Service
Decal Removal in New Jersey
Clean, glueless removal for lease returns, resale and rebrands.
Trucks change hands, companies rebrand, and leases come due. Getting old graphics off without wrecking the paint is its own skill, and doing it badly is expensive.
What the job involves
We remove vehicle lettering, full and partial wraps, fleet numbering, window graphics and sign vinyl. The method is controlled heat plus patient lifting, followed by adhesive residue removal and a final clean, so the panel comes back to its original finish rather than a ghosted outline and a haze of glue.
The three jobs that come up most: lease returns where the leasing company will charge for graphics left behind or paint damage, resale prep where a buyer will not pay full value for somebody else’s phone number, and rebrands where new artwork goes on the same day the old comes off.
How we do it
Removal difficulty depends on what was installed. Premium cast film from a proper shop releases cleanly even after years of service. Cheap calendared vinyl left in the sun for a decade breaks into small pieces and takes real labor. We will look at photos and tell you which situation you are in before quoting.
Mobile again — removal happens at your yard, so a truck that is being sold or turned in never has to sit at a shop waiting for a bay to open.
Included in decal removal
- Lease-return graphics removal
- Full and partial wrap removal
- Adhesive residue cleanup
- Window and glass graphic removal
- Sign vinyl stripping
- Same-visit re-lettering
- On-site at your yard
- Photo-based estimates
How mobile lettering works
STEP 1
Call or send a photo
Tell us the vehicle, the wording and roughly when you need it. A photo of the truck answers most of our questions in one shot.
STEP 2
Approve the proof
We lay the design out on a template of your actual vehicle and send it back for approval. Nothing is cut until you say yes.
STEP 3
We come to you
We arrive at your yard or job site with everything needed, prep the panels and apply the graphics. Most jobs are done while the truck stays parked at your yard.
What every Lombardo job includes
All of it standard, none of it billed as an extra.
✓
Free quote and design consultation
No charge
✓
Layout proofed on a template of your actual vehicle before anything is cut
Always
✓
Premium Avery, 3M or Orafol cast film — not cheap calendared vinyl
Standard
✓
On-site application at your yard, driveway or job site
Mobile
✓
DOT, license and registration numbers sized and placed correctly
Checked
✓
Glueless removal years later, so paint and resale value stay intact
Built in
✓
Your artwork kept on file so trucks you buy later still match
For years
Decal Removal — recent examples
Work photographed at customer yards and job sites across New Jersey.
Heavy-duty truck — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
Heavy-duty truck — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
Heavy-duty truck — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
Heavy-duty truck — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
Heavy-duty truck — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
Heavy-duty truck — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
Box truck and trailer — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
Box truck and trailer — Lombardo Lettering, NJ
We don’t cut corners — premium materials only
Why customers leave their old sign shop
The differences that show up on the invoice and on the truck.
| What matters | Lombardo Lettering | Typical sign shop |
|---|---|---|
| Where the work happens | At your yard — we come to you | You drop the vehicle off |
| Downtime | Lettered where it is parked | Off the road while it is at the shop |
| Materials | Avery, 3M and Orafol cast film | Whatever is cheapest that week |
| Proof before cutting | Every job, on your vehicle | Sometimes, on a generic outline |
| Who does the work | The family — third generation | Whoever is on shift |
| Removal years later | Glueless, paint-safe | Baked-on adhesive and ghosting |
| Adding a truck in three years | Stored spec — it matches | Start the design over |
Decal Removal — more questions
Will removal damage the paint?
On factory paint in sound condition, no. Failing clear coat or a cheap repaint is the risk, and we will point it out before starting.
Can new lettering go on the same day?
Yes, that is the normal sequence for a rebrand.
How is removal priced?
By vehicle size, coverage and how stubborn the old material is. Photos let us quote accurately.
Do you remove graphics you did not install?
Frequently. Most removal work we do came from somewhere else.
Can you remove and re-letter the same day?
Usually yes on a single vehicle, if the old film comes away cleanly. We will tell you if the removal needs its own visit.
What about ghosting?
Panels age differently where they have been covered. We can often reduce the difference with compounding, but on a badly faded vehicle the outline may still be faintly visible.
Other services
Everything else we do, each on its own page.
Get decal removal in your county
We are mobile — pick your county for local detail.
Quote for decal removal
Tell us the vehicle or the wall, and send a photo if you have one. Free, no-obligation quote.
Shop: 95 W Main St, Chester, New Jersey 07930
Email: franksignguy@yahoo.com
Coverage: Morris, Essex, Warren, Union, Bergen, Somerset, Sussex & Hunterdon counties
Decal Removal — what the job actually is
We take old graphics off cleanly — glueless and paint-safe — whether you are re-lettering the vehicle, returning a lease, or selling it. It is a normal part of a re-letter and is usually done in the same visit.
Removal is mostly heat and patience. Film is warmed until the adhesive releases, lifted at a shallow angle so it does not tear into confetti, and whatever adhesive stays behind is taken off with an appropriate remover rather than a blade. Done properly, the panel underneath is undamaged.
Two things make a removal harder: age and cheap film. A calendared decal left on for a decade will have shrunk, hardened and bonded to the paint, and it comes off in pieces. Panels that have been lettered for years also weather differently around the graphic, so a removal can reveal a color difference — that is the paint underneath, not damage from the removal.
Lease returns are worth planning ahead. Most lease agreements require the vehicle back in original condition, and a rushed removal the week before hand-back is where paint gets damaged.
How we do it at your location
Mobile lettering means the sign shop travels instead of the vehicle. We cut and prepare the graphics before we leave, then apply them at your yard, driveway or job site — so the truck is off the road for hours rather than days.
The order matters more than most people expect. Everything that can be done away from your vehicle is done first: the layout is proofed, the film is printed or cut, and the panels are weeded and taped ready to hang. That is the slow part, and it happens at the shop.
What happens at your address is the part that needs the vehicle present — cleaning and de-greasing the panels, positioning and hinging the graphics, squeegeeing them down, trimming around handles, rivets and body lines, and post-heating the edges so they stay put. How long it takes depends on the vehicle and how much goes on it, and we give you an estimate with the quote.
Temperature is the one thing that can move a booking. Vinyl adhesive needs the panel warm enough to bond properly, so in deep winter we work around the weather rather than through it. If a job cannot be done safely outdoors on the day, we say so rather than applying film that will lift in a month.
- Send photos of the vehicle and the wording you want.
- We proof the layout on your actual vehicle, not a generic outline.
- You approve it — nothing is cut before you do.
- We come to you; the panels are cleaned and the film applied.
- The truck stays at your yard while we work.
The film we use, and why it matters
We fit cast vinyl from Avery Dennison, 3M and Orafol. Cast film is made by pouring liquid resin and letting it cure without stress, so it stays dimensionally stable on curves and rivets — which is why it lasts years longer on a vehicle than the cheaper calendared alternative.
Calendared film is squeezed through rollers under tension. It holds that tension, and over time it tries to shrink back to the shape it was pushed into. On a flat shop window that barely matters. On a truck door with a curve and a body line, it is the reason graphics lift at the corners and shrink away from the edges after a couple of seasons.
Manufacturers publish durability ratings for their films, and the gap is not subtle: premium cast products are typically rated for several times the outdoor life of an economy calendared product. Those ratings assume the film is applied correctly to a properly prepared surface, which is the other half of the job.
We laminate printed work. An unlaminated print is exposed to UV, road salt, brush washes and grit; a laminate takes that abuse instead of the ink. It is a cost most shops can quietly skip, and you find out three summers later when the reds have gone pink.
Manufacturer specifications
- 3M Commercial Graphics — film specifications and warranty terms
- Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions — cast and calendared film data sheets
- Orafol Graphic Products — Orafol and ORACAL film ranges
Decal Removal across our service area
We remove decals and wraps at your yard across all eight counties we cover. Pick your county for local detail, or send a photo and we will come to you.
Bergen County
Decal Removal across Bergen County. Open Bergen County.
Essex County
Decal Removal across Essex County. Open Essex County.
Hunterdon County
Decal Removal across Hunterdon County. Open Hunterdon County.
Morris County
Decal Removal across Morris County. Open Morris County.
Somerset County
Decal Removal across Somerset County. Open Somerset County.
Sussex County
Decal Removal across Sussex County. Open Sussex County.
Union County
Decal Removal across Union County. Open Union County.
Warren County
Decal Removal across Warren County. Open Warren County.
Ready for a quote?
Call 973-214-2292 and talk to Frank directly.
Areas we serve across New Jersey
Eight counties. Pick yours to see the towns we cover. Mobile truck lettering, wraps and signs — we come to your yard.
Find us in Chester, NJ
Our shop is at 95 W Main Street, Chester, New Jersey 07930 — but for lettering and wraps, we come to you.
Our mobile service area
Eight counties across northern and western New Jersey, covered by our own trucks.