The Home Staple That'll Help You Remove Bumper Stickers Without A Fuss

Unless we keep them hermetically sealed and never drive them, our cars will get dirty — and when they get dirty, we'll need to clean them. Fortunately, there are several tricks and more than a few unexpected tools that'll make your car cleaner than ever, but dirt isn't the only thing we might want to remove as time goes on.

Bumper stickers (and, by extension, window stickers) are a common method of sharing a bit of our personalities, values, and senses of humor as we drive around. They also pull double duty by providing a sort of low-stakes and affordable way to add a bit of custom flair. But what happens if you decide you don't want a sticker on your car anymore? Whether you just want a change, the sticker itself has been damaged (due to the elements or human nonsense), the car is changing owners, or you've fundamentally changed as a person, there will come a time when the stickers need to go.

While you could take it into a shop to have everything professionally peeled off, it's actually pretty easy (and more affordable) to take care of it yourself. You can even do it without risking the paint or finish with one of a handful of items you likely have at home already.

Removing the bumper sticker itself is the easy part, as you only have to loosen up the adhesive and carefully peel it back (or gently scrap it up using a fingernail, credit card, or rubber spatula). All you need to loosen it is a few minutes spent with a bit of WD-40, heat from a hair dryer or heat gun, or a little white vinegar. But then you're left with the inevitable residue. To take care of that:

1. Grab a bottle of isopropyl alcohol (a.k.a. rubbing alcohol) with a concentration of at least 70 percent, which will be indicated on the label.
2. Pour some of the alcohol onto a soft cloth, such as a clean cloth rag or a microfiber cloth.
3. Gently wipe away the residue on the car surface, occasionally re-applying alcohol and using a different (and clean) portion of the cloth as needed.
4. If necessary or preferred, once the area is cleared of adhesive residue, you can also use some car wax and a car-safe buffer pad to buff out the spot previously covered by the sticker.
5. Similarly, you can clean off your car window once the sticker is removed with your choice of window cleaner.

While 70 percent is the minimum concentration you'll need for sticker residue removal, you can use isopropyl alcohol with a concentration as high as 91 percent. This can remove the residue a bit faster, and will likely require less alcohol overall.