How to safely remove my 3M clearbra?
11-11-2015, 09:32 PM
#16
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
For heat I used an inexpensive hand clothing steamer to not cook the paint. I used red plastic non-maring chisels from Harbor Freight to scrape the adhesive off.
11-12-2015, 03:22 AM
#17
Drifting
Do NOT use a heat gun or hair dryer. The heat is too concentrated. It will pull off unevenly, leave residue and be very inefficient. Do NOT use chemicals. As mentioned above, use a cheapie clothes steamer. The steam spreads the heat evenly and it stays hot longer making for long, even pulls of very large (1'x1' at least) sections of film leaving zero residue. The trick is to pull horizontal to the surface. Just be patient. No tools needed.
What you see on the floor is film from an entire bumper and half hood. It took me about an hour. I've done a couple of dozen cars with this technique.
What you see on the floor is film from an entire bumper and half hood. It took me about an hour. I've done a couple of dozen cars with this technique.
11-12-2015, 08:59 AM
#18
Rennlist Member
Do NOT use a heat gun or hair dryer. The heat is too concentrated. It will pull off unevenly, leave residue and be very inefficient. Do NOT use chemicals. As mentioned above, use a cheapie clothes steamer. The steam spreads the heat evenly and it stays hot longer making for long, even pulls of very large (1'x1' at least) sections of film leaving zero residue. The trick is to pull horizontal to the surface. Just be patient. No tools needed.
What you see on the floor is film from an entire bumper and half hood. It took me about an hour. I've done a couple of dozen cars with this technique.
What you see on the floor is film from an entire bumper and half hood. It took me about an hour. I've done a couple of dozen cars with this technique.
11-12-2015, 10:00 AM
#19
Rennlist Member
Interesting,
Everyone has a different approach. Of the several people I know who have done this as professionals for 15 years or more have never mentioned using steam. Although I tried using my wife's Jiffy steamer and the improvement was negligible and made a huge mess and difficult to grab. IMO the hair dryer was a far better and faster approach.
IMO there is no one approach that works for all scenarios, so many factors come into play. How long has the film been on the car. Has the car been garaged or sat in bad weather for 10 years, what brand of film and how old. The old 3M films of 10 years ago had very aggressive adhesive vs the newer films of today. Damaged film where owners used solvents are next to impossible to remove unless you let it sit in hot sun for long periods and even then it is a tedious job. Even using a heat source will result in it only coming off in small pieces.
I have removed film from a dozen or so cars. Recently removed a complete wrap on my 04 CTT that had 3M film since new. Car has sat outside in all sorts of weather for all its life. Even after sitting in the hot summer sun most of the day it was difficult to remove. The only solution was using a heat source which requires diligence on your part to make sure no damage is done. It took me about 2 hours to remove the most stubborn aggressive adhesive 3M film from every panel, including doors bumpers fuel cover A pillars etc. Make sure the gun or hair dryer you use has variable heat and fan settings. If you are burning your hands it is too hot. If the film is still pliable, I stand on the method of rolling it on itself and pulling close to the paint in a rolling fashion so you never pull up and away from the body of the car. I find that you create a handle so to speak you pull with one hand and use the other to roll the film back on itself. Never allow the film to exceed 5" from where it attaches to the body to the handle and never pull up it works best. The most stubborn films usually come off in one piece with this approach.
I would never use a plastic scraper against the paint. There is no such thing as mar free scrapper. New film that has been on a car for less than a year and has always been garaged is rarely a problem and comes off in one piece.
Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are if the car has been painted and the prep work was poorly done odds are the paint will lift. You would be surprised how many cars are poorly repainted.
In the end patience is needed when doing this.
PS:
I see BradB's film has yellowed. So it is at least a few years old and I also found this is an atmospheric issue more than UV. I found a roll of 3m film from 2007 with laser cut pieces for my GTS rolled tightly and stored in a plastic bag and boxed all these years. The film loosely wrapped nearest the outer part of the roll yellowed without any light exposure. The film that was tightly wrapped in the center was still clear except for that last bit on the inside of the roll.
Also I found any adhesive leftover easily comes off with a Xylene and water solution. Use proper gloves and ventilation. It will not attack the paint and makes for easy cleanup. My CTT's paint looked like new after all these years and did not even need polishing. Went straight to washing and waxing.
Everyone has a different approach. Of the several people I know who have done this as professionals for 15 years or more have never mentioned using steam. Although I tried using my wife's Jiffy steamer and the improvement was negligible and made a huge mess and difficult to grab. IMO the hair dryer was a far better and faster approach.
IMO there is no one approach that works for all scenarios, so many factors come into play. How long has the film been on the car. Has the car been garaged or sat in bad weather for 10 years, what brand of film and how old. The old 3M films of 10 years ago had very aggressive adhesive vs the newer films of today. Damaged film where owners used solvents are next to impossible to remove unless you let it sit in hot sun for long periods and even then it is a tedious job. Even using a heat source will result in it only coming off in small pieces.
I have removed film from a dozen or so cars. Recently removed a complete wrap on my 04 CTT that had 3M film since new. Car has sat outside in all sorts of weather for all its life. Even after sitting in the hot summer sun most of the day it was difficult to remove. The only solution was using a heat source which requires diligence on your part to make sure no damage is done. It took me about 2 hours to remove the most stubborn aggressive adhesive 3M film from every panel, including doors bumpers fuel cover A pillars etc. Make sure the gun or hair dryer you use has variable heat and fan settings. If you are burning your hands it is too hot. If the film is still pliable, I stand on the method of rolling it on itself and pulling close to the paint in a rolling fashion so you never pull up and away from the body of the car. I find that you create a handle so to speak you pull with one hand and use the other to roll the film back on itself. Never allow the film to exceed 5" from where it attaches to the body to the handle and never pull up it works best. The most stubborn films usually come off in one piece with this approach.
I would never use a plastic scraper against the paint. There is no such thing as mar free scrapper. New film that has been on a car for less than a year and has always been garaged is rarely a problem and comes off in one piece.
Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are if the car has been painted and the prep work was poorly done odds are the paint will lift. You would be surprised how many cars are poorly repainted.
In the end patience is needed when doing this.
PS:
I see BradB's film has yellowed. So it is at least a few years old and I also found this is an atmospheric issue more than UV. I found a roll of 3m film from 2007 with laser cut pieces for my GTS rolled tightly and stored in a plastic bag and boxed all these years. The film loosely wrapped nearest the outer part of the roll yellowed without any light exposure. The film that was tightly wrapped in the center was still clear except for that last bit on the inside of the roll.
Also I found any adhesive leftover easily comes off with a Xylene and water solution. Use proper gloves and ventilation. It will not attack the paint and makes for easy cleanup. My CTT's paint looked like new after all these years and did not even need polishing. Went straight to washing and waxing.
11-12-2015, 04:15 PM
#21
Rennlist Member
yes, but it does not just come off.
removing the CB from my hood for re-paint was an intensely physical operation
adhesive removal?
3M remover is your friend.
i tried both a steamer and heat gun.
I'm not convinced the steamer was an advantage.
