Problems removing a rim that surrounded the removed decal.

I’m changing the graphics on my hull. I’ve got the old decals off (heat gun to peel off most of it, then wiped off residual adhesive with gasoline).

What I have is a faint white trace outline tracing the silhouette of the removed decal. I supposed it was a faint line of adhesive residue. So I attacked the trace outline with more gasoline. Then I tried Windex, then rubbing alcohol. Then I guessed that maybe it wasn’t adhesive residue, but lime residue. So I attacked it with Babe’s boat bright (which works great on lime spots for our hard water). But nothing seems to be working very well.

So I got down close and studied this trace line real close (it’s an interlacing network of oval and french curves according the silhouette of the removed tribal decal). I scratched my fingernail across it both ways. What I’ve figures out is this.

The portions of hull that were COVERED by the decal are RELATIVELY RECESSED while the portions of hull that were EXPOSED are RELATIVELY RAISED. The elevation change is no more than half the thickness of a piece of paper. The trace outline is the escarpment ... so to speak ... between these too elevations.

Any ideas how this happened? Are the raised areas oxidation? Which is not my first guess because, the hull is the same color in both areas.

More important, how can this be remedied?

Typically it is the other way around. You will find raised portions under decals, and lower portions where abrasion and cleaning, as well as increased exposure to UV has caused the exposed areas to be "eroded" ever so slightly.

A typical fix is to wet sand the raised areas with a very fine sandpaper on a block. You gotta be REAL careful....

Most of the time you just gotta live with it.... I wa polishing a 38 year old sailboat the other day AFTER WET SANDING and up there under the vinyl registration numbers I can still make out the NJ registration numbers after all these years, on a boat in Oklahoma.....

Phil
Kicker

I now have a question about HAND GLAZE.

But before the question, I was told something by a retired auto detailer that might be true (he’s an family friend, and spent his whole career that I knew owning his own shop). He said, what I told him sounded like the decal had been applied directly to the hull, but then someone clear coated around it. ??? I’m the original owner, so that would have to be CC or Skiers Wharf (and I have no beef whatsoever with my now vanished dealer). My friend offered to help, but, he’s not near and he is a bit older.

That aside, I have previously been able to remove the trace line to invisibility to lengths of about an inch or so here and there. But since the removed decal was a 10 foot wide tribal design, that means there’s got to be several thousands of inches to go.

QUESTION: Is it worth an experiment to try Hand Glaze? 3m or Meguires are readily available to me. If so, can I start a test patch of a couple square feet to see if hand glaze is effective or not, and then just stop if not? Or now have I committed to doing the whole hull to even things up?

I having a hard time just sac’ing up on this decision.

Clear coating is not normally a practice used on gel coat like it is on paint. I really doubt its a layer of clear coat.