Stickers lessen a car’s resale value so you shouldn’t be too keen on putting one on your car. Or if you already have one (or bought one with a sticker), it might be wise for you to remove them now. And depending on the message, it just might make you look like some jackass on the road.

Depending on the age and quality of the sticker you can be in for one tedious task. In any case, here are some tips on getting rid of those wannabe-cool bumper stickers.

What you need:

• Lubricant (WD-40)
• A rubber spatula
• Lint-free cloths
• A hair dryer
• Car wax
• Glue and tar remover

What to do:

• Try the sticker if it would peel using your fingernails. Chances are, if you don’t sport metal manicures, you won’t scratch you car’s finish. If it does, then lucky you. Try get everything off this way. Just be careful not to break a nail.
• If it’s all dried up with really strong adhesive, your next option’s the lube. Spray a bit of WD-40 on a cloth. Rub on the edges of the sticker to ease it off.

  NOTE: Don’t spray WD-40 directly on the sticker, too much might react on your car’s finish.

• If the sticker’s really stubborn, it’s time for the big guns. It’s time for that hair dryer to do it’s job (besides drying hair). Blast the sticker with some heat until some bubbles form under the sticker. This means that the adhesive’s melting. Scrape the sticker off with the spatula.

  NOTE: Extreme heat can really damage your car, so better move the hair dryer in small circles to keep it from hitting one small spot.

• Be patient. Take it one section at a time.
• Wipe off any excess lube with a clean cloth.
• Now some adhesive might still stick on the car, try some car wax. A bit of rubbing and polishing will get them off.
• If the adhesive’s really stubborn, you might want to try some tar and glue remover. Now this is some strong stuff so you have to be really careful with this. Check the label if it’d interact badly with waxes and the lube. So clean up all the other traces of lube and wax before applying.
• Now if the sticker’s been there for so long the area might not be the same color as the rest of the car. For this you might want to try on some more polish or rubbing compound to even out the color but this is very tricky.