Post Vinyl Wall Strip - How to buff?

[BrockLives]

I just stripped the vinyl off my interior walls (with CitriStrip from Lowes). It left behind some of the glue in the leather-like pattern of the vinyl. Now if I recoat it with the CitriStrip, it sort of comes off if I rub, but it's definitely not an effective method.

What can I use to buff/strip the glue off? And leave the aluminum relatively unharmed?

[BrockLives]

In the event this info might help someone in the future, I used the spray on Jasco Epoxy Remover to get the glue from the vinyl off and then polished the aluminum with WD-40 and paper towels. Nice result.

[Phrunes]

Most older adhesives are gum based and should respond well to oil based removers such as goof off or even wd40. I would even try auto transmission fluid or kerosene. These might be your cheapest options to try and the least caustic

[mnmhays]

WD 40 works wonders on gummy stuf...it will really go to work on butyl adhesives.

[BrockLives]

I should try the Goof Off. Didn't even think of it! I used that to get off the wallpaper adhesive in the bathroom. It was the only thing I found that worked. It was awesome.

Will report back on the kerosene. Still have a bit of stripping to do.

[RBolton]

In my shop we usually resort to laquer thinner for removing glues from metal surfaces.

[Phrunes]

Laquer thinner is great, although it flashes off very quickly, if that doesn't work try something with a slower flash point like finger nail polish remover.

[MelB]

how difficult to get the vinyl off?

[Phrunes]

I'm in the middle of mine...would not tackle this unless trailer is gutted. It's a giant mess and has been a real time suck on my project. Looks awesome when done, but quite the undertaking.

Goof Off for sure on the glue. I've tried laquer thinner, WD40, rubbing compound and the only thing that has worked is the GoofOff. I'm going to experiment with some different things for polishing too. If I hit on the magic formula, I'll post the results.

As it stands, citristrip and wait 12 hours, peel annd reapply to rivet heads (if panels are still installed) ( mine aren't), scrub with a blue or green non-scratch dish pad and generous amount of goofOff...

[mikeandnora]

Any tricks for the vinyl near each rivet head? If I look close I can still see a little bit if vinyl held by each head.

Also, what I the value of removing each panel simply to inspect behind it? Seems like a good time to do that if you will be making each panel available to strip entirely at once.

[Phrunes]

Originally Posted by mikeandnora

Any tricks for the vinyl near each rivet head? If I look close I can still see a little bit if vinyl held by each head.

Also, what I the value of removing each panel simply to inspect behind it? Seems like a good time to do that if you will be making each panel available to strip entirely at once.

I put citristrip around each rivet head after the initial stripping and the vinyl lifted enough to take a cloth and with a circular rubbing motion it came off.

Are you planning to polish them afterwards? I just finished mine...what a job!!!! I'll share the product that worked absolutely the best for polishing by far (and I tried many, many products). The best results were achieved with 3M aggresive rubbing compound, followed up with Blue Magic metal polishing paste. Expect to use a lot of it and many, many polishing bonnets. The most important factor being a clean wool bonnet. I used a variable speed polisher from Harbor Freight available for $39. good luck! Here is a pic of my results.

[mikeandnora]

I will try to apply extra on the heads. That is a good idea.

I'm not sure about polishing yet. Nora is actually preferring that we have a brushed look, so I'll probably try some different techniques on a scrap sheet. I'm thinking a scotchbrite pad on a random orbital may do the trick. I would probably opt for a full polish, but she is much more stylish than I am so I should probably defer judgement to her.