What’s better for decals, warm or cool water? Distilled or tap water?
Warm water,tap okay
It doesn’t really matter if the water is warm or cold, the decal isn’t going to be in there for more than a few seconds. Dip, then put it (face up) on a hard, waterproof surface and allow about 30-60 seconds for the water to soak into the backing paper.
Never leave a decal soaking at the bottom of a dish of water. You risk (a) the decal floating off the backing paper and folding in on itself and (b) loss of the glue which makes the decal stick.
[dto:]
I get mine right from the tap(well water)…usually cold.
I have had some decals that were stubborn as all get out (Italeri, I think???). They’d take nearly ten minutes before they’d let loose from the paper…warm water cut that time almost in half.
Warm water is definitely best. It seems to aid in easier release of the decals, and prevent damage to older or thinner, fragile decals. Tap water is fine.
One of the guys in our club found a great warming plate at a craft store- looks like a miniature hot plate. Works well, holds a half cup of water at about hand-washing temp. I will use it if I am doing a big decal job, but for one or two little decals I just use water at room temp. The warmer water works slightly better but the effect is not that great to delay heating up the plate for a couple of small decals. I find decals vary considerably in their release time, and the hot plate does hasten the release on some of those slow decals.
Like a coffee mug warmer? https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Coffee-Warmer-Office-MWBLK/dp/B000CO89T8
I found one of those coffee mug warming plates at Goodwill for about $3 and it works great for keeping decal water at an ideal warm temperature. Mine is by a company called Salton. While I was at that same Goodwill store I also found a small clear glass Pyrex dish that fits perfectly on the surface of the warmer for another $2. I find that keeping the decal water slightly warm like this does make it easier to float it off of the backing paper. Also helps to add just a drop of dish soap to the water to reduce the surface tension. I use regular tap water.
-Kizzy
I’ve used cold tap water forever, but with this P51D project, the decals were not coming off the sheet even after soaking for up to a couple of minutes. With the decals being as old as they are, I guess it just needed more time to loosen up.
I think warm water also is best now. I’ve also watched youtube videos on applying decals, and it seems to me majority rules as far as warm water. I start out with warm tap water but over time is gets cold, and sometimes I am too much into decaling to get up for warm, fresh water.
So just like you guys I also thought about using a coffee warmer, but I thought it would keep the water too warm to hot, but now that a number of you have said it does the job, I will get me a warmer.
I live in the country, so my water comes from a well, and it has more contaminates than treated city water, so I will also use distilled water.
Thanks guys for all the input.
[blns]Warm water with 2 or 3 drops of vineger the vineger will help release stubbron decals. ACESES5
Warm water most definitly. Adding vinegar is a new trick, I will try that too.
What makes decaling easy though, is to have good decals to begin with. I got a replacement sheet from EagleCals and they are great.
With any luck I should be done by next weekend.
I too, prefer to use warm water for decals. I find that it does indeed help release it from the backing and, it may just be my imagination, but I think it helps soften the decal and settle into recessed areas better.
Hi Caddman05;
I usually use room Temp Distilled water and just a teensy drop of dish soap. T.B.
Warm water here. I refresh with more of same when water gets cooled off.
I dont know about the newer manufacturars ( Chartof for example ) but the older decales like to be treated sort of like your developing film. I use distilled water ( less impurities in the water ) and water temp at 70 to 75 degrees. I dip the decal in the water then set it on a scrap piece of wood to SLOWLY draw the water off the decal (usually about 30 sec. ) Slide the decal into posistion and GENTLY daub with a paper towel let it dry then apply setting solution as desired. or not at all in some cases. let dry then lightly wipe with a damp paper towel to remove glue and/or solvent residue. Gloss cote and move on to the next project. (well… thats the way its supossed to work anyway. ) For really thick decals dip them then set on glass ( I also cut all my decals on glass. Less torn or jagged edges that way. )
Thank you for all the repsonses fellow modelers.
I will be using distilled warm water. I also will when applicable, replace the decals in my unbuilt kits with aftermarket sets. I don’t have many kits, but because they are older kits, it’s just better to find new decals instead of trying to use the existing ones.
I went to my nearest Walmart looking for a beverage warmer (cup / mug warmer) and no luck. It looks like back to the web for more supplies. I did get a pyrex dish about 6"x 4"x1.5" to try to keep my decal water at a warmer temperture. I’m hoping that the pyrex will hold the water temperature longer than regular glass or a plastic container. The issue with using that size dish is finding a warmer big enough to accomadate the dish. The warmers I have seen tend to be circular, and just big enough for a coffee cup.
I have used in the past a glass sheet to cut my decals also, but for some reason strayed from it. I do have spare microwave glass plate I will now use. Thanks for the reminder little timmy.
Dont know why I went into the whole schpeel about how to decal ( maybe for the newbees… yea thats my story… You must know how we did it in an era of 4 channels all in black and white. ) Anyway … glad I could be of help sort of.
Remind me sometime to tell you about my system for rusting/pitting metal parts.
Its just as longwinded … and kind of toxic.