moving old decals

[yenkonut]

i misplaced some decals on a car a little over 24 hours ago and was wondering if they could be moved after they have been set without damaging them

[Art Anderson]

i misplaced some decals on a car a little over 24 hours ago and was wondering if they could be moved after they have been set without damaging them

Very hard, if not impossible to do, frankly. Decals are thin, as you know, generally made by imprinting artwork onto a thin film (generally clear lacquer) laid on a sheet of blotting paper, the adhesive being common, ordinary gelatin (like the "There's always room for Jello" stuff). Decals, when applied, rely on evaporation of the water that liquified the gelatin adhesive, by the process of the water "wicking" out to the outer edges where it then evaporates, until all the gelatin is dry, and it's virtually impossible to reverse that process, and even if you could, the water would likely take what remains of that gelatin with it, leaving none for re-application. The decals themselves are impervious to water, so it won't just soak through the decal, rather in the application process, water soaks through the blotter paper they were printed on, rather than the decal itself.

You would be better served to see if you can't get another sheet of the same decals, remove the ones incorrectly placed, and lay down the new ones where they should be. Sorry, but I have no better answer for you.

Art

[yenkonut]

Very hard, if not impossible to do, frankly. Decals are thin, as you know, generally made by imprinting artwork onto a thin film (generally clear lacquer) laid on a sheet of blotting paper, the adhesive being common, ordinary gelatin (like the "There's always room for Jello" stuff). Decals, when applied, rely on evaporation of the water that liquified the gelatin adhesive, by the process of the water "wicking" out to the outer edges where it then evaporates, until all the gelatin is dry, and it's virtually impossible to reverse that process, and even if you could, the water would likely take what remains of that gelatin with it, leaving none for re-application. The decals themselves are impervious to water, so it won't just soak through the decal, rather in the application process, water soaks through the blotter paper they were printed on, rather than the decal itself.

You would be better served to see if you can't get another sheet of the same decals, remove the ones incorrectly placed, and lay down the new ones where they should be. Sorry, but I have no better answer for you.

Art

thank you very much that was the answer i was looking for looks like i have to start over i appreciate your time to help