Over the summer, I picked up an old retrobike, a 1986 Ross Mt Hood. The frame is CrMo, with a chrome finish and many of the decals were a mess. I had an artist do the artwork, and recently got the decals back from a printer. They are printed on a clear plastic/vinyl sheet.

The problem is that when I put them on the bike frame, portions of the clear backing appears cloudy underneath. It seems that the decal isn’t fully in contact with the frame. I’m applying them with liquid (I have tried Windex and rubbing alcohol) on the frame first, followed by using a plastic body putty spreader to smooth them.

What am I doing wrong?

Frustratingly, when I removed the first original decal, I found that they were not on a clear backing, but a chrome silver plastic. 😕

wipe the surface with soapy water, put the sticker into water (honestly) with a bit of washing up liquid, put sticker on, sliding into place, leave til dry

Stickers!

If the adhesive on the vinyl is water based it will turn milky when wet. It should go clear again in time though. I usually try to apply decals dry, especially small ones, although that will make it a bit trickier to avoid air bubbles. If I’m applying wet although there are alcohol-based application fluids available I prefer soapy water as above.

I don’t think that the sticker adhesive is water based; the printer said they could be used outdoors. Alcohol does cut the adhesive, but it takes some time and effort.

Tried again tonight using water & dish detergent. I ran the squeegee across one area so hard that I took off a bit of the printing. 😕 Which is no big deal, as it was just a test piece. I don’t think that this one will be any different, though.

I just don’t have the confidence or skillz to put them on dry! 😳

I left one of the first ones that I put on right in front of the forced air furnace vent for a couple of days in a low humidity house, and its still not clear in spots.

It’s not contamination from your fingers is it?

It’s not contamination from your fingers is it?

I don’t think so. It seems to occur in and around the print, not where I would have touched it on the edges.