stubborn areas I finally had to use an automotive bug sponge soaked in the wax/grease remover to get the last of it.  All that remains is a bit of paint touch up from rock chips, a good polish and wax job.  The adhesive removal process probably took about the same length of time if I hadn't been experimenting.

The front of the coach looks almost new now (except where I haven't touched the bottom section).

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