How to remove protective cover on Lexan? (2022 Update)

If you happen to have a pressure washer that works really well. Naphtha or paint thinner are fine. Sometimes it just won't come off and you have to buy a new piece. A little heat from a hair dryer works sometimes. Not a heat gun.

WD40 had been reported to work well for this.

Ken.

I was told never to leave it in sunlight or that will happen. Sorry for no help , but it is pretty durable stuff.

By accident a brake fluid container leaked all over some really old, stuck-forever paper covered sheeting I had stored in a corner. When I went to clean up the mess, I was surprised to find that the paper slid right off the plexigalss sheets.

YMMV. I would test on scrap. I don't know how long ago the container had leaked The brake fluid did not affect the finish on the material I had.

Those are glued on with "cold-flow" adhesives. They take time to "move", so take the removal as slowly as possible. Get a corner up with the fingernails, pull up slowly watching both edges and repairing any places where the covering tears. Watch the adhesive as you pull; you will see strings stretching out between the covering and the plastic. Give them time to pull away from the plastic; if you pull too fast the string will break, leaving a little dot of adhesive on the plastic. And I do mean slowly: 5 seconds or more per inch of progress.

Another possibility: cold-flow adhesives can often be altered by a little weak acid. I often remove labels (such as the new-car-sticker) that I want in one piece, by patting them down with white vinegar and letting them sit for 20 minutes or so. Then they peel off easily, without tearing. This won't work with a plastic protective color, but might work with a kraft- paper cover. (As they say, test this on a scrap before putting your work on the line.)

-- --Pete "Peter W. Meek"

Most of the "sticker remover" stuff you buy is just naptha or similar light petroleum distallate. Same with WD40, it's mostly kerosene or something similar. The soap and water will loosen up the paper so you can roll it off in bits, but you're still left with the hardened-on stickum layer. You need a petroleum-based solvent to get that off. I know very well what you've got, I've got some old Lexan cutoffs that the protective sheet is stuck on pretty good, always have to soak it about a day with naptha before I can start peeling it. Naptha usually works, although I've had some computer tape labels where the adhesive petrified, the label fell off and nothing would clean off the residue. Up until recently, I would have said that naptha was harmless to most any surface, painted or not, but I used it for wipedown on a freshly primed, but dry, surface, and it started lifting the primer. Never used that brand again, that's for sure.

Stan

When the plastic is fresh, the biggest problem is making sure that the edge doesn't rip and end the spreading of the pulled paper. After a few months, the glue gets harder and major work needs to be done to insure that it comes off. The brake fluid idea has a lot of merit but the plastic will then need to be washed well to get the brake fluid off.

-- Bob May Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less. Works evevery time it is tried!

If you are trying to remove the protective paper sheet from a new 4'x8' sheet of Lexan (not a piece of aged, sun hardened scrap), try this method.

1. Take a broomstick, dowel, pipe, or any small diameter stick ( it doesn't have to be round, a piece of 1"x1" hardwood works) about a foot longer than the width of the sheet plastic.
2. Peel back enough of the protective paper to wrap it around the stick (non-sticky side against the stick). A piece of tape can help the paper make the first wrap around it.
3. With the stick extending past the side of the plastic sheet, rotate the stick and the protective paper takes a tight wrap on the stick and pulls away in one piece...

JAK

One thing I have found is to never pull the paper back over itself. Lift it maintaining an obtuse angle and it will not rip with that hard to remove feather edge.

It is the same pr> Well, here I am once more wearing down my fingernails

You can also use a heat gun (hair dryer) but not with the naphtha or other flammables ;-)

replying to DOC, AARON WILKINSON wrote: Hey Guys - we have an old piece from 2004 and I was having the same struggles. My wife read the posts, went into the house came out with 3 items: non-acetone nail polish remover, canola oil and Static guard. First item WAS IT.... STATIC GUARD!! Spray a little and pull slowly... repeat. Peeled so easy.

replying to Stan Schaefer, BobK wrote: anything in a can from a big box store is mostly Acetone no matter what the can says. Go to an automotive paint store or if your near the coast a marine paint dealer. They will have the real deal thinners.

replying to Stan Schaefer, BobK wrote: anything in a can from a big box store is mostly Acetone no matter what the can says. Go to an automotive paint store or if your near the coast a marine paint dealer. They will have the real deal thinners.

We tried acetone (turned sports the sticker did come off milky white), skin so soft (took off the blue marking on the sticker but not the sticker itself), and static guard (seemed to help on only some of the sheets). The one that seemed to work the best, if you have time, was fabric softener, which didn’t seem to work Day 1, but in the morning of Day 2 everything came rolling off with the dew. We will try that on the next set we have and give it a couple of days to sit and maybe add some water too.