Decal Removal, Ghosting, and Color Transfer

[MKBreadfan]

Working to restore the exterior shell of my new to me 2002 Casita SD. I believe that it spent most of its life outside, uncovered in the West Texas sun. It was badly oxidized, but most of the oxidation came off after a gentle power wash thankfully. Was working towards doing a round of Meguiar's fiberglass restoration system on the shell and have decided to first remove the old, chipped, and faded decals.


Initially tried using Goof Off and a scraper as some suggested here and it did not soften the decals, but only removed some of the blue dye/paint and it is now transfered to the lily-white shell of the camper. Stopped use of the Goof Off and tried the alternate method of the 3M rubber eraser wheel on the decals. This worked great to remove the decals themselves, but still had some color transfer of the blue to the shell and all the decals left behind the "ghosting" that folks mention.



My major concern now is: has anyone been able to successfully address the ghosting issues or color transfer? My initial thought would be a high-grit wet sand of the affected areas? I have done some basic auto body work in the past, but fiberglass and gel coat restoration is new to me. Any guidance here would be appreciated.

[Casita Greg]

When I bought my new Casita back in 2008, I spent the first night at a nearby (to the factory) campground. The first thing after pulling into my site was to pop the top on a beer, walk around the rig, and peel every decal off the trailer. When they're new, they just peel off with your fingernail. I hate decals anyway. I'm not a rolling billboard for Casita, they aren't paying me any royalty to advertize them. Even the stupid Casita factory spare tire cover went in the dumpster too. And there's no "ghosting" on my trailer from old curling dried up nasty decals down the road.

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by MKBreadfan

Initially tried using Goof Off and a scraper as some suggested here and it did not soften the decals, but only removed some of the blue dye/paint and it is now transfered to the lily-white shell of the camper. Stopped use of the Goof Off and tried the alternate method of the 3M rubber eraser wheel on the decals. This worked great to remove the decals themselves, but still had some color transfer of the blue to the shell and all the decals left behind the "ghosting" that folks mention.

I had to do that on a Jayco years ago, I used a heat gun and a credit card to remove the graphics and then Goof Off to remove the adhesive. It was a slow process.

[Jon in AZ]

Not much you can do. Weathered gelcoat is a fairly porous material. I experienced everything you decribed when redoing my own somewhat neglected Scamp after buying it used. The eraser wheel smeared the red ink from the decals into the surrounding gelcoat, so I immediately quit using it and finished with plastic razors (very laborious- a heat gun might have helped, but I didn't have one).

I originally planned to leave all the decals off, but the ghosting was unsightly and the only way to remove it is to wet sand it down (buffing does not help). Since gelcoat is already very thin, I decided against doing that. I ended up replacing the "Scamp" letters (gold instead of red) and left off the stripes. Acetone followed by buffing did take care of most of the smeared ink. There was also another Scamp decal on the front gravel guard, and I hid the ghosting with travel decals.

No easy answers, I'm afraid. There's always the sand-and-paint option, but I wasn't prepared to go that far. It looks great from 20 feet away, but you can see imperfections on closer inspection. Ours is no "garage queen."

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[Meadowlark]

I, too, removed the decals after a a year and a half of owning our 2011 Casita SD. I buggered up my fingernails in the process, the scraper didn't seem to work very well. But the hair dryer I used softened them up enough to make it work. There wasn't much ghosting. There was just a tiny bit of color transfer, so little though I can't quite remember where it is.

I'm like Casita Greg...I don't believe in giving any company, be it Toyota or Casita, free advertising.



Honestly, if it were me, and the camper being a 2002, I'd just live with the ghosting. In a year or so in the Texas sun, even that should be at least diminished.

[Casita Greg]

Clean lines, and decal free. And no "ghosting" from stupid decals! And this rig is almost 17 years old.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Meadowlark

Honestly, if it were me, and the camper being a 2002, I'd just live with the ghosting. In a year or so in the Texas sun, even that should be at least diminished.

In my experience, time will not cure ghosting. If you keep wax on it, you preserve the status so. If you don’t, you allow the UV deterioration that caused it in the first place to continue unchecked.

Maybe if you wax everything except the ghosted areas and let the deterioration catch up on the formerly protected areas… But it will take years.

[NOD]

The best way to remove decals is with a decal eraser. Simple wheel, fits on the end of a drill, works great. In terms of the ghosting, you're not going to polish or rub or chemically change that. It's UV (sun) damage to the pigment in the gel coat. Redoing gel coat is a detailed, specialty process - not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, paint is your best option.

[doctoruv]

I used the fiberglass boat system that is basically Zep commercial floor wax from Lowes or Home Depot. It gives a great shine and can be removed with the wax stripper. It is the go to way to do it. There are threads on this in the forum.
Doctoruv

[Vinny D]

When the original gel coat is weathered, applying wax or some fiberglass restorer only temporally resolves the issue. In a few days/weeks, back to square one. I'm there now. Thinking of getting a new gel coat.