The trick to removing “baked on” vinyl

Here I am again with another project for my front porch. I’ve already shown some custom-made layered letters I’m working on for a sign and my door mat. Once I had those up, I realized my address sign was looking pretty worn. (It’s completely true that updating one thing on your house shows you another that needs changing, and another, and another…). This is a great time to show you how to remove vinyl that’s baked on and brittle.

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What do I mean by “baked on”?

The front of our house faces west and we’re elevated on the hill. The Utah sun gets pretty intense because of our altitude. The vinyl I put on it has been baked by the sun, so it’s now very brittle. When you try to remove brittle vinyl, it flakes off instead of coming off in strips. You can spend hours with a razor blade scraper, but there’s a very simple alternative that’s quicker and less dangerous.

Here’s part of my sign. The vinyl has even cracked. That happens with any vinyl over time and indicates it’s time to change it out. You can also see how the paint has faded.

The key to removing baked on vinyl

So, instead of picking at the vinyl with your weeding tool or fingernail, you can use heat to make the vinyl and its adhesive pliable again. I used my embossing gun because it was already in my craft room. You can also use a blow dryer. Just aim it at part of your design for about 5 seconds and then use your weeding tool to lift the corner. You should be able to just peel it off in strips now.

There are a few tips to keep in mind–

• I will say there’s a bit of a sweet spot between not enough heat and too much. If it’s not quite right, the vinyl can actually separate from the adhesive and then you have more to remove. But you can also remove the adhesive with something like goof-off or rubbing alcohol.
• If you’re working with metal like me, have a hot pad, gloves or rag handy to hold it with. Obviously, the heat will heat up the metal and you don’t want to burn yourself.
• Whatever project base you’re working on, you should test the technique in a small area first to make sure it can take the heat.
• I work on a little at a time. If you heat the whole thing at once, it gets less pliable as it cools down. On my example, I did 1 letter at a time.

My design

So I’m not into just publishing my address on the internet, so I’m not showing you the full completed sign. But I made up a fake address so you can see my design. It’s the font Carrol from the Silhouette Design Store (the Medium variation).

Here’s a portion of the sign. SO much better!!

If you like porch projects, check out my post on my Welcome sign.