August 24, 2007
Tackling those Pesky Registration Stickers
Anyone who has a car and has had to renew their registration knows that one thing apart from death and taxes is an inevitable part of life -- fighting to remove the old registration stickers. So hard is it to pry an old one from a windshield that some drivers sport a number of expired ones alongside their current one, while others just try and find an excuse to change the whole damn windshield instead. According to City Desk, the issue prompted some discussion on a neighborhood listserv yesterday, where the following advice was offered:
I use a product called Goo Gone (you can get it at CVS or a supermarket). It’s an oily liquid that smells like citrus. I make a pad out of a couple of paper towels and saturate it with the stuff. Then I squirt a lot of the liquid on the sticker itself. I tape the pad to the sticker, so the sticker is soaking in the stuff. I leave it overnight, then leave the car in the sun for about an hour so the sticker warms up. You still have to scrape, but at least it comes off...How -- if at all -- have you removed your registration stickers?...I normally go to a gas station where they have great scrapers for taking off such stickers. It usually takes one of the mechanics less than 2 minutes to get the entire sticker off - I tip them a few bucks and I’m on my way!
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WD-40 and a razor blade -- they come off in one piece. Total time: 4 minutes.
The sticky part is only present on the outside border. The actual registration portion of it is just paper. Take a razor of something sharp and carve out the paper. Place the new sticker right over the old border. Wa-La.
Why don't they just go with the rest of the country and get stickers for the license plate?
A wide razor-scraper or a sharpened putty knife (sliding it to a fine edge on 150-grit sandpaper will do the trick), and you won't need any Goo-Gone. It's best to do this when the car is cool, not when it's hot, to avoid getting adhesive everywhere.
@RoyC: many states are switching to windshield-based stickers to replace plate-based stickers, given that plates are easily stolen or broken. Witness Connecticut, which just switched to window stickers after decades of plate stickers.
Goo Gone and a putty knife. It's a big pain.
The thing I don't get are the drivers who put the registration sticker on the wrong side of the windshield.
Used a small pocket knife and my hands. Did it while stopped at traffic lights on my way to the DMV. Wasn't hard at all.
Those people with multiple stickers - they don't try to take the old ones off. Those are the same people who used to have a whole parade of the plate stickers going around the plate. They just think it looks cool.
yeah, i commented over at city desk on this, but it was a snap for me to get the sticker off the windshield. i don't know why others think it's so difficult.
i just leave my sticker sitting on the dashboard rather than sticking it on the window. When it's expired, just through it in the can. Easy.
just go back to the inspection station. most likely you were just there, and had gone around the corner to 95 m st to get your registration. they have the scrapers for getting rid of old inspection stickers, and it takes about 30 seconds to get the old one off.
FINALLY . . . a useful DCist post.
This has been bugging me for the past decade. I've never seen registered a car in a state that made this process DIY. DC even ticketed a few years back for displaying an expired sticker (next to the current one) because I couldn't get the bleeding thing off right away.
I honestly, honestly don't understand why this is an article on DCist. I use a razor blade and a little Goo Gone or Butcher's wax, and they pop right off. People who stick multiple ones on their windshields just don't bother to get the old ones off.
I just peeled mine off with a putty knife after my car sat in the sun for about an hour last week. And yes, last week was my registration time. Dear God, I slept so well those two days because the whole DMV journey and stress wiped my body out.
RoyC, I guess since I've been in DC since 2001, I'm an old-timer, but DC only switched to window stickers (exclusively) a few years back. At the time of the switch-over, they gave little stickers for your plates that said something to the effect of "See Window Sticker".
Sorta unrelated, but I was once at the D.C. inspection station after my car failed because of tinted windows, trying to peel the tint off with my fingers. A homeless guy (I can only assume) walked up and asked me if I had any money and I gave him $1. After doing so he asked me what I was doing, and I explained to him that I had to get the tint off in order to pass inspection.
"Hold on I'll be right back!" he says.
About two minutes later he returns with three rusty razor blades in the palm of his hand. I don't know where he had them hidden, or why. So if you're having trouble getting those tough stickers off your car, ask a bum! You might be surprised.
Wallpaper scraper, then lighter fluid.
I mean really...how hard is it to just buy a window scraper ?
Handy razor blade scrapers found in any hardware store, and Goo Gone or WD-40 does the trick. If you all didn't hate on VA residents so much, you could have asked one how they remove their city/county stickers every year. Not rocket science, and wow it's August so a slow news day I guess.
One odd thing I have noticed in Northern Virginia is many members of a certain gym (Sport and Health) don't take their annual stickers off. It's really strange, but it just bugs me. I have seen cars with 10 or 12 years worth on the back window. Is it sort of a status thing to show that you pay $XXX to go to that gym?? It's dumb to obsess, but it just bugs me for some reason.
So if your windshield cracks, what is the proper procedure for getting a replacement sticker?
this is so perfect!
im changing stickers 2day!
and the mail-in registration renewal was a breeze.
I guess the pros definitely outweigh the cons when it comes to the window stickers. I'd like to see someone come up with a solution to making the stickers easy to pop on and off.
Ooh maybe a velcro box that the sticker could just be slipped into or something like that...and no this isn't a joke...lol. Probably wouldn't be legal though huh?
I hadn't scraped my old one off my windshield this year and had the replacement sitting on the dash. I made a u-turn to get a parking spot and the sticker slid over to the other side of the dashboard and I didn't notice. Received a $100 ticket for failure to register my car since the ticket person didn't notice that my up-to-date sticker was just on the wrong side. Too lazy to contest, too lazy to take the old sticker off - the picture here could be my car if it were zone 6...Razor blades do the trick if you're not lazy like me.
uhhh, I'm with 95% of the people here who magically seem to never have a problem. The paper stickers are so much easier to get off than the stickers in other states.
And #20, when we had a windshield replaced, the guys just magically stuck the old sticker to the new windshield. Not sure how. But it was definitely magic.
Good god. If you people can't figure out how to remove a sticker, maybe you shouldn't be driving.
Han.
I've had the guys at in the inspection station offer to do it for me, but maybe that's just because I'm a girl...
Regarding leaving it sitting on the dash - you *can* get a ticket for that. I have, and a friend has.
@26: Yup, you can get a ticket for it. And the main reason is because the sticker is easy pickings for a smash-and-grab, which they can then use on a stolen vehicle. Sure, the VIN won't match, but it'll deter the cops for a while.
And #20, when we had a windshield replaced, the guys just magically stuck the old sticker to the new windshield. Not sure how. But it was definitely magic.
The magic is steam. When I had windshield replaced a few years ago I had to ask how they did it. :)
Only problem is that they did such a good job re-applying the stickers that scraping them off became an even bigger pain in the ass. :(
You go back to the DMV and the inspection station to get new stickers. I think you can send away for the registration sticker instead of going in to the office in person, but there's no shortcut for the inspection station.
Just...remember to fix your windshield before you go to get it inspected! I do know someone who did this. HA.
Goo Gone smells nothing like citrus, IMO, and gives me a raging headache. I am one of those people that just goes somewhere that has a sticker scraper (usually the place I get my car repairs and oil changes done) and tips someone $5 to do it for me.
When I put on a new sticker I just leave the protective part on the top . That way when I go to peel it off it comes pretty easily, since you can get a good start and a good grip. Any residue is dealt with by WD40
you can and do get tix for stickers replaced from a broken windshield and placed on the new one - you have to get a new sticker from DMV beforehand.
and for stickers on the dash which are not stuck to the windshield...
online registration has never worked for me, this year i did it 2 months in advance and STILL had to visit the DMV with my printed reciept to get the sticker - which STILL hasn't arrived in the mail 2+ months later.
goo gone, 5 in 1 tool, elbow gease and an hour to get it all off is the "trick". that crap bakes on after a year in the sun. razor blades also good but hard to angle. worst problem is getting all the goo gone off with windex to allow for new sticker not to just slide off!
Too late for me; I still have residue from last year's sticker underneath this year's one.
You will also get a ticket in DC if you have more than one registration sticker on your windshield (even if one is expired) so get out those scrapers pronto.
"i just leave my sticker sitting on the dashboard rather than sticking it on the window. When it's expired, just through it in the can. Easy."
I've gotten a ticket for this as well. I think what made it worse was that I had some other parking passes or something partially covering it up. But the ticket was technically for not properly affixing it.
I use a sandblaster and a blowtorch. That usually does the trick but my dash has melted a few times.
Can you (legally) put plastic wrap between the sticky part and the windshield so only part of the sticky sticks to the glass? I did that with a parking pass sticker, that way I had some head start in pulling it off when it expired.
Don't bother updating your registration online. You can renew at the inspection station, once you pass inspection, and they'll give you the new card and sticker there. Once you have paid, and the inspection station person is putting on your new inspection sticker, kindly ask them to remove your registration sticker as well. I was shocked that it worked as smoothly as it did.
I just leave half of the protective paper underneath this year's sticker so I can pull it off easier.
heat gun
Good god. I can't believe this not only made City Desk, but DCIst picked it up, too?
Come on. Peeling stickers off? How do you people function in the world? Most other states have REALLY hard to remove stickers, that are sticky all over. These are the easiest things on earth to get off. A razor blade and about 30 seconds is all it takes.
It's amazing that there are so many people who aren't resourceful enough to figure this out (or honestly, have never had it come up in their life before) that this is actually newsworthy.
What next, Hints from Heloise edition of DCist?
I've found that Turtle Wax "Bug and Tar" remover does a much better job than goo gone getting off the adhesive left behind by the sticker.
I typically scrape the sticker off with a razor scraper, then apply the bug and tar stuff and let it sink in for 2-3 minutes, then wipe off the adhesive. Works great.
Just buy a new car whenever your registration expires.