Restoring Color to Vinyl Custom Car Decals 2022
Over enough time, even the most durable vinyl materials may break down due to UV light exposure and weather, which will cause dyes to deteriorate. However, owners of vehicles with custom vinyl car decals have some options when it comes to restoring their color if fading has taken place.
The first and most important step here: Limiting your fading or color deterioration risks by purchasing your custom car decals from top manufacturers such as Signazon. In addition, however, here are some basic steps for restoring vinyl color to your decals if their color has faded over the years.
Purchase Vinyl Restoration Product
Later on in this process, you will require a vinyl restoration product, which will help to remove stains and restore the color of custom car decals. Many owners use Meguiar’s M105 Mirror Glaze Ultra-Cut Compound for this step because it is considered the best product on the market for restoring custom vinyl car decal colors. If you’re unsure here, ask a car decal expert which product to use.
Once you have this product in-hand, proceed to our subsequent steps until it’s needed.
Removing Dirt or Debris
Using a soft cloth and a solution of water and mild detergent, carefully clean the custom vinyl decals; be sure the detergent doesn’t contain anything that will compromise your custom car decals’ adhesive. If you can, use an old toothbrush to get into small crevices and make sure to rinse thoroughly with water.
If there is any mold or mildew present on the custom car decals, clean it with a solution of 3 parts water and 1 part white vinegar. Allow this to air dry after rinsing.
Do not use a scrubbing pad for this job, as rubbing too hard may remove the custom vinyl decals’ adhesive.
Rinse and Air Dry
Next up, rinse the decals off fully with cool water. Once they’ve been rinsed, give them at least an hour or two to air dry.
Rubbing Alcohol
Once your decals have completely dried, get a soft cloth and a bottle of rubbing alcohol (water will do in a pinch, but it’s riskier). Use your cloth to wipe down the custom vinyl decals; if you use water, pay extra attention to make sure the custom car decals are completely dry and that no moisture remains on them.
You may want to tilt the custom car decals slightly to ensure that alcohol dries on them instead of settling into the custom vinyl decals’ adhesive.
Apply Vinyl Restoration Product
Finally, it’s time to pull out that vinyl restoration product you already purchased and apply it to the custom car decals. Take a look at the manufacturer’s instructions before you begin, but in most cases, you will need to put a few drops onto the custom vinyl decals’ surface and immediately spread them out over your custom car decals with a soft cloth or an old T-shirt.
You may also want to use a second cloth, which you can run under clean water and then over the custom car decals. This will help to keep them from drying off too quickly.
This is the basic process for restoring color to any faded vinyl car decal. Enjoy!
