Are you fed up with the old pinstripes from your boat but cannot get rid off them. Or you might have bought a new boat but cannot stand the ugly pinstripes it has. Well, in either case, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will be showing you different methods of removing pinstripes from your boat without damaging the paint.

Before going on to the next step, we would like you to consider the sensitivity of your boat paint. We will be showing you four different ways of removing pinstripes, but it is for you to choose one of them considering the sensitivity of the paint.

Here Are The Best Ways To Remove Pinstripes From Your Boat

Using a Stripe Off Wheel – The Best and Easiest Way to Remove Pinstripes From Your Boat

This is the most efficient, fastest, and easiest way of removing pinstripes from your boat. For this method, you will need an electric drill that can take attachments. Make sure to use a drill wide enough to fit the wheel easily. 

You will be able to find the stripe off wheel from amazon or any other hardware store. It will cost around $30. Make sure to set the drill at a slow speed so that it doesn’t mess with the paint. 

Before you start, clean the nearby sides of the boat thoroughly. If the nearby sides have dust or dirt on them, then they can easily be scratched. You can wax them before you start the cleaning process for the best safety measures. 

Carefully start rubbing the pinstripes with the stripe off wheel. Make sure you move in a circular direction, so it doesn’t scratch your paint. Do not drill too long on a particular area, or it will heat up and may damage your boat’s paint. After 1 or 2 minutes, stop drilling so that the wheel could cool down a little bit. Just like that, you can take off all the pinstripes in a few minutes. 

For more immediate results, use a heat gun when taking off the trim piece. Heating it up makes it come off easier and leaves less residue to begin with. You can use the drill after that, but very slowly, so it doesn’t heat up too much. 

This is much faster but difficult to operate method. We suggest you leave this method to the professionals because it requires much more care and attention, and there is a big chance that you will end up damaging the paint. 

Again, to get rid of the residues, use a good adhesive remover. As I said earlier, Goo Gone or Goof Off has been proven to be the best. Apply the adhesive remover on a piece of soft cloth and apply gently on the residues; they will come off easily. 

Do not leave your boat in the direct sunlight after applying the adhesive remover. It will mess up your paint. Apply wax on the affected area to help your boat keep the paint in good condition. 

Some of the people have not been satisfied with this method. They ended up damaging their boat’s paint. But there was one thing common in all of their boats. Their boats had soft paints. We have concluded that you should not use the wheel method on soft paints because you will end up scratching the paint on your boat. 

Here Is A Video On How To Use This Method

Using a Fairdryer or Heat Gun

This method is another cheap and easy method to remove stickers or pinstripes from your boat. But it takes a tremendous amount of time. For this method, you will need a hairdryer or heat gun to heat the pinstripes, but do not heat it for too long so that it won’t damage the paint. 

We would prefer you to use a heat gun (You can pick on up from Amazon) because it is more efficient and runs hotter; if it is not available, a hairdryer will work as well. Set the heat gun/hairdryer to a moderate temperature. Point it onto to the pinstripes, and you are ready to remove them. 

Beware that if you bring it too close to the paint, it might damage it, and if it is too far, it will take you forever to heat the pinstripes. Choose the distance which you think is right. You can experiment a few times with the distance and temperature to make sure that you are doing it right. 

After you are done with the heating, slowly peel off the pinstripes with your fingers or a credit card/id card. The pinstripes will come off easily but will leave a few sticky residues. Make sure to take your time with that because you don’t want to mess your boat’s paint up.

To get rid of the residues, use a good adhesive remover. We suggest you use Goo Gone or Goof Off as it has been proven to be the best over the years. Apply the adhesive remover on a piece of soft cloth and apply gently on the residues; they will come off easily. 

Do not leave your boat in the direct sunlight after applying the adhesive remover. It will mess up your paint. Apply wax on the affected area to help your boat keep the paint in good condition. 

Here is a Video on How To Use This Method

Using a Sharp Razor Blade

This method is for those who want to renovate an old rusty boat whose paint has already torn off. This is an easy and cheap method, but do not go for it if you don’t want to damage your paint. 

In this method, you will need a sharp razor blade. Run the blade through the sides in a vertical or horizontal direction. This will take the pinstripes off in a few minutes (as long as the sticker isn’t delicate) but leave a lot of residue and damage. This method is better for those who want to repaint their boat afterwards. 

Using Rubbing Alcohol 

Another method for removing pinstripes from your boat is by using rubbing alcohol and clean microfibre or soft rag. In this method, you will need a bottle of medium alcohol. Pour the alcohol on the area you want the pinstripes to be removed. Be patient and wait for a little while. After a few minutes, all the alcohol would be soaked into the pinstripe.

Use a soft and clean microfibre to wipe the pinstripes off. This might take a few hours as the old pinstripes are not easy to remove. If it does not come off with the microfibre, try using a credit card or something with sharp edges. 

There are a few precautionary measures you need to keep in mind. First of all, do not pour too much alcohol. Make sure you pour the alcohol on the right place. In either case, it will fade the paint of your boat. 

Secondly, do not try to scratch the pinstripes too hard. It might mess your boat’s paint. Most importantly, don’t try to scratch off the little residue left off the pinstripes. Leave it to the adhesive remover. 

Beware that if you own an older boat, some boat colors are more prone to sunlight, so chances are the paint will fade away around the area of removed pinstripes. 

We suggest you use Goo Gone or Goof Off adhesive remover to get rid of the residues as it has proven to be the best over the years. Apply the adhesive remover on a piece of soft cloth and apply gently on the residues; they will come off easily. 

Again, do not leave your boat in the direct sunlight after applying the adhesive remover. It will mess your paint up. Apply wax on the affected area to help your boat keep the paint in good condition. 

Removing Pinstripes From Your Boat – Summary

We have discussed with you all the important methods of removing pinstripes off your boat, from the cheapest to easiest. All these methods are widely used all over the world. After all, it depends on your resources, which makes you chose one of these methods. 

The first one is the easiest of all. It will take the least amount of time, and it is surely worth it. If you have bought a brand new boat and want to get rid of the stickers or pinstripes, then you should definitely go for it. 

The second one is a bit complex and takes a lot of time, but those of you who want to do it cleanly without even a scratch left should go for it. As for the third one, it is the widely used method nowadays but takes a lot of restraint. 

I wouldn’t really recommend the other two options because the one can damage your boat and the other is difficult and takes a lot of time.

As for me, I use the electric drill method mostly. I have a couple of boats and change them once in a blue moon, but whenever I do, I do it with the wheel as it doesn’t take much of time. 

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