Look what I found!

[NCDawg]

I've had a Royalex Penobscot 17 for a few years. I love the way it paddled on moving rivers and it will haul a load, but it was too heavy for me to load on my truck by myself and too big to solo. I have been watching Craigslist for a while for a Penobscot 16. Most I saw were too beat up or priced too high. I saw a new one yesterday morning in Charlotte, NC (2 hrs away). It looked good in the photos, so I touched base with the seller. He had already gotten a call. Pressure was on. My wife gives me lots of freedom to hoss trade without me explaining why, but expects one boat to go for every new one that I buy. I decided to see if I could sell the 17 for the same price as the 16 I had just found. I already had photos of the 17 on my phone that I could attach to my post. I got it up on Craigslist around 9:30 AM yesterday and spoke to a Buyer around 1:30. He came later in the day and bought it. I told the owner of the 16 that I was ready to come get it any time today, so I did. I doubt it has been in the water more than 5 times. The Royalex marketing sticker is still on the hull! Now the question begs, Do I attempt to remove it and probably leave a mess..or.. Do I embrace the sticker and preserve it?

 

[Midwest Firecraft]

While appreciate the great shape the sticker has got to go!

 

[NCDawg]

See the remains of a sticker on the floor by the rear seat? That was a sticker that nothing has helped so far. If anyone can recommend anything, I'm all ears. I want it off too. It feels brittle but has a sublayer. Will try any product that won't damage the vinyl outer layer.

 

[LanceR]

Nice find! I found a Dagger Reflection outside Greensboro last year that still had the Royalex sticker on it but it had been left upside down outside next to a big pond for years during the summer and was pretty faded. And it was pretty well crusted in died pine sap. If memory serves I only paid $150 for it although it did need new seats. You find is a lot nicer than that Reflection was.

Sometimes taking a hot air gun or hair dryer on the high setting to the sticker will soften the adhesive enough to remove it. Then, for any remaining adhesive, it's a question of trying things like Goo Gone, paint thinner Coleman camp fuel etc with the usual cautions regarding not soaking the outer skin and testing cautiously.

Best regards and good luck with the canoe.


Lance

 

[Midwest Firecraft]

I would be afraid to use a heat gun on Royalex, but a hair dryer should do the trick. Just go slow and try and get in one peel so you don't have to deal with to much of the adhesive underneath.

 

[Guest]

Sometimes taking a hot air gun or hair dryer on the high setting to the sticker will soften the adhesive enough to remove it. Then, for any remaining adhesive, it's a question of trying things like Goo Gone, paint thinner Coleman camp fuel etc with the usual cautions regarding not soaking the outer skin and testing cautiously.

Heat, and a razor scraper.

PA300008 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

On a Royalex boat be careful not to get the skin too hot, and do use the razor scraper at a very shallow angle so you don’t cut into the vinyl.

With a bit of heat and a razor scraper it is amazing how cleanly old decals or lettering will come off.

PC260033 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Those were 25 year old stickers, and with some careful solvent use even the remains of the adhesive came off.

 

[Jatfomike]

Wow! Nice find! I agree that the sticker has to go.....there is no doubt in my mind that the heat gun would work, but I would start with the hair dryer also. I actually just removed a couple of stickers from a Kevlar boat the other day, used heat gun on low setting...started in one corner and took my time. One sticker came off with no glue residue left behind and the second sticker wasn’t so clean, but as previously mentioned, a little goo gone cleaned it right up.

Mike

 

[DaveO]

I had loads of fun in my RX Penobscot 16. I should never have sold it. Gutsy move letting the 17 go before the 16 was in hand.

But, a fella's wise to stick with the wife's expectations when it comes to the big toys.

"Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not wrong, Walter . . ."

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

My wife....expects one boat to go for every new one that I buy....

Sounds very familiar.

P.S. Be very careful with heat guns. Don't ask me how I know that.

 

[LanceR]

Hey! Let's all channel our inner Elmer Fudd! "Shhh....Be vewy careful.....We're heating Royalex"

 

[NCDawg]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Got all the stickers and residue off without damaging anything. I used a hair dryer to soften up the Royalex sticker and it came right off. it had felt brittle and chipped at the edge prior to heating. I had used Goo-Gone(orange peel stuff) on the residual sticker glue on the floor. Didn't help much when I first checked, but when the sun rose enough to hit it, that was enough heat to get it loose and it came off with a plastic putty knife. Looks good. Thanks again!

 

[Guest]

I would be afraid to use a heat gun on Royalex, but a hair dryer should do the trick. Just go slow and try and get in one peel so you don't have to deal with to much of the adhesive underneath.

I have both a hair dryer and heat gun in a shop drawer, and don’t remember the last time I used the hair dryer. The heat gun & razor scraper photo above is a staged “photo op”, I just wanted to show both tools and the ability to remove the entire vinyl side strip in one go. The heat gun isn’t actually running in that photo; that would be held way too close even on low; if the hull surface is uncomfortably hot to the touch it’s too hot.

With the heat gun I can just slide along beside the canoe and remove an entire vinyl stripe in one clean go instead of picking away a little scrap at a time. With other decals or stuff like MRC’s ugly block lettering I can get an entire letter off cleanly and in one piece, even crusty adhesive 30 year old letters.

If painting an old hull all that stuff has to be gone and the surface clean of old adhesive residue first, but I remove lettering and logos from a lot of canoes even if not painting. I don’t need some ugly advertising billboard on the side of my boat, and on newer canoes if the lettering/logo is removed sooner there won’t be a ghost image left when the hull begins to fade.