Question:  What is the best way to get a decal to stick to velvet? Will a decal or sticker work?

Answer:  No, or at least none that I know of. Acrylic adhesives will adhere to the fabric somewhat, but not for long. And do NOT wash any fabric or garment EVER with an adhesive sticker, as you’ll likely never fully remove the adhesive. Applying decals to velvet will produce the same result as you would with any other fabric.

Velvet, as with many materials, is printable with screen print inks, but it will stiffen the fibers to some degree, like you will find with printed cotton T-shirts and other fabrics. Unless the fibers are printed in the manufacturing process, this will always be the case.

Question:  Will my windshield wipers ruin the decal on my car’s rear window?

Answer: If it’s just rain water, it is unlikely that any real damage will occur in the short term or at least within in a couple of years. However, if there’s lots of dirt or mud that hits your windows, then you may see the abrasive action of the dirt (which contains silica, the main ingredient of glass) begin to wear on the decal’s ink.

Another way you can minimize wear and tear on the decals is to order laminated stickers. If you know the decals are going to be used in a climate or region where there are a lot of muddy roads, it might be wise to protect the print using over-lamination. Over-laminate comes in various finishes like gloss or semi-gloss or matte, and  the warranties will vary from three to five to seven years mostly. For decals, three years is probably enough.

Question:  My car is 10 years old and has a decal on it that I want to remove, but I fear that when I do this, the paint under the sticker will be darker than the rest of the paint. What can I do about this.

Answer:  Repaint the car. That is about the only thing you can do to even the paint out. If the sticker’s been there for a while, it is very likely that your assessment of the paint being darker underneath the vinyl decal will be absolutely correct, and there will be nothing you can do, short of repainting your car , to fix it.

Question:  What is the best way to remove a dealer sticker from the trunk of my car without damaging the paint?

Answer:  We’ve covered this topic in detail in several other posts, but it is an important topic, so I’ll be happy to cover it again to make it easy for our readers to find answers on successful and safe vinyl sticker or decal removal.

First, realize that standard decal adhesive is a very tough adhesive, meant to withstand temperatures down to 40 below zero Fahrenheit and up to close to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. These acrylic adhesives are very strong so that they won’t let a sticker fall off your car window or in your case, the painted trunk of your car.

Over time, too, acrylic adhesives harden to the point that they don’t want to release your sticker or decal, and as many dealer stickers are also made of mylar, or polyester, they also tear quite easily as well.

So, to combat this, you need to use heat to get the decal’s acrylic adhesive to release. Using a hair dryer on high heat or a heat gun on low heat, heat the stickers up until soft, then slowly pull them off. It is likely you’ll leave a little to a lot of glue residue, so you’ll need to purchase an orange peel glue remover to soak the adhesive in order to soften it, then use a stiff card, such as a credit card, to scrape the softened glue off the car. Once most of the glue is removed, it is best to use a soft paper towel soaked in the glue remover to rub off any remaining glue.

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Question:  When putting decals on a Football Helmet Visor, how do you remove the black decals that come on the visor?

Answer: If the sticker or decal that is on the visor is an easy peel vinyl, it should remove easily, but if it’s a standard adhesive, it can be difficult to remove.

In this case, what you’d need to do is get a hair dryer and heat the decal up enough that it is quite warm – but not hot – to the touch. Once this is done, get a fingernail under one edge of the decal and slowly pull it off. Hopefully it won’t leave any adhesive behind.

If it does leave some adhesive behind, you can get “orange peel” glue removers from the hardware store or possibly a larger grocery store as well. Apply to a soft paper or cloth towel, then dab on the glue until it softens, then rub it until it comes off. Clean the remaining residue with a dry corner of the towel. This type of glue remover works well on most plastics I’ve used without dulling or clouding the finish of the plastic.

Question: I purchased a large decal to apply to the rear window of my car, and I was wondering if there is any product that could be applied to the rear window to make the sticker easier to remove, plus protect the window simultaneously?

Answer: Not that we’re aware of. In reality, the decal itself will protect your vehicle’s rear window quite well. And if you understand how glue works, you won’t need to worry about getting the decal back off.

Of course, now I’m going to tell you how to get window decals off your car windows or bumpers the easy way. Well, sort of easy.

Most window stickers of the exterior application variety will be printed on vinyl sticker material or polyester decal material. The glue typically used is an acrylic adhesive, which, over time, becomes hardened and more difficult to remove. If you’re purchasing wholesale decals for resale, it might be wise to look into removable glue decal materials which are becoming popular for this reason.

But no mind. In your case you’ve already purchased a large sticker for the back window of your car, and you’re nervous about damaging the window, either during the application or removal of the decal later. In neither case do you need to worry about the window.

When it comes time to remove the decal from your car or truck, get a heat gun or a hair dryer to warm up the decal. If you’re using a heat gun, the lowest heat setting should do the trick. If you are using a hair dryer, you’ll likely need to use the highest heat setting. With large stickers, you may need to heat a small section of the decal and work it off a section at a time, especially if it’s been on the rig for an extended period of time. Once you’ve heated a small area (100 square inches or so), begin to peel the vinyl with a slow but steady pulling motion at around a 45 degree angle. As you get to the end of the heated window/vinyl, you’ll feel it become more difficult to remove the vinyl. Stop and heat another section of vinyl/glass, and repeat.

When you have the entire decal removed, you may find that there is some glue residue remaining on the glass. You’ll need a good “orange peel” oil glue remover, available at many hardware stores, to apply with a spray bottle or a soft towel or soft paper towel to the glue. Allow the glue remover a couple minutes to soften the glue. You may want to apply a second application of the glue remover to the residual glue to further soften it, especially if the decals have been on your car for more than a year.

Once you’ve softened the glue sufficiently, you can take a glue remover soaked towel and gently rub the areas where the glue is remaining. Once you can visually observe that the glue is gone, take a dry, soft towel and wipe the window again to remove the glue remover residue. If you need to apply graphics immediately, you can use isopropyl alcohol to neutralize the glue remover, or if the decal was on a painted surface on your car or truck, warm soapy water may be preferable to alcohol, which could potentially dull your car’s finish.

There are static cling window stickers and decals that make use of removable adhesives. You can easily remove them when and if you want to. Click here to get to know these graphics.

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America has a love affair with the window decal sticker and almost every car you see has at least one rear window decal proclaiming that they went to Impressive State University or that there are 5 family members and a dog and a cat and a parrot, or the like.

I find it an interesting study that the window decal sticker is used not only as a rear window decal, but as prolifically as it is. The window decal sticker might be a study in freedom of expression or the freedom we have in America to express ourselves or what we like or who we are voting for or who we love or who we hate. And the rear window decal on your car is your banner of freedom.

So, Really, Mr. Graphic Expert Guy, You Think a Window Decal Sticker or a Rear Window Decal is a Symbol of Freedom!?

Well, let me answer by saying I really can’t imagine going to, say, Russia, and seeing many cars with a rear window decal stating “Putin: Bad for Business – Bad for Russia.” A window decal sticker that states such a message might not last long anyway as it might get blown away by the opposition.

Or how about a window decal sticker in North Korea stating “What would Jesus Do” as a rear window decal? Yeah, OK, you might have it on there for a day, maybe two, then you’d be hauled off and beaten and never heard from again. Of course, since only the military and government officials have vehicles, a rear window decal might be a bit hard to find in that great bastion of freedom.

Maybe you should head to the Middle East…there are lots of cars there, so I’m sure a rear window decal would be OK, say, a window decal sticker that says something like “Girl Power” or the like. Of course, you might get by with that if you’re NOT a girl, but then you might get stoned (with rocks, not drugs) if they decided you were making a gender statement with the rear window decal.

Yes, these are preposterous examples of the usage of the window decal sticker, but really, not that preposterous. If you think you live in an oppressive country, and I’ve seen the occasional rear window decal making that statement in one form or another, if you did actually live in an oppressive country, not only would your car and rear window decal be confiscated, you’d likely end up in jail for a time and be levied a fine you could never pay.

Americans, protect your freedom. You really don’t know what you have. So get yourself an American Flag window decal sticker and put that rear window decal to work for freedom! But here’s the great thing – even if you don’t agree with me that the rear window decal is a symbol of freedom, you can get a window decal sticker made denouncing me and my position, and guess what!? You can do that! This is America, and we have that freedom.

Alright, Mr. Graphic Expert Guy, You’re an Expert in the Subject of the Window Decal Sticker and the Rear Window Decal, but What Makes You an Expert on American Freedom?

A couple weeks ago I fell a tree on my F-250 pickup truck – yeah, I know, pretty lame – but that’s not my topic today…maybe I’ll tell how that happened in a later article. Anyway, I called Jacob’s Auto Glass in Spokane, WA, to come out and quote me on repairing the front windshield, which had sustained the bulk of the damage. Sergei came out and took the info and then we stood and chatted for awhile about life in Georgia (the one near Russia, not the one near Florida), and how you couldn’t move there and get anywhere and how you either come there with money or you’ll be living in a dumpster – if you’re lucky. And he said Americans have no idea, at least most of them, how good we really have it. If you’re an American, you’re an expert on Freedom. You just need to recognize that you have it.

So, America, the rear window decal is not just any old window decal sticker – that window sticker decal is a symbol of freedom! So put that rear window decal on your car window with pride and know that know matter what, you need to fight to protect your state who you are, what you stand for, how many kids you have, and who you think should be the next president with a window decal sticker – a true symbol of freedom!

Click here and see a collection of decals which you can adhere to your window glasses.

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