Does anyone know an easy way to remove old registration numbers from the hull of a fiberglass boat? I am fearful of using a razorblade which might scratch the finish.

Try a hair dryer for the adhesive stick on type

Try a hair dryer for the adhesive stick on type

Good Advice; I worked in the servce dept. of a car dealership for 7 years and removed hundreds of adhesive type stickers with a heat gun and my fingers. Don't get it too hot and pull off slowly.

Good luck.

Gather up a hair dryer, a plastic putty knife, that orange "Goof Off ' stuff, and some rags.
I cant remember exactly, but I believe I heated them up, peeled them off using the plastic putty knife, then used the Goof Off to take off the gluey filmy stuff that was left behind. Once you get the hang of it it's not that bad.

does this work well for the registration sticker as well ?

I tried to take off some old numbers with a heat gun from a boat I just bought. Unfortunately, there is pinstriping under the numbers and it took that off too. I guess I will just try to put the new numbers on over the old.

Does anyone know an easy way to remove old registration numbers from the hull of a fiberglass boat? I am fearful of using a razorblade which might scratch the finish.

Use a heat gun and a plastic putty knife if needed. I just did this last weekend and the heat gun worked great. If you do not have a heat gun, try the hair dryer. You should not have to scrape that much. In fact you should be able to do it with your fingernail. If the hair dryer does not make the decal soft, go with the heat gun.

I've never used a "heat gun" for this but I have for other things and let me tell ya, be careful, the one I used got pretty darn hot, like really hot, burn yourself hot. So.....be careful.

Once the numbers are off, if some adhesive is left, use WD-40

does this work well for the registration sticker as well ?

Yes. Just did it the other day. Even took the sticker off that was on top of the boat decals. Just go slow,heat it up just enough to lift the sticker you want to take off. GO SLOW!! NOT TOO MUCH HEAT!!

Go to your parts store and get a 3M decal/pin stripe remover. It is a 3-4 inch round disc with a 1/4 shank.
Put it in your drill, go slow use a little goo remover to clean .

Used to have to take the names off boats... We always used oven cleaner. Works like a charm. Do not spray it everywhere. But just on the numbers.
We did this on up to 5 Mil $$ boats. And it did the job. Also like someone else posted WD-40 works on any glue left. And also takes up caulk if you need to get some off a floor or anything.
Pete

How long would you let the oven cleaner stay on to do it's thing before removing it and the decals? Have a Ranger and need to take old hull numbers off...

I just bought a 5 year old Ranger in Georgia and the registration decals were baked on. I tried the hair drier deal to no avail and much frustration. I came upon a product called Graphixoff and bought it off the internet. Shipment was very fast. I followed the directions in the evening as was frustrated with this whole ordeal after hours of work trying the hair dirier routine. Slopped it on and went to bed praying it would work. Woke up to find the vinyl decals on my garage floor. Wow! No damage to the gel coat and just a mineral spirits wash to clean up any glue residue. Give it a shot. Their website is graphxoff.com

I've used the heat gun on decal adheive numbers, the oven cleaner is used on painted on numbers.

Theres stuff called "Un-do" from Scrappers Solutions. It's adhesive remover that works great and is gentle enough to be used on photographs, can be found at most scrapbook / craft stores. I swipe it from my wife once in a while. Works as well as Goof Off without the worry about harming anything underneath. Expensive and toxic though.

Does Goof Off harm the finish on a glass boat? I'm new to the glass world and coming off a tin where Goof Off (small amount) worked great in removing the remain adhesive after removing the registration sticker.
--Tim

Does Goof Off harm the finish on a glass boat? I'm new to the glass world and coming off a tin where Goof Off (small amount) worked great in removing the remain adhesive after removing the registration sticker.
--Tim

I think it's ok as long as you don't leave it on too long, and get ALL the residue off ASAP. Based on the smell of the stuff, it's a strong petroleum solvent so proceed with caution. I'd try it on a hidden area first.

I've used the heat gun on decal adheive numbers.

X2!

I used the hair dryer and fingernail routine. Got them off but it was not easy.
The registration numbers on the boat are way harder to get of than the decals on a car,not sure why.

I've done a bunch of them.
Fingernails and goo b gone and some paper towels. Works on the hard to get off registration sticker as well.