Content

• Advice

Try on a section first. Before spraying the whole garment with solvent, you should test the hidden part of the garment first to make sure the chemical doesn't damage the fabric.

Soak the solvent in the shirt. Spray a lot of solvent over the printed area on the other side of the fabric. The goal here is to let the solvent seep through the fabric and cause the adhesive layer between the fabric and the print to peel off.

Fabric tension. Pulling and moving the fabric will help solvent soak through the fabric and the glue layer. After stretching the fabric, you may need to spray more solvent.

Peel off the print. If the solvent has worked, you should be able to peel the print off the fabric. You may need to use a knife to lift it up to make it easy to peel off or use a blow dryer to add heat to it.

Remove any remaining glue. After the print has been removed, some adhesive may remain on the fabric of the shirt. You can try rubbing alcohol or an adhesive remover with Goo Gone to clean it. Be sure to soak a little of the product on an obscure corner of the garment to test the fabric's reaction before applying any chemicals to the fabric.

Put a towel inside the shirt. A towel or small cloth lining the inside of a shirt can help prevent damage to the other side. If you find it difficult to work on a towel because it is too soft, you can replace it with a piece of cardboard or a very thin piece of plywood.

Use a hair dryer to heat up the print. A hairdryer that turns on the hottest setting and snaps close to the print can heat the glue on the back of the print to enough to soften it and peel it off.

Use steam to heat the print. Alternatively, you can use steam to process the print. Spread a wet towel over the print and place the really hot iron on top. The steam can heat the glue on the back of the print to enough to soften it and peel it off.

Use a sharp knife to remove the print. Once the print has begun to peel off due to the heat, use a sharp knife to scrape it around the edge of the print to lift it off. Part of the print will come off, so you can easily peel it off little by little.

Continue to heat up the printed shirt and peel it off. You may have to carefully peel it off little by little to keep it hot enough to scrape off the print.

Patience. This method can be quite time consuming. You can turn on your favorite music and challenge yourself to focus on working until it's done.

Remove any remaining glue. After the print has been removed, you should notice some adhesive remaining on the fabric. Try rubbing alcohol or a Goo Gone gel remover. You should first test on an invisible corner of the shirt to see how the fabric will react before applying any chemicals to the fabric.

Put the shirt on the table used to make clothes. Be sure to place the sticker on your back and smooth the fabric. If you don't have a ironing table, spread a towel on a hard surface like a table, counter top, washer or dryer.

Put a towel inside the shirt. A towel or small cloth lined inside the shirt can help prevent damage to the other side of the shirt. If the towel makes handling difficult because it is too soft, try using a very thin piece of cardboard or plywood.

Heat your iron. The higher the temperature of the iron, the better. This means the iron will be warmer than the temperature allowed on the shirt's guide label. If you are afraid of damaging the fabric, you may want to use a different method. You can try starting with a medium heat and slowly increasing the heat to reach a temperature that will strip the print but not damage the fabric.

Spread stencils on top of vinyl prints. If you are working with vinyl prints, spread the paper over the print and place the iron directly on the stencils. The vinyl print will melt and stick to the parchment, and then you can remove the print from your shirt by peeling off the parchment. This works only for vinyl prints.

Nirvana is up a printed corner. The heat from the iron will melt the print and it will come off. Start at one corner and work through the entire print gradually.

Use an iron to quickly flatten the print. When a corner of the printed image has flipped off, you need to do a quick fast motion in the direction of the printed image. The print will continue to peel off and may melt while you work.

Continue until the print is completely removed. Repeat this gesture directly on the print until all it is removed. If the fabric appears to be starting to damage, you can reduce the temperature of the iron.

Remove any remaining glue. After the print has peeled off, some glue may still be on the fabric. Try using rubbing alcohol or an adhesive remover like Goo Gone to remove the stain. Make sure to test the hidden corner of the shirt to see how the fabric reacts to the detergent before applying it all over.

Wash clothes as usual. After you have removed the print and any remaining glue, wash the item as you normally would. Be sure to do this if you use any chemical to remove the remaining glue, as chemicals can irritate and damage the skin. advertisement

Advice

• Combine many of the methods described above if desired. You may have to use a variety of methods to remove prints.
• Note that solvent effectiveness will be worse if the print has been printed for a long time on the shirt.
• The ability to remove the print depends in part on the type of print and the adhesive used to print the image. Remember that most prints are designed to last.