decal "ghost shadow"

[torcano]

I have recently removed decals from my fiberglass boat but there is a "ghost shadow" of the letters that were there. It did no come off with acetone, goo gone or denatured alcohol. What is the best way to remove it? Fine grit wet sand paper? Compound?

 

[Fireman431]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

Ultra fine buffing compound and a high speed buffer (foam pad or cotton bonnet), followed by a coat of wax should do it.

 

[smclear]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

Can you post pics? The first thing that pops in my mind (usually wrong) is that the rest of the hull may be a little faded from the sun. Remove the decals revealing "virgin" (non-faded) gelcoat. If that's the case, you can't remove it, you need to bring the rest of the hull "back" to match.

 

[royal0014]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

the rest of the hull may be a little faded from the sun. Remove the decals revealing "virgin" (non-faded) gelcoat.

^^^ This is exactly what happened. And there is no 'easy' fix, but not all that expensive.

Do what Fireman said, though I would put a little more research into it. You can screw the job up real quick......


<<)))(((>>

 

[oops!]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

i agree......usually the gellcoat is faded around the sticker.....

you can wet sand the fades area.....but it is a tough thing to get rid of because now you have two different colors of gellcoat

 

[angleness]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

Can you post pics? The first thing that pops in my mind (usually wrong) is that the rest of the hull may be a little faded from the sun. Remove the decals revealing "virgin" (non-faded) gelcoat. If that's the case, you can't remove it, you need to bring the rest of the hull "back" to match.

sorry,i have no idea.

 

[lakegeorge]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

Try a mild rubbing compound to see if you can blend it in a little so it isn't so noticable. The Glass around the decals is faded by the sun.

 

[calvinator]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

I took off decals last year with same issue. Only a high speed buffer and compound worked. I specifically used Aqua-Buff, 2500 RPM polisher, and a wool pad.

 

[torcano]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

Thanks. It makes sense that the surrounding gel coat has faded since the decals have been on for 6 years. I will try compounding the entire area to match. I am sure it will look better. You can only see the ghost shadow when you look at it from a certain tangential direction. You can't see it when you look straight on which is what most people will see.

 

[janesy]

Re: decal "ghost shadow"

Same thing happened with one of our work trucks. We had bigger stickers made. works like a charm.