I don't think this fell off from any car wash

[gabagoo]

A driver for a customer I have done numerous vehicles for came in a few weeks back telling me the vinyl is coming off the vehicles. I went out and looked at it and it is coming off all from the top and the glue is left exposed. First thing out of my mouth was that this was hit with a pressure washer. His response was that they never use pressure washer on them and only go to a car wash. I call BS. He then tells me it is happening on 3 of the vehicles we did.

Today the owner drops off this Tacoma pickup and as you can see in the pics the top is all coming off..... I have stripped them off and will apply new graphics to keep the peace, but the owner says to me, if you have to charge me then charge me. I will...but as I was cleaning off the glue on the doors I see a drop of dried concrete on the door, and these guys are in the concrete business. Now I know someone hit them with a pressure washer as that is about the only way you would get dried concrete off the surface.
I had the same issue with another concrete company many years back and fixed everything for free as I had no idea that this unit ( a putzmeister) had a built in pressure washer for cleaning the dried concrete off the vehicle.

What do you think?

 

[Boudica]

It looks ripped, it didn't just fall off.

 

[Gino]

A carwash hose can do damage, too. If they insist on using high power tools, tell them to at least avoid the decals, if not you will stop replacing them for free.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

A pressure washer could do it but you have to take that into consideration when doing jobs for these types of customers. We do a lot of concrete pumps and mixer trucks, they pressure wash the pumps daily and haven't had any failures. The mixers get washed between batches but not high pressure. From my experience, if you put enough force on a decal with a pressure washer to remove it then you often times take some of the paint with it. They usually don't just blow off, you really need to get on them with heat and high pressure.

 

[Johnny Best]

Did you print them on cast vinyl and then cast overlaminate.

 

[gabagoo]

Did you print them on cast vinyl and then cast overlaminate.

No it is actually white vinyl on top of black vinyl...not cast but that 10 year 2.8 ml...never ever have I had issues before except with 2 companies...ironically in the concrete biz...They used high pressure washers on it as I see bits of concrete on the truck and that is about the only way to get it off...

 

[Notarealsignguy]

What exactly did you use for material? How do you know they used a pressure washer? Seems like you're leaning heavy into that being the cause but seeing concrete on a truck doesn't mean anything. I'd be looking at the vinyl first.

 

[unclebun]

If you think it's hard to blow decals off with a pressure washer, either you don't get out much or you've never used a pressure washer. Even a typical consumer-grade gas-powered pressure washer can strip decals off a vehicle lickety-split, and it looks exactly like the OP's pictures. And the paint does not come off with the decal unless it was old and damaged.

That said, you CAN was a vehicle with decals using a pressure washer and NOT damage the decals. We instruct our customers on how to do this after we letter the vehicle. You have to always spray at 90 degrees to the surface, and from some distance, at least a foot with most washers. If you point at the edge of the decal at a shallow angle and close range, the decal will come off.

 

[Geneva Olson]

We took our wrapped car through a laser car wash. It shredded the vinyl.

 

[Johnny Best]

No it is actually white vinyl on top of black vinyl...not cast but that 10 year 2.8 ml...never ever have I had issues before except with 2 companies...ironically in the concrete biz...They used high pressure washers on it as I see bits of concrete on the truck and that is about the only way to get it off...

Looks like your "10 year 2.8 mil black" is separating from the glue backing. Try some cast 3M cast black vinyl.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

If you think it's hard to blow decals off with a pressure washer, either you don't get out much or you've never used a pressure washer.

Really cuz we literally do it every single day. Hot water, 4gpm 4000 psi pressure washer and buy a new one every other year. Sometimes it's easy and often times it's not and we sandblast them off. I get out plenty, don't worry about me.

 

[gabagoo]

Looks like your "10 year 2.8 mil black" is separating from the glue backing. Try some cast 3M cast black vinyl.

NO that is not what happened....Why would it always separate from the top? All 3 logos on this truck and 2 others are doing the exact same thing and they were done at different times so the vinyl would have been off different rolls.

I just reprinted this time, and slapped them back on although cleaning that glue off was a bit of a chore...and I am going to charge him something

 

[Notarealsignguy]

This is from yesterdays decal removal with a pressure washer. Takes the paint with it. I'm not saying a pressure washer can't damage decals because they obviously can but multiple vehicles and all of them peeling from the top? Seems more like gravity and material failure working together.

 

[somcalmetim]

A driver for a customer I have done numerous vehicles for came in a few weeks back telling me the vinyl is coming off the vehicles. I went out and looked at it and it is coming off all from the top and the glue is left exposed. First thing out of my mouth was that this was hit with a pressure washer. His response was that they never use pressure washer on them and only go to a car wash. I call BS. He then tells me it is happening on 3 of the vehicles we did.

Today the owner drops off this Tacoma pickup and as you can see in the pics the top is all coming off..... I have stripped them off and will apply new graphics to keep the peace, but the owner says to me, if you have to charge me then charge me. I will...but as I was cleaning off the glue on the doors I see a drop of dried concrete on the door, and these guys are in the concrete business. Now I know someone hit them with a pressure washer as that is about the only way you would get dried concrete off the surface.
I had the same issue with another concrete company many years back and fixed everything for free as I had no idea that this unit ( a putzmeister) had a built in pressure washer for cleaning the dried concrete off the vehicle.

What do you think?

What vinyl is that?
Kinda weird its peeled off more in the middle...usually stuff starts at the corners??
Could be getting downward swinging car wash brushes as it goes over roof and as the long swinging brushes fly down over the sides they are working away at the top of the material...might be why it isnt as bad under the handle?...
Lots of hot water and swinging brushes could do it as well as a standard over zeleous pressure wash operator...usually only seen similar on stainless tanker trailers that defo have crazy chemical contents and/or guy ontop of trailer with pressure washer spraying down.

 

[Precision]

Sounds like cheap vinyl, and the install surface on the pics other than the red car look sketchy at best.

 

[Small Lettering]

Is it possible the vehicle has been ceramic coated? I had that happen to me & the owner never told me about it.

 

[unclebun]

This is from yesterdays decal removal with a pressure washer. Takes the paint with it. I'm not saying a pressure washer can't damage decals because they obviously can but multiple vehicles and all of them peeling from the top? Seems more like gravity and material failure working together.
View attachment 167634 View attachment 167635

That's not car paint. Heavy equipment and trailer paint comes off with orange peel.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

That's not car paint. Heavy equipment and trailer paint comes off with orange peel.

You gonna try to school me on paint now too? You realize that I own high volume industrial paint business and run 500-1000 jobs a year through here right? 1/2 of that is trucks and the same paint is used on them as anything else, Imron.

 

[unclebun]

Not the dozers and things we have to deal with. Stuff is soft, chalks, comes off easily. I've never had a pickup or car do that unless it's one with all the clearcoat gone and 20 years old.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Not the dozers and things we have to deal with. Stuff is soft, chalks, comes off easily. I've never had a pickup or car do that unless it's one with all the clearcoat gone and 20 years old.

Did you miss the part where I said we paint trucks as well? We paint for the dealers, color changes on new trucks for manufacturers, cars for friends, new garbage trucks, new vac trucks not just used stuff. The paint comes off all of the last generation superdutys and all of the mack granite doors with a pressure washer when you use them to get the decals off. I can keep posting pictures because I see it constantly.
As for machinery, what we use is not soft, it doesnt chalk for years and it does not come off easily.