Decal Application

[Tedro]

Just bought some new hull decals.

My question is should I wax the hull prior to applying the new decals or wipe it with any solvents/cleaning agents?

[bigD]

just wash it with some dish soap, that should strip most of the wax. Then get a spray bottle put a couple drops of dish soap in it and mist the area before you apply the decal, then you can make minor adjustments if needed and squeegee any bubbles out.

[martinarcher]

No way - no wax. I would wipe the area down with isopropyl alcohol before applying the decal to make sure you have a good clean surface. This will ensure the glue on the decal backing sticks well to the gel and doesn't lift. If you are going to lay it down dry, make sure you don;t touch the sticky side along the edge - that will also promote it peeling. Those decals have pretty wicked adhesive so it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

[Tedro]

Thanks for the info.

[ADDICTED2WAKE]

I just replaced the decals on our v-ride....added the 10ft wakesetter tribal graphics.

I've never done this before but did a little research and they turned out pretty good.

It took forever to apply the 2 decals and get all the air bubbles out...a couple key points though:

1-absolutely no wax

2-spray the hull with rapidprep (gets rid of all adhesives, wax, etc-if you are sure all of this is off already then skip this step)

3-Spray the hull with rapidtac (removs any chemicals from your hands, provides the cleanest surface)

4-remove backing and spray backside of decal and carrier w/ rapidtac (100% coverage-don't skimp)

4-spray hull with rapidtac

4-apply graphic, the rapidtak will let you adjust the position of the decal

5-once in the correct position, squeegee all the bubbles out...

6-for bubbles that remain, just poke them w/ a pin and squeeze out the liquid

rapidtac & prep website is here:

http://www.rapidtac.com/

It has tutorial videos...very useful.

You can use soap and water instead of rapidtac as it is cheaper but I did quite a bit of research on various forums and they said rapidtac was better, worth the money. I purchased a 32oz bottle of it for $10...I did use most of it (but I was VERY liberal with it) on 2 decals each about 10' x 1.5'

If you are applying to a relatively flat surface, it's easy...if the surface has chines it is more time consuming and tedious...

[water hazard]

Send pics!