# Heat pressed Vinyl Letter Removal



## RnRBerlin

Okay T-Shirt forum gurus, I have scoured the forums for over an hour and need your help.

I have a name on a shirt that needs to be removed. Then replaced with a different name. I have read about heat guns, acetone, a product called T-Saver and methyl acetate. I have tried acetone and it softens the vinyl but leaves the glue. I have then tried the paper trick but still leaves glue.

The T-Saver seems to have gotten the best reviews however the inventor has gone to the big printing kingdom in the sky. So what is working to completely remove, with ease, vinyl heat press material?


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## dazzabling

I am not sure where you located and what kinda of vinyl you are using so I am gonna help the best I can..

Lettering Remover Solvent | Stahls

Hope this helps


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## mrmopar64

RnRBerlin said:


> Okay T-Shirt forum gurus, I have scoured the forums for over an hour and need your help.
> 
> I have a name on a shirt that needs to be removed. Then replaced with a different name. I have read about heat guns, acetone, a product called T-Saver and methyl acetate. I have tried acetone and it softens the vinyl but leaves the glue. I have then tried the paper trick but still leaves glue.
> 
> The T-Saver seems to have gotten the best reviews however the inventor has gone to the big printing kingdom in the sky. So what is working to completely remove, with ease, vinyl heat press material?


I've got some posts somewhere... But I use goof off... I've taken names off of hoodies, t'shirts jerseys light and dark colored with no problems
The small amount of glue that is left behind disapears when the shirt is repressed... we even did one that we didn't put anything back on and we just pressed it to dry the goof off and you would never know anything was ever there

Good Luck
MM64


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## selanac

I've never heard of removing Vinyl from garments after being pressed. Best results, buy another garment and press again. 

Use the previous garment for practice. 

If the other posters method works, that's a first for me. At least will both learn something today. lol.


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## mrmopar64

selanac said:


> I've never heard of removing Vinyl from garments after being pressed. Best results, buy another garment and press again.
> 
> Use the previous garment for practice.


Thats what I was told the first time I goofed up a shirt.... so my thinking was it's trash anyway so I might as well see if I can get it off... and goof off did it BTW I fixed that shirt and have washed in a number of times and the fixed spot looks as good as the rest of the vinyl
My silkscreen buddy came down the other day with a shirt that had been screened and dried and had a spot he needed to get off. I told him to try goof off and he said "that won't take it off" well it was 1am so I ask him what do you have to loose you can't get a shirt right now anyway... Sooo he put goof off on it and sure enough it came off it was a dark blue hoodie
we pressed the spot to dry it and you could never tell

MM64


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## dazzabling

Here are some other posts:

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-cutters-plotters-transfers/t15778.html
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-cutters-plotters-transfers/t151963.html


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## selanac

Great job Mpar. I'll have to remember that. What type of Vinyl was or is it?

We use the Screen Printing Spot Remover Gun. The chemical is the same as dry cleaning solution. Have to be very careful with that.

Oh, we use Goof Off I think. There's two brands, so not sure which one we use. 

I mainly use it to clean the Platen when I'm done screen printing. Sweat shirts leave a bunch of fuzzies.


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## mrmopar64

selanac said:


> Great job Mpar. I'll have to remember that. What type of Vinyl was or is it?
> 
> We use the Screen Printing Spot Remover Gun. The chemical is the same as dry cleaning solution. Have to be very careful with that.
> 
> Oh, we use Goof Off I think. There's two brands, so not sure which one we use.
> 
> I mainly use it to clean the Platen when I'm done screen printing. Sweat shirts leave a bunch of fuzzies.


 The only one I've tried it on is easy weed... Thats all I use


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## RnRBerlin

Thanks for the responses. I am going to try the Methylene Chloride Solvent from Stahls and the Super Spray from J&A and report back here. I am using vinyl from Imprintables Warehouse which is a subsidiary company of Stahls.


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## Riph

Stahl's has a video on their website that shows removing vinyl lettering. They sell the solution - in the video it looked like methyl chloride.

I was impressed because I always assumed that vinyl wasn' t removable. Live and learn. 

Play Video


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## 34Ford

Wow. Thanks for starting this thread. This is a must know if you do vinyl.

I forgot to weed out the center of the letter "A" for a customer and ended up scraping it. Now I have a choice.


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## mrmopar64

34Ford said:


> Wow. Thanks for starting this thread. This is a must know if you do vinyl.
> 
> I forgot to weed out the center of the letter "A" for a customer and ended up scraping it. Now I have a choice.


 For that I'd just use a Q tip and dab it on the piece then pick it off and repress

MM64


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## bungy

Which Goof Off do you use?
I see it comes in Heavy Duty or Professional


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## stuffnthingz

For small leftover vinyl, like inside an a, I've been able to pick it off while hot. If you notice later you can repress, use tweezers or an xacto and while the glue is hot it will peel right off.


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## mrmopar64

bungy said:


> Which Goof Off do you use?
> I see it comes in Heavy Duty or Professional


 You know off hand I don't know... and I don't have any here to look at.... I just buy it at Home Depot
Just about any hardware store should have it... what I use is in a yellow with red print on it

MM64


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## moniber

Just thought I would let you know that I tried the Goof Off and it didn't work


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## mrmopar64

moniber said:


> Just thought I would let you know that I tried the Goof Off and it didn't work


Sorry to hear that... I've done it a dozen times I've even corrected spelling on a shirt using Goof Off.

What kind of vinyl were you trying to remove?

MM64


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## moniber

Actually I am not really sure. I haven't done alot of heat seal. This one was on the carrier? How do you do it?


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## mrmopar64

moniber said:


> Actually I am not really sure. I haven't done alot of heat seal. This one was on the carrier? How do you do it?


Were you trying to remove vinyl or a transfer?
The only thing I've removed is Easy Weed vinyl that you cut on a plotter and press on the shirt

MM64 

Edit: most of the time I use a Q tip to put the Goof Off on the area needed then start removing the vinyl


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## moniber

That sounds like the vinyl that I used. I poured it right on the letter and it didn't peel at all. It is on a hoodie.


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## selanac

Does your vinyl have the name on the back of it?


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## moniber

No. It come from Stahls. That is all I know. I have tried applying the goof off with a q-tip and that didn't work. Then I tried applying it to the inside of the shirt and that didn't work either.


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## mrmopar64

moniber said:


> No. It come from Stahls. That is all I know. I have tried applying the goof off with a q-tip and that didn't work. Then I tried applying it to the inside of the shirt and that didn't work either.


Well I can tell you for sure it not Easy Weed then
It's always came off for me
Good Luck
MM64


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## selanac

Maybe she can take a picture and post it here. Also take a picture of the roll, and backing paper. It may say the name on it.


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## RnRBerlin

RnRBerlin said:


> Thanks for the responses. I am going to try the Methylene Chloride Solvent from Stahls' and the Super Spray from J&A and report back here. I am using vinyl from Imprintables Warehouse which is a subsidiary company of Stahls.


As I said back in October I would report back. Sorry it has taken so long. I have been unable to find Super Spray I think they no longer are in business. But the "lettering-remover-solvent" (Methylene Chloride Solvent), which is hard to come buy around my parts, from Stahls' did the trick. I have since gone through 1 1/2 cans of it fixing errors from my staff.

The trick is to do everything from the back. The glue is on the shirt under the vinyl so go from the back to get to the glue. If you go from the front and are not fast enough the vinyl will dissolve also.

As of posting of this Stahls' was selling it at $14.95 and is in a quart can. Just keep the lid tight. Below are links to the product and a video of them using it.

Letter Removing Solvent

Video how to use Solvent

As far as forgetting to weed the middle of an "A" I would recommend the pick it when it is hot method as mentioned by an earlier poster. If you use the solvent the material soaks it up and spreads so it will get to part of the "A" and may remove the adhesive. If you go solvent route just remove the whole "A" and replace it because it is really as easy as the video shows.

Hope this helps everyone and again sorry for the delay in posting this followup.

Randle


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## melinda415

how do you do the paper vinyl remover? i heated the heat press and put the paper on the side where the glue was not and heated and put some fingernail polish remover bec. don't have the remover yet and i have glitter vinyl that has been on for about a week now i got a little off but it is not coming off now...will this work? or do i need to wait for the product to come in? and how do you do the paper one? i can't find the post.
thanks
melinda


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## RnRBerlin

I have never heard of the paper method. The adhesive is in the shirt and on the back of the vinyl. After doing this several times since this post, including glitter vinyl now, I would highly recommend waiting for the solvent. It really works well. You won't believe how easy it just peels off after a few seconds.

Another trick we have learned is to use like a baby burp cloth or cloth diaper to rub the solvent over the area the letter came from to remove any residual adhesive.


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## melinda415

i saw it on this forum earlier when i was reading on the differ ways to remove. it didn't go into detail but said something about removing by using paper over the letters and heat pressing at the temp that they were applied with and than pulling right off. i don't know how that would work? confused but, i know i read it here somewhere?


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## Blue92

If you are using Methylene chloride you may want to read this.

Just be aware of what you are working with.

I've used MC in the past but decided to stick with Goof Off and have good luck with it.


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## melinda415

i'm reading a lot about goof off. but, isn't that just for the glue part? i went ahead and purchased the stahl's site remover.
i read that you can heat the back of the shirt where the glue is and place a cardboard or a cotton material on the side where the lettering is applied and than when heat pull off the cardboard and or the cotton material and it would pull off the lettering. so i don't know if it works or not. i am waiting for the product to come in from the supplier and i hope it works.
thanks for your return reply.


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## VolleyChick

mrmopar64 said:


> I've got some posts somewhere... But I use goof off... I've taken names off of hoodies, t'shirts jerseys light and dark colored with no problems
> The small amount of glue that is left behind disapears when the shirt is repressed... we even did one that we didn't put anything back on and we just pressed it to dry the goof off and you would never know anything was ever there
> 
> Good Luck
> MM64


Thank you!! This worked like a charm on a $35 bag I was going to throw out. I used a Q-tip and sort of painted it on and it pretty much just peeled off. Great tip - much appreciated!

Di


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## A1WHITES

So let get this right you are putting the goof off on the back side of the letter right ?


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## Blue92

A1WHITES said:


> So let get this right you are putting the goof off on the back side of the letter right ?


We apply Goof Off from the back side with a Q Tip. Normally leaves very little residue.


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## abetterimage

I've had very good success with AlbaChem brand Vinyl Letter Removing Solvent No. 1018. I have NOT had good success with No. 1019. Don't really know the difference except 1018 works. But only on cotton or cotton/poly garments. 100% Poly athletic shirts bleed from this chemical. The vinyl comes off but you ruin the shirt. I usually press the shirt a couple times after taking the vinyl off to melt the glue into the shirt before adding the new vinyl.

One note: I DO NOT REMOVE VINYL FOR CUSTOMERS UNLESS I MADE A MISTAKE. ("Could you take this name off and put my name on it instead?" *NO!*...but I will correct my mistakes to save the time of buying a new shirt.


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## aesl1982

The rhinestone world sells a can and it's like magic


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## br1ght

aesl1982 said:


> The rhinestone world sells a can and it's like magic
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


TRW vinyl remover IS rebranded AlbaChem 1018 (see TRW's MSDS) just smaller can and overpriced...

While 1018 works for small goofs, I would not recommend trying to take a name off a garment unless a replacement garment is unavailable... adhesive residue is almost always left behind if the T/T/P for the HTV is dialed in... so unless fully covered residue will likely show...

Now the good news 1018 is great for those little oopses that would either show a lack of care or result in a wasted garment. It is easy to take off weed specks that get pressed in error, and the latent adhesive usually won't show, but these are small pieces not 3" block letter name off a jersey ... I have had to do the name off a jersey because of an error and it takes a LOT of 1018 and bleed is likely...

FWIW, I have spoken to several sales and support people from Siser/SpecialtyM/MagicT and all have said the same thing, if the instructions for the particular product is followed, the adhesive is embedded into the fabric and no remover or technique will fully remove it and shadowing of some sort will occur.


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## 34Ford

Yep, I bought a can of AlbaChem 1018 from Texmac Direct and tried to remove some Easyweed lettering, and what a waste.

The adhesive is still there. I tried MEK, Varsol, Goof Off, nothing seems to soften it.

So I have about 50 shirts that are good for grease rags.


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## br1ght

34Ford said:


> Y
> 
> So I have about 50 shirts that are good for grease rags.


BTW I also screenprint, so I have a blowout gun for plastisol oopses... If I'm desperate I'll use the AC 1018 then blow the residue out with the spot remover--_*sometimes*_ it gets rid of the adhesive, but then I have more time and toxic fumes into trying to fix an error than the $ to use a new one (without the fumes)...

*Please don't use them for rags...* Even if you don't want them to be seen locally, get them to a charity (eg Salvation Army) or a shelter so someone gets some real use out of them. 

I hold onto my f'ed up garments and when I am heading to a distant city, I drop them with whatever charity that will use them... It costs a few minutes of time and helps to save the environment (gets used before heading to the landfill)...


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## kaberle14

How does goof off work?


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