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Old 27-02-2015, 10:56   #1
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Removing name from hull

I have never removed the name off of any of my previous boats. My current boat, which I purchased in November, has vinyl letters for the port and a painted name. I have been advised to use oven cleaner and or withstand the pain that name off. Sounds a little abrasive to me I'd love to hear a second point of view. In regards to the vinyl letters I've been told warm water and a heat gun.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice!!


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Old 27-02-2015, 11:04   #2
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Re: Removing name from hull

Heat gun or sometimes just hot sun and the Vinyl is history
But, often there will be a shadow in the Gelcoat that takes wet sanding to remove.
Same for the painted name.
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Old 27-02-2015, 11:10   #3
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Re: Removing name from hull

I hope you had an adequate denaming ceremony to appease the sea gods. ))
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Old 27-02-2015, 15:16   #4
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Re: Removing name from hull

For the vinyl, a heat gun works but don't try to use a heat gun and water at the same time.


The mistake most people make with the heat gun is not being patient enough to get the entire area warm before trying to peel off the vinyl. You end up with leftover adhesive and have to clean that off with acetone.
Of course you don't want to burn the gelcoat either, it's happy medium.


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I have been advised to use oven cleaner and or withstand the pain that name off.
That's a little confusing but never the less, I'm the kind of guy who figures it's best to use products the way they are designed to be used so I would save the oven cleaner for the kitchen and use paint remover or stripper on the painted lettering. West Marine sells some that are supposed to be safe for gelcoat.
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Old 27-02-2015, 15:29   #5
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Re: Removing name from hull

Paint: I would try a heat gun first.
I might be tempted to try paint stripper, but start with the most weak (as opposed to aggressive) type.
One problem: as the paint stripper melts the paint, you could end up with severely stained gel coat from the paint melting/bleeding.. It would probably take a heck of a masking job.
must be some other way. If I had to use stripper I would wax hell out of the surrounding gel coat and mask completely....
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Old 27-02-2015, 15:36   #6
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Re: Removing name from hull

Just to be really clear about this, the vinyl comes off quite well with the heat gun, and probably a regular hair dryer on hi would do it.

But, the risk you're running of getting the dissolving paint into pores in the gelcoat is real, and because gelcoat is porous, and gets more so with rubbing compound and waxing, the older it is, the more risk you'll have. If you can find a gel paint stripper, that might be easier to work with, but it isn't risk free, by any means. You could wind up having to refinish the whole stern. Sure you can't live with the name?
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Old 27-02-2015, 16:12   #7
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Re: Removing name from hull

I've not used it, but I have heard oven cleaner recommended several times, I assume paint remover may be bad on Gelcoat whereas oven cleaner is less harsh?


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Old 27-02-2015, 17:57   #8
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Re: Removing name from hull

Just did this today (and already wish I hadn't!). I used sticker off from west marine, put it on twice and let it sit. Then slid a razor blade between the letter and the adhesive, then sticker offed and wiped hard. The gel coat looks fine. There is a shadow from the letters (actually many shadows from all the precious vinyl too). I did it this way because I'm without a heat gun or the electricity to use it.
There's a west marine how to video of something called vinyl off. Looks great! But they didn't stock it in store.



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Old 27-02-2015, 19:34   #9
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Re: Removing name from hull

For the painted on part, I asked a similar question on the IP owners forum a few months ago, since the old name and hailing port are both painted on. Anyway, the consensus there was Easy Off oven cleaner, as weird as that sounds. That's what we're planning to use after all the positive feedback there.
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Old 27-02-2015, 21:06   #10
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Re: Removing name from hull

When we changed home port, aside from the appropriate ceremonies I had to change the port name letters. There was a dreadful shadow of the old port name , so I just used bigger letters for the new port name. Problem (mostly) solved.

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Old 27-02-2015, 23:10   #11
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Re: Removing name from hull

boiling water works great

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Old 28-02-2015, 00:04   #12
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Re: Removing name from hull

To remove vinyl lettering the heat gun doesn't have to be a professional unit. A hair dryer will work. To lessen the shadow effect wet sand the whole transom with 1000 grit then compound the whole transom then polish.
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Old 28-02-2015, 00:31   #13
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Re: Removing name from hull

Cover all of it with a vinyl wrap?

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Old 28-02-2015, 00:59   #14
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Re: Removing name from hull

I would avoid using a heat gun if you have not used one before as it is very easy to over cook the area leaving burn marks in the gel coat and paint.
Avoid using strong solvents like paint stripper or acetone.
An oven cleaner like Easy Off is excellent for this application. I apply liberal amounts over the lettering and then place plastic wrap over it to keep the oven cleaner wet and in place. let it sit until you can lift the lettering with a glass scraper ( rather than freehand with a razor ). Let the product work for you. I usually let it sit for a couple of hours....
You will almost certainly end up with a shadow. Wet sand 600 through to 1000, heavy compound and then wax MAY sort out the shadow. More often it requires a colour match and repair.
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Old 28-02-2015, 07:51   #15
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Re: Removing name from hull

I know that I am late to this discussion, but just last fall I had to remove large vinyl name off my new to me 39 foot trawler. I used the wide 3 inch razor blade on a handle sold at HD. Because it was wide, it didn't dig in to finish and just sliced under the vinyl. Worked great for me
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