Removing plastidip

I know this topic has been covered on the internet before, but I'm rapidly getting frustrated and I'm looking for some GRM deep dark secrets here.

I recently acquired a free 96 GS-R that my friend poorly plastidipped; the dip doesn't peal off as advertised because it was laid on too thin and too intermittently.

WD40 softens the dip but then it's like wiping away wet paint.  Goo gone works in much the same way but better, but still -- it's literally like spraying a car with latex paint and then trying to wipe it all off when it's wet.

The power washer at my local pay-and-spray has done a decent job in certain places, but it struggles in others to get underneath the rubber layer.  Goo gone + 5 minutes of "soaking in" + power washer was a complete dud, I'm going to go broke doing it that way.

Is there some kind of chemical peeler that won't affect the real paint but will chew up the dip?  Something I can get from a local store and not have to wait to see if the $30 bottle of stuff at dipyourcar.com actually works?

My final solution to remove Plasti Dip in a similar scenario was lacquer thinner and a paper towel. And Cubed hours. Single edge razor blade held at the right angle will take it right off but don't expect the paint underneath to survive too well.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Don't care about the paint underneath at this point, it was crap to start with.  Do you mean razor blade + lacquer thinner?  Or just razor it off dry?  I haven't actually tried that...

Microfiber towel(s) under a palm sander worked for a hood I had. The towels get clogged with the rubber but take it off decently.

steronz said:

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Don't care about the paint underneath at this point, it was crap to start with.  Do you mean razor blade + lacquer thinner?  Or just razor it off dry?  I haven't actually tried that...

Razor it off dry and finish with lacquer thinner and a towel to get the last of the residue. I did my entire challenge Miata that way. It's a mother on curved soft parts.

The simplest way to remove it is to get a few rattle cans of black dip at Home Depot. Rattle the car and give it at least four coats all the way around. (FYI, one can does about one coat on a car that size).
Once you have the dip layered enough it will adhere to the old dip and be easier to peel off. I have 8 coats on my miata. It's like peeling off a latex glove from your hand.
 

Of course, That probably added ten lbs to the car in plastidip lol. 

I just de-plastidipped an entire car that the previous owner went to town on. I needed to preserve the paint as it was in good shape underneath. 

After a lot of experimentation I found that the quickest way was to remove as much as I could by peeling, then rubbing it away with vinyl gloves. After that, I soaked the remainder in Wax & Grease remover (cheap when purchased by the gallon at paint supply stores) and used a whole bunch of microfiber cloths to wipe it up. The solvent melts it away without damaging the clear coat. 

Paint underneath looks perfect. I will never ever consider using Plasti-dip on anything. 

In reply to enginenerd :

How many times would you say you had to go over an area with the wax and grease remover?

I finally got the trunk panel done with about 3 coats of goo gone and a plastic scraper.  At that rate I'm going to blow about $40 on goo gone...

PD spray cans are like 8$ at Home Depot or Walmart man. For $40 you can get this job done. The best part is you don't even have to mask off all that much. Just the PITA areas. Everything will have enough coats to peel right off. I'm telling you, THIS is the way. 

In reply to _ :

yes, this is THE WAY

I'll give that a shot I guess.  How long do I need to wait after the final coat before I start peeling?

Few hours if it's warm. A day if it's cold. But you don't have to wait too long between coats, especially if you're just gonna peel it off. I would just give it a day regardless. 

You can buy gallon cans of Goo Gone pro strength at HD. Worth it. 

In reply to steronz :

Usually twice. Once to presoak and wipe most of it away. The second was a light mist to take off the remaining residue. I put the wax & grease remover in a pressurized sprayer. Did the entire car that way and probably spent ~$20 in towels and the solvent. 

It was still somewhat time consuming but effective.