Hobie Cat Forums

Any tips on removing faded and cracked decals? I'm going to give it a good buffing over the winter to try and restore some color to my hulls.

I'm considering using heat (hair dryer?) to loosen up the glue...would some type of compound work better?

I love the look of the original decals, but mine are pretty rough.


By turbo1983 at 2012-07-21

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83 Hobie 14 Turbo - Cat Fever
Y2K Olympic Edition Sunfish

Lot of the car/truck guys love these things. Have not tried one yet. http://www.amazon.com/3M-Stripe-Wheel-0 ... B00063VT0G think there are cheaper options that are basicaly the same thing.

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1980 H16
1997 Wave

I haven't used the stripe wheel, but I think it would work better on newer (still flexible) stripes rather than older (stiff and brittle) stripes.

The technique I have used involves mild heat (hairdryer, not heat gun), a plastic scraper (not a razor blade) and lots of elbow grease. Follow up with acetone or 3M Adhesive Remover to clean up the goo that's left on the hull.

Things to consider:
- Old, sun faded gel coat is soft and porous. Unless you are very, very careful, you'll scratch the hull with a razor blade. You're going to be doing this for hours. It's hard to maintain the focus required not to scratch with a metal scraper - that's why I recommend a plastic one.
- Be very careful with the heat. If you can't hold your hand on it, it's too hot. Excessive heat can cause delamination.
- Don't use the solvents indoors and not in any proximity to the hairdryer.

Unfortunately, the hull surface underneath the stripes has been protected from the sun all these years. Even after buffing out the rest of the hull, you'll still be able to see the "shadow" of the stripes. You just can't restore sun-faded gel coat to it's original factory shine (but you can get close).

I used a wheel and it worked god for me.It's the same though the friction of the wheel makes heat and you need to be careful.The rest of my story is as MBounds says what a surprise.

sorry to change the topic but i have the same hulls and like the stripes and want to know if you found a place to get new ones?

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http://youtube.com/optikid16030

1983 Hobie 16 Cat fever #55697
2008 Laser Radial/4.7 #190471
S.S.S.
S.Y.S.P

I recently tried using one of the 3m stripe removers on a boat. Be careful. They can stain/burn your hulls. Gel is softer the the automotive paint those things are designed for.

It worked. But not near as well or fast as it removes stripes from cars. They work awesome for that.

I resorted back to the methods Matt discussed which work well. Just don't get in a hurry and things will go quickly.

Ok...hopefully I can get some pointers from those that have done this...

I have both of my hulls on saw horses, a hair dryer, and a plastic scraper...I have removed a few inches of striping, but it is not coming off well at all, possibly b/c I am concerned about the amount of heat (I know heat causes delamination).

Does anyone have a system down, ie, how long to apply heat to one spot and how far behind the heat to run the scraper?

I'm sure that I need to apply more heat, just a little uneasy.

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83 Hobie 14 Turbo - Cat Fever
Y2K Olympic Edition Sunfish

I used a heatgun and pulled off over 72 Feet of stripes with no problem. For the stripes that were intact i get the heat gun about 8 inches ahead of where i was pulling the stripe off and was able to remove the whole stripe in 1 pull. For some reason the blue stripes was all cracked. I used the heat gun with a metal puddy knife. It actually didnt mark the hulls but i had plans to wetsand them anyway.

So the sides of the hull will take a fair amount of heat?

Wonder if the hair dryer is hot enough?

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83 Hobie 14 Turbo - Cat Fever
Y2K Olympic Edition Sunfish

Only takes a few seconds of the heat gun to get the graphics soft. This is the only way i have removed graphics from fiberglass. To much heat can burn the gelcoat but it doesnt take much heat(with a heat gun) to remove the graphics so if you pay attention there should be no concerns.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PC6ccwY2b2k

any one know were you can get new stripes?

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http://youtube.com/optikid16030

1983 Hobie 16 Cat fever #55697
2008 Laser Radial/4.7 #190471
S.S.S.
S.Y.S.P

A sign shop or graphics shop that does vehicle wraps should be able to reproduce your decals.

I used a product called goof off bought at Walmart. Worked really good for me just spray and use a razor blade.