How To Remove Old Paper From Acrylic Sheet

Removing the protective covering by peeling.

How to remove old paper from acrylic sheet. First try using the hairdryer method. Residue can also be left behind by tape or other sticky substances. Sometimes you will find old paper that just will not absorb water. You don t have to overdo it since overheating the plastic can do damage.

Mcmaster also has an adhesive removing spray but i haven t used it. Whether the acrylic is used for a fish tank table or other item being able to have a clean mark free piece is important. Spray it on let it soak in a bit and peel off the paper. If the adhesive has hardened moisten it with aliphatic naphtha hexane or kerosene will help to soften it.

You can remove the paper masking with a cardboard tube by rolling the masking around it. 1 cup warm water. Then start stripping it away with a scraper. You start peeling back the edge of the paper and then wrap it around the.

To get the old paper off and even the new in large sheets we use a broom stick and two strong guys with big fore arms. When removing the protective covering you ll want to work on a smooth flat surface. Masked acrylic should be kept away from heat and sunlight and masking should be removed soon after installation. If it does slowly work your way across the sheet if you go too fast the paper will rip making removal more difficult.

Let the paper soak for a few minutes. Many of these sheets used an adhesive that is heat activated. 3m makes a citrus based cleaner that works well for acrylic paper as well as all kinds of self adhesive labels and such. When this happens scuff the surface with coarse sandpaper or a scoring tool to allow the water to soak into the paper.

You can try using an electric hair dryer to warm the corner of the sheet and see if this loosens the paper. It is frustrating to remove a sticker from acrylic only to find a sticky residue left behind.