Removing decals, part deux: What works

Of all the ideas offered, the first one I tried, modified by a wrinkle
of my own, worked, so I don't know how well the others would work,
though I thank the providers of all the ideas I had queued up to try
in order.

The one that worked on my decals was pouring on hot water through a
facecloth (from the bathroom), to keep it on the tube longer. You need
to keep the heat on a couple of minutes and for that a facecloth is
ideal. The water needs to be so hot, steam rises.

The wrinkle was suggested to me by Nate's remark that the ball of the
thumb is also a tool. I didn't want to spend the afternoon rubbing off
small pieces of decal, applying water, applying thumb, endlessly,
finishing with a half-cooked thumb. So I brought a common schoolroom
semi-soft eraser rubber with the kettle and the facecloth to the bike,
and did the job at industrial speed, taking off a whole long label
with a couple of strokes of the rubber once the hot water/steam
combination softened it up.

So, the required tools are a kettle of boiling water, a facecloth to
concentrate the heat, an eraser to make the removal fast and
convenient, and a towel to soak up the overspill.

Thanks to all who contributed.

Andre Jute
The rest is magic hidden in the hub.
For rare hub gear bikes, visit Jute on Bicycles at
http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html

On Mar 21, 2:17*pm, Andre Jute wrote:
Of all the ideas offered, the first one I tried, modified by a wrinkle
of my own, worked, so I don't know how well the others would work,
though I thank the providers of all the ideas I had queued up to try
in order.

The one that worked on my decals was pouring on hot water through a
facecloth (from the bathroom), to keep it on the tube longer. You need
to keep the heat on a couple of minutes and for that a facecloth is
ideal. The water needs to be so hot, steam rises.

The wrinkle was suggested to me by Nate's remark that the ball of the
thumb is also a tool. I didn't want to spend the afternoon rubbing off
small pieces of decal, applying water, applying thumb, endlessly,
finishing with a half-cooked thumb. So I brought a common schoolroom
semi-soft eraser rubber with the kettle and the facecloth to the bike,
and did the job at industrial speed, taking off a whole long label
with a couple of strokes of the rubber once the hot water/steam
combination softened it up.

So, the required tools are a kettle of boiling water, a facecloth to
concentrate the heat, an eraser to make the removal fast and
convenient, and a towel to soak up the overspill.

Thanks to all who contributed.

Andre Jute
*The rest is magic hidden in the hub.
For rare hub gear bikes, visit Jute on Bicycles at
*http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html

Just use a hair dryer and peel as you heat it.

On 21 Mar, 19:17, Andre Jute wrote:
Of all the ideas offered, the first one I tried, modified by a wrinkle
of my own, worked, so I don't know how well the others would work,
though I thank the providers of all the ideas I had queued up to try
in order.

The one that worked on my decals was pouring on hot water through a
facecloth (from the bathroom), to keep it on the tube longer. You need
to keep the heat on a couple of minutes and for that a facecloth is
ideal. The water needs to be so hot, steam rises.

The wrinkle was suggested to me by Nate's remark that the ball of the
thumb is also a tool. I didn't want to spend the afternoon rubbing off
small pieces of decal, applying water, applying thumb, endlessly,
finishing with a half-cooked thumb. So I brought a common schoolroom
semi-soft eraser rubber with the kettle and the facecloth to the bike,
and did the job at industrial speed, taking off a whole long label
with a couple of strokes of the rubber once the hot water/steam
combination softened it up.

So, the required tools are a kettle of boiling water, a facecloth to
concentrate the heat, an eraser to make the removal fast and
convenient, and a towel to soak up the overspill.

Thanks to all who contributed.

Andre Jute
*The rest is magic hidden in the hub.
For rare hub gear bikes, visit Jute on Bicycles at
*http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html

That was four days ago I suggested pouring boiling water over it (not
enough thermal energy available from vapour), you tried the drunkard
trick as well?

On Mar 21, 5:58*pm, thirty-six wrote:

That was four days ago I suggested pouring boiling water over it (not
enough thermal energy available from vapour), you tried the drunkard
trick as well?

Well, I certainly did. And now, in addition to my bicycle finish,
there
is distressing on my face, one of my arms, a good bit of my wardrobe,
some 10% of the downstairs floor, and 30% of my relationships.

Magic.

On Mar 22, 2:21*am, Norman wrote:
On Mar 21, 5:58*pm, thirty-six wrote:

That was four days ago I suggested pouring boiling water over it (not
enough thermal energy available from vapour), you tried the drunkard
trick as well?

Well, I certainly did. *And now, in addition to my bicycle finish,
there
is distressing on my face, one of my arms, a good bit of my wardrobe,
some 10% of the downstairs floor, and 30% of my relationships.

Magic.

Reminds me of the year when on Christmas Eve, after a few hours of
drinks with various neighbours and friends, I decided to fit the
Lowther drivers to my newly built bicor horns. The Lowthers were from
a Swiss enthusiast who had treated them with Ennemoser's C37 (a
lacquer made from the earbones of virgins by the light of a full
moon), which takes a year or two to set, so they were irreplaceable.
Of course I stuck a screwdriver right through the irreplaceable
diaphraghm of one, so now not only did I have only one but I could
never make a pair again... Fortunately I was so busy on Christmas Day
fondling a pair of WE 300B a guy who built one of my amp designs sent
me to express his gratitude (not to mention that my family gave me
enough money to buy a BMW model for which I expressed admiration,
though I never got around to it) that I forgot all about the ruined
Lowther horn driver until Boxing Day. Then I cried... I now have the
singleton in my study where mostly I operate a mono system, where I
can tell you a 32Hz tone comes off every surface straight to your
ears, like you're sitting inside the music; my bicor horn driven by
the Ennemosered Lowther PM6A is one of only two loudspeakers that is
almost as good as the QUAD-57 that I've always said is the best
speaker ever made (the other loudspeaker that is nearly as good is the
QUAD ESL-63 that succeeded the -57). It's actually a fabulously
outcome, if also an expensive lesson not to overreach yourself when
you've been drinking.

It's an amazing thing for an aesthete to have a bicycle that is more
expensive than all but a few of his hi-fi components...

Andre Jute
Visit Jute on Amps at
http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/
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