Sail Number Removal

Hello All

I was just wondering if anybody could tell me, how to remove the glue left when you peel off the sail numbers.
I have just bought a secondhand main and need to replace the numbers with mine. The sail is dacron.

Thanks

Matt
Taipan AUS329
Oztralia

Acetone

Have you used it before Jalani, with no dramas.
I just happen to have some here.

Matt

I have always used household liquid detergent and a brush, with OK results.

Used pure acetone many times with no problem. Don't use nail varnish remover though - apparently it's different?

acetone ... on coated Dacron? That makes me nervous.

Try it on a scrap of sailcloth or an old sail if you don't believe me Jake. I've used it so many times over the years with no problems. I also used it recently on my homemade spin when some Venture tape accidentally got stuck where it shouldn't have.....

OK - that would make me feel better. Your previous post didn't back it up with much info. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I have to do this also this weekend. I have found a sailmakers page that tells how to do it. I am afraid it is in german:

http://www.sobstad.ch/Deutsch/numeros.htm

In a few words, they say you should use lots of solvent like gasoline or turpentine where the old glue ist left over. Once the glue has turned smoother, you carefully use a scraper to get rid of it.

Thanks for replies, have used acetone, works very well.

Cheers

Matt

Depends on what adhesive is used. Old style adhesives use mineral spirits. The new ones use alcohol/water (acetone is an alcohol), silicone, 2 part systems and there are plenty I have never run into.

You can start with mineral spirits and move to soap and water and finally add acetone to the soapy water or you can do what I do and buy some 3M decal remover.

There are probably some newer systems that cannot be dissolved. These will not be "sticky". You will have to remove them mechanically.

Funny, it was a ketone was I was at school....

They must have changed it <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

You are right, I am wrong. Acetone works in most cases however sometimes you have to figure out which alcohol they used as a solvent

As you've seen, acetone is just fine for any flavor of sails...

if you can get it, what's even better is xylene....

sea ya
tami
Who has worked in a sail repair shop...

methylisobutylkeytone (sp) is good but it takes the flesh off your fingers and is seriously carcinogenic <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

There are several chemistry-sailors on this forum that I thought would chime in on this thread but has none yet so...

This ketone is not carcinogenic, at least not by the MSDS.
MSDS (material safety data sheet) for methylisobutylketone
If you wonder about your health near an unfamiliar compound (and you should be), look it up. Search "MSDS methylisobutylkeytone". It is a "worst case senerio" document so you should read it for respect due, not to get scared. Look up "sodium chlorde" (table salt) and it looks like bad stuff on an MSDS. Read about HMPA for bad juju. It's a fantastic solvent...and then you die.

Anyway, acetone is the smallest ketone and evaporates too quickly for most summer use. Home Depot sells a heavier but similar ketone called MEK, methylethyl ketone, that is a nice solvent. Methylisobutylketone or cyclohexanone are also simple ketones but are hard to get and are potent paint strippers but unnecessary for this task...and not really carcenogenic. Xylene was suggested but it is a very different compound and will have a very different solvating profile and will work on different glues than acetone or MEK. Same for alcohols.

Keep an arsonal of solvents around, test each on the sail material first, then test on your problem glue. Give them time to work and use with LOTS of ventilation. Don't smoke. Lots of gentle rubbing. Be patient, be careful, be sensible. Don't mix what you don't know about. Don't die.

FWIW, I've used acetone succesfuly, but generally find that it evaporates too quickly and the adhesive dries again before I can get it all scraped up. It takes several applications. Mineral spirits keep the adhesive gummy longer, and lighter fluid works even better. Follow it up with an orange-based product (such as goo-gone), which will also remove the remaining petroleum distillate, and you're good to go.

Regards,
Eric