Vinyl stickers and decals can be a great way to dress up your wall. Whether you’re adding some team logos to the locker room or putting up a positive saying in your family room, vinyl is strong, durable, and easy to clean.
But what happens when you decide that you no longer want those stickers hanging on your wall? Do you just pull them down and hope that the paint doesn’t come with it? Or is there a better way to remove them?
If you’ve ever removed a sticker or decal from any surface, you know that it can quickly become a chore to fully remove, leaving the surface in its original condition. And when it comes to a painted surface, the last thing you want to do is remove the paint with the sticker.
Nobody wants to have to patch and repaint an entire wall just because they took down a sticker!
Thankfully we do have some tips for you when it comes to removing
vinyl wall stickers from painted walls, that will help ensure that the stickers peel off cleanly, without ruining the paint, and without leaving large amounts of sticker residue.
Removing Vinyl Stickers from Walls
Use a Hair Dryer and Patience
In some cases, you may be able to start peeling the vinyl sticker off your wall without any assistance, but it will depend on how long the sticker has been attached and how well the adhesive is holding.
If the sticker has been stuck to the wall for a long time, it may be hard to get off than a newly placed sticker, but using heat, both should come of with relative ease.
We’ve talked about using a hair dryer to remove stickers and decals in the past, but when it comes to painted walls, you need to be a little more careful.
Walls that were painted with flat latex paint tend to be more sticker friendly than walls painted with gloss latex paint or oil-based enamel. Keep that in mind if you decide to put stickers on your walls as it could make the removal down the line, easier or much more difficult.
Once it’s time to remove the sticker from the wall you’re going to want to use your hair dryer to heat up just a corner of the sticker. The goal here is to loosen up the adhesive just enough so that you can slowly start to peel the sticker away from the wall.
Remember, this is not a race. You want to be very patient and take it slow or you’ll end up taking the paint off with the sticker.
As the corner begins to lift off, move the hair dryer down the next section and allow it to heat up the adhesive so you can pull it off. Then continue moving down the sticker until it has been removed.
Keep in mind that the heat from the hair dryer can damage your paint as well, so don’t overdo it.
Remove the Sticker Residue
If you’re left with sticker residue on the wall there are a few easy ways to remove it.
You can try using dish soap (bleach-free) and water to scrub away at it. This should help to loosen up the remaining residue and allow you to wipe it off cleanly.
If that doesn’t work, products like WD-40, Goo Gone, and even Olive Oil can help to
remove the stubborn sticker residue that is left.
Whichever product you use to remove the sticker residue, we suggest trying it out in an inconspicuous part of the wall first, just to ensure that it doesn’t leave any discoloration.
In most cases these products will not take the paint color with them, or leave stains, but it’s always safer to test it out in a small corner before going all-in on a major focal point of the room.
The key to successfully removing a vinyl sticker from a painted wall is patience. Take everything slow and don’t rush because that’s when mistakes are made, and that’s when you’ll have to end up repainting the entire wall.
Large vinyl stickers can take a little bit of time to remove, so keep that in mind before you begin the process.
