At the time, it looked spectacular. That apple sticker that comes in the box when you buy an Apple product, or the sticker from that children’s fashion franchise your kids adore. There are a thousand reasons why you might have stuck a sticker on your car’s bodywork. And there are a thousand other reasons to remove it.
However, removing a sticker from your car has its risks. Whether it’s a Disney princess decal or the fantastic ITV (MOT) sticker, it’s quite normal to end up halfway through the process. Removing a sticker incorrectly means not only failing to remove it completely, but leaving a horrible, sticky residue that will attract all the dirt in this world. That’s why so many people drive around with stickers they loathe, but which are much better than having a black mass of fluff.
How to remove a car sticker without a trace
On the internet you can find thousands of viral videos where they do experiments and it works out perfectly. Shops are also full of miraculous products that claim to do certain things, but then fall short. After watching a good collection of videos and doing a few tests, we have come up with the perfect solution.
What do you need to remove a sticker from your car? What is the best and cheapest method? Well, you’ll be surprised, because it’s as easy as turning to a classic: the incomparable WD-40 oil.
WD-40 Producto Multi-Uso- Spray 400ml-Lubrica, Afloja, Protege del óxido, Dieléctrico, Limpia metales y plásticos y Desplaza la humedad, Unitario
The process you need to follow isn’t very mysterious either. However, we break it down step by step below:
- Buy a small can, if you don’t already have one in your trunk. WD-40 is the most versatile oil in the world, and it can save you from more than one jam, so it doesn’t hurt to always carry a little bottle.
- Attach the straw to the nozzle. Also have a rag handy that you aren’t too fond of.
- Spray a little onto one of the upper corners of the sticker. You can help yourself a bit by scratching the sticker with your fingernail.
- Let the product work for a few seconds.
- Repeat the process: scratch a bit with your fingernail at the top and spray a little more. Let it work. It is very important to spray the oil from top to bottom, as we will benefit from the effect of gravity.
- Once about 20-30 seconds have passed, use the rag to pull on the sticker. With your other hand, you can spray a little more WD-40 to make sure no residue is left.
- If you’ve done it right, the sticker will come off in one piece, so you could even dry it well and keep it in case you are fond of it.
- To finish off, you can spray a bit more of the oil and wipe with the rag to lift any trace of adhesive.
Why does this method work?
Once you try this method we’ve just explained, you won’t want to use any other. Obviously, you can use it for other situations, always bearing in mind that you must be careful with the oil. Another quite decent use for this trick is to remove the ITV sticker cleanly and safely. In this case, you will have to be extra careful not to stain your car’s upholstery with the product.
The method works because WD-40 is a very fine oil. It is designed to lubricate mechanical parts on a multi-purpose level. When sprayed onto a sticker, the oil penetrates between the adhesive layer and the surface it is stuck to. That, combined with the fact that it also works slightly as a solvent, makes peeling off the sticker the easiest thing in the world.