Do liberals ever remove their political bumper stickers? When I was in Minnesota for the 2008 GOP convention, I saw an “unexpectedly” large number of Paul Wellstone campaign stickers on the backs of cars, despite the fact that the far left senator had passed away in 2002. (Occasionally, they even retcon old losing campaigns onto new losing cars; back in 2007, Virginia Postrel posted a hilarious photo of a shiny new Prius with California plates and a Dukakis-Bentsen ’88 bumper sticker.) Still, the Wisconsin State Journal offers its readers helpful tips on hiding the evidence that they backed this week’s failed recall election against Scott Walker:
A little bashful about your bumper sticker politicking after the election?
Nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid will loosen a bumper sticker, as will commercial adhesive removers like 3M and Goo Gone. Don’t pour the stuff on the sticker. Pour it on to a clean cloth and saturate the sticker, let it soak for a minute, then peel it off.
Sometimes a sticker will come off if you heat it with a blow dryer (set on low), and slowly pull it up as the adhesive warms. WD-40 also works, though it is a little messier, and be careful on plastics.
These are just suggestions. If you didn’t want to damage your car, you wouldn’t have put a bumper sticker on it in the first place.
The easiest bumper stickers to remove are made with removable adhesive, commonly called “easy-off adhesive.” The toughest are the paper ones, which fade quickly and wrinkle but are hard to get off. Remember, don’t use solvent on painted surfaces.
But why try to improvise and do it yourself, when a handy kit is available for order?
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