With limitless access to online instructions, guidebooks, and tutorial videos, many car enthusiasts start taking matters into their own hands.
When coming across common vehicle-related problems, you can likely manage the replacement or fixing yourself as long as you have some prior exposure to car accessories and their roles in the vehicles.
It is basically the same when it comes to removing plasti dip. Any technically untrained car geek can conquer the seemingly challenging task with proper instruction.
That is when our post on how to remove plasti dip from wheels comes in handy. With the goal to help you remove plasti dip from your car easily, we will offer you a step-to-step guide. Now let’s get right into it!
What Is A Plasti Dip?
It comes as no surprise that even some passionate car enthusiasts might be unfamiliar with this term. This accessory has just gained popularity in recent years thanks to the innovation of the modern tire-making industry.
Simply put, plasti dip serves as a protective rubber layer for your car tires. The adoration towards this product mainly boils down to its accessibility, utmost convenience, and instant results.
A car with plasti dip wheels will be less susceptible to erosion, scratching, and rocks, salt, or sand on the roads.
Also, plasti dip rubbers are available in liquid form so that you can spray the fluid directly on the tires without any special pre-care of the tires. Therefore, you can basically figure out how to plasti dip rims on your own.
Additionally, since its main components only consist of water and bitumen, plasti dip peel off is also as easy as pie. This is why a lot of people attempt to learn how to remove dip from tires at home since the dip layer is easy to chip away.
For that reason, if you are an economical person, we highly encourage you to learn how to remove old plasti dip yourself. It takes you less than half an hour and a budget of less than a hundred dollars to remove plasti dip from wheels. So why not give it a try?
A Comprehensive Guide On How To Remove Plasti Dip From Rims
Based on your personal preference, available accessories, and budget limit, there are multiple options you can opt for when learning how to remove plasti dip from wheels.
This section will recommend to you what we think are the sixth most effective ways to remove plasti dip from the car.
The First Method – Using Kerosene
When asking professional mechanics working on cars, the best way to get plasti dip off rims will likely be Kerosene.
The plastic dip remover is fully organic, cost-efficient, easy to use, and can deliver instant results. If you are new to the game, it would be best to follow the detailed steps below:
The Second Method: Using WD-40
The name of this substance might ring a bell for some car geeks since WD-40 has long been a well-loved car lubricator in the market. Surprisingly, this wonderful liquid can also help to get rid of the old plasti dip on your car’s wheels.
Since it is a multi-functional product used for lubricating and cleaning as well, WD-40’s corrosive level might not be as strong as Kerosene. For that reason, it might take more time and effort to fully get all the residue off the rims’ surfaces.
However, if Kerosene isn’t available at the moment, WD-40 is an excellent alternative. Also, should you not be fully confident with your skills, WD-40 is the answer. It is less likely to cause severe erosion to the wheels if you happen to spill it on the other parts.
Regarding how to take plasti dip off rims with WD-40, you follow the exact five steps we have listed down for the Kerosene method.
You might experience some issues when removing the residue out of the surface. Using a pressure washer to clean up the rims after dealing with most of the rubber coating might be a good idea.
The Third Method: Using Specialized Adhesive Removers
Specialized removers are the third most common option when it comes to plasti dip removal. Some of the most popular adhesives you can easily find online are Goo Gone Remover Spray Gel and DipYourCAr Dip Dissolver.
See more: How To Remove Tire From Rim At Home
With the involvement of stronger chemical solvents in their compositions, they tend to be more corrosive. For that reason, they are wonderful nominees if you are dealing with stubborn, super-thin plasti dip layers that seem impossible to peel off.
However, with a high level of corrosion, they can do severe damage to your car if you fail to perform the removal in the correct order. Therefore, we only recommend this option to experienced users who have dealt with these types of adhesives before.
To apply the product on the rims, you follow the same steps we have offered in the first method. Since they are strong solvents that can damage your skin, make sure you put on gloves, a mask, and a helmet when doing the task.
The Fourth Method: Applying Paint Thinner
For anyone who doesn’t know, paint thinner is a chemical solvent specialized in removing stains from drawing brushes or cleaning oil-based paintings.
Despite its main use in the art industry, the way this substance works bears a significant resemblance to standard plasti dip removers.
For that reason, when other adhesives don’t come in handy, you can opt for paint thinner to quickly remove the plasti dip coating on the rims.
The removal process is similar to the other options above. Since this solvent doesn’t mean to serve as a rubber coating remover, you shouldn’t expect instant results or quick cleanup.
One or two applications can’t strip away a broad area of plasti dip, but performing the same process a few more times will work just fine.
You can implement some extra tools such as a pressure washer, a piece of cloth soaked with paint thinner to help clean the surface more thoroughly.
The Fifth Method: Using Isopropyl Alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol, also known as rubbing alcohol, is a colorless substance that shows lots of potential as a dissolver. For that reason, you can resort to rubbing alcohol if you are in an emergency for a plasti dip remover.
The alcohol will start breaking down the rubber coating layer after 20 to 30 minutes of application, which is relatively long compared to the other substances. Also, the peeling-off process might be more challenging since alcohol is not too erosive.
However, if the other more effective options are out of reach, rubbing alcohol is a decent choice for promising results.
Again, the process of applying rubbing alcohol on the rims of the wheels is as above. You remove the wheels, rub the alcohol all over the rims, wait, then strip the dip coating away with a wooden stick.
One thing to note, it is essential to clean up the tires properly before resembling them to the car. Since rubbing alcohol is flammable, it can start a fire when you activate the car engine.
The Sixth Method: Using Nails
For more: How To Remove Tire Studs
Should you be left with no substances, adhesives, or dissolvers to work with, consider using nails to manually scrape away the dip coating.
It might not be the option that will be recommended to those who just started learning how to get plasti dip off tires, but it will do the job in urgent scenarios.
It requires lots of calculation, patience, and time while sparing too much room for things to go wrong, but it is a practical method for urgent situations.
The most important thing to keep in mind when removing the plasti dip this way is how to use the nails wisely. The nails are only a supporting tool for digging into the dip’s perimeter; the peeling job must be performed with your own hands.
This method will be more useful if the dip layer is thick enough for the nails to pierce through without directly hitting the rims.
Considering all the risks that come with this option, including damaging the car and hurting yourself, you should only keep it as a last option.
Things To Keep In Mind When Getting Plasti Dip Off Rims
Even with step-to-step instructions on how to remove plasti dip from car paint , people can still make unexpected mistakes when performing the removal. These are the things you should avoid when trying to peel off the plasti dip from the wheels.
Stay Away From Aggressive Substances
Sometimes, the results of the recommended methods on how to get plasti dip off rims won’t live up to your expectation. The chances are, the amount of liquid is not sufficient, or the waiting time is too short for the adhesives to activate.
When this situation arises, don’t resort to more aggressive substances or try to mix them with your plasti dip remover. It is not the best way to remove plasti dip from wheels. They can do severe corrosion and deformation for the rims and the entire tires.
Instead, the best way to remove plasti dip is to apply another layer of liquid on the rims’ surfaces and wait for at least ten minutes, then try to peel it off gently.
Don’t Use Metal Objects Or Scrapers
When first learning how to get plasti dip off, some people think using the pointed ends of metal subjects is the easiest way to remove plasti dip from rims. As it turns out, it is a big no if you want to protect the car body.
The only safe option for metal objects when it comes to plasti dip removal is limited to using nails. Be it as it may, you still need to be extra careful when pushing the nails into the latex layer.
Apart from that, it would help if you don’t use any other metal tools to tackle plasti dip residue. Only wet rags, pressure washers, and fingernails are suitable for the job.
The Bottom Line
Our article on how to remove plasti dip from rims has eventually come to an end. We hope the post will be a good companion on your journey. The process of removing the plasti dip is not that difficult with enough patience and practice.
The best way to remove plasti dip from rims is to separate the wheels from the car body, prepare the substances, apply them on the rims, peel the dip layer, and clean the tires before reattaching them to the car.
