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How To STRIP A JERSEY 101


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I've stripped jerseys before. It's quite easy. But I heard in some cases, you can ruin the jersey if certain techniques were used you're not aware of.

Should it be fairly easy to strip an Oilers 2006 Away jersey?

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So I'm about to strip a Team-issued Oilers 2006 Mike Duco Away jersey.

I will be getting it turned into a Ryan Smyth 2006 Stanley Cup Final jersey with "A".

This jersey is directly from Meigray.

In a situation like this, is it better to strip off the "Meigray game worn" patch and the Oilers season issue patch which specifies which set it was?

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It's the ethical thing to do, especially if you plan to sell it someday.

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  • 2 months later...

I've got several strip jobs on the go at the moment, so thought I'd document progress on this thread. Four jerseys of three different types (Starter mesh, 6100 airknit and Edge), which so far have provided four different outcomes.

I've stripped and re-purposed a 6100 before with perfect results, so I know that can be done with Acetone, a hot iron and a bit of elbow grease but the mesh and Edge jerseys are totally new to me and I was unsure how things would pan out, especially with the Edge and that quite thin, flimsy feeling mesh type material you find on the back of the jersey.

I'll concentrate on the mysterious mesh and Edge jerseys for now, so here goes:

Starter mesh

My worries were totally unfounded with this one. Thankfully the original customizer had provided a nice, wide stitch on all the numbers and letters and they practically fell off once the threads were removed. Any remaining glue residue was easily removed with very light application of a fingernail and the only thing remaining is to iron out the faint outline. There does seem to be some evidence of the stitch holes but hopefully these will also diminish once the steam has done it's thing.

Strip-StarterMeshBlue_zpsfb9ee24f.jpg

Edge 1.0 (Navy)

Again I was pleasantly surprised by how easily these came off once the threads were out. The actual thread removal was, again, pretty easy due to the stitching being quite wide, allowing the quickunpick to glide straight through. The only difficulty I found with this was that it would glide when going with the grain of the twill, but when going over the grain it would sometimes snag the number material (and even went through the number due to the resistance at times).

The numbers peeled off nicely but, unlike the Starter, there was quite a lot of sticky residue left on the jersey. Interestingly the glue wasn't sticky due to any heat being applied prior to the numbers coming off, so it must have never truly dried in the first place. Next step is to hit it with the Acetone, which should hopefully ball up the glue and allow it to be easily picked off.

Strip-Edge10Navy1_zps23f7ec52.jpg

That large stain to the right of the fightstrap is easily the worst part of what's left over, so that's where the majority of the Acetone will need to be applied. The rest of the back is covered with a light amount of glue residue and an obvious outline where the old number used to sit. This is no different to what I've found on airknit and I'm confident this will come away with the Acetone. The only issue could be that this material is lighter and silkier than airknit, so I've no idea if I'll be able to use the same brush and level of pressure.

As opposed to most of the Edge 1.0 jerseys I've seen the arm material is the water resistant Xtrafil and this was left absolutely fine once they had been removed. The next 1.0 I'm going to try has the more common sleeve material, so it'll be interesting to see how the two compare.

Edge 1.0 (Blue)

Onto the second Edge jersey and if there was a ever a lesson that the same jersey customized by different companies can produce totally different results, this is it.

Once the stitches were out I tried to peel the corner of the first of the back numbers up to see how it looked and it was stuck fast. Tried applying heat via the iron and it seemed to loosen slightly but still wasn't coming straight off. A liberal application of Acetone to the back of the numbers finally shifted it and all was going very well until the last half of the 3 (you can very clearly see where I'm talking about). Jeez these things were absolutely locked down and what is left seems to be more like silkscreen than glue. It's like the heat/glue/Acetone has left part of the white twill on the jersey, almost to the point Slims' guide on removing heat seal may apply more than anything else at these point.

One thing to note is that when I say I liberally applied the Acetone you have to be very careful that it stays only on the number area and main portion of the back of the jersey. If you let it run onto arm stripes then you do run the risk of the colours bleeding into the lighter areas, especially where white is involved. Also be careful if the Acetone is coloured, like nail polish remover. Work quickly and rinse thoroughly to avoid the chance of a tide mark appearing should the Acetone dry.

Strip-Edge10Blue1_zps70ae7d48.jpg

Next up is an attempt at the arm numbers. I've unpicked the stitching and they seem to be absolutely stuck on there. I'll apply Acetone to the back and see where it gets me but with what happened with the back numbers I'm expecting some serious residue of the white layer decides to leave a big paint like outline. There's something about the arm material on these 1.0s that fills me with dread. We'll see how it goes.

Edited by RJH Boomshaker
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This is very interesting, I must say, as I've never attempted a strip job, and the fact that they're jerseys I'm very familiar with makes it that much more compelling.

Rock on!

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Well, after plenty of Acetone, a whole bottle of Goo Gone and a lot of elbow grease we're not that far along with the residue. Weirdly the best results seem to be to dampen the jersey with water and scratch it off with a finger nail but that will take... I don't know how long.


And my worst fears were realized with the arm numbers. Check out that residue, which ain't budging with the Goo Gone either.


What's the next step, Goof Off? It's either that or scratch at it for the next year or so till all the glue/paint has gone.


Strip-Edge10Blue3_zps8ec568ad.jpg


On the flip side the other 1.0 cleaned up almost perfectly with just the Acetone. Makes you wonder what the company that customized the blue Lundqvist used to adhere the kit but it's fair to say I've never come across anything so stubborn.


Strip-Edge10Navy3_zps46831eac.jpg


No that is how a jersey should strip.

Edited by RJH Boomshaker
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If you still have the stuff you took off the Lundy I would just put it back and call it a day. Nothing is going to take the residue off.

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I'm inclined to agree. I'm confident the back residue will come off with a bit effort (it's more like stuck on glue now than the white paint it resembled when the numbers came off) but the arm numbers are going straight back on.

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Gave it go really early on, straight after the numbers came off (the first picture was taken post-iron). I haven't tried since, so I'll give it another go and see what happens. I suppose if it could soften the arm residue even slightly I could turn up some sort of result. Here's hoping, thanks for reminding me of that :thumbsup:

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OK, so I stripped a patch for the first time...a Stanley Cup patch that was handsewn, and poorly at that. The good news is, it wasn't glued down so there is no glue residue. No holes either.

But you can see the outline of where the patch was, like the fabric is kind of compressed in that area. I am going to wash the jersey anyway, is this something that will kind of come out by washing?

Just curious, its not really a big deal because if it doesn't, I'm just going to have a SC patch professionally sewn on in the same spot. But I'd prefer this jersey without a SC patch.

Thanks for any advice!!

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Try ironing it with steam.

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Try ironing it with steam.

If I am planning to wash it anyway, should I try the iron before or after?

Thanks for the tip!

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Probably doesn't matter. Once I washed a jersey right after I stripped some numbers off, and the washing didn't do much to remove the outlines. Ironing with steam always seems to work for me.

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Probably doesn't matter. Once I washed a jersey right after I stripped some numbers off, and the washing didn't do much to remove the outlines. Ironing with steam always seems to work for me.

Ok, thank you for the advice. I'll try that when I get home.

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Lessons I've learned from stripping jerseys. So far I have stripped a couple Ranger Edge 1.0 jerseys (blue and white), Rangers Starter authentic (white), and nameplate off a 2004 ASG authentic.

Edge 1.0 stripping - Much more time consuming due to the material. Stitching is much closer together so its easier to get a bunch off at a time. If you catch a piece of Edge material its easy to accidentally cut/pull a thread, will not be noticeable unless you are staring at it but, EDGE jerseys are not as easy. Blue jersey did not leave any shadows that couldn't be ironed out with steam and left no color residue. White jersey left red shadows and residue underneath. Currently at the dry cleaners and may try Oxiclean when it gets back. Will be replacing 23 with 26, 27, or 68 so most of the residue should get covered anyway.

Starter stripping - Much easier to do as you needn't be as careful with damaging the starter mesh. Unfortunately, the stitching was father apart and made it much more difficult to get alot in a single go.

2004 ASG Jersey - Nameplate was fairly easy but, each layer of numbers is individually stitched to jersey. Not messing with that.Will have EPS take care of it.

Up next is a Rangers Edge 2.0 & a 2012 ASG red/white jersey to be stripped. Unfortunately the thread on the ASG is almost the same white as the jersey so its difficult to tell the difference.

Rangers Edge 2.0 looks like it should be fairly easy. Will post my results.

For anyone that has never stripped a jersey, its not that hard. Take your time and just be careful. Once you get the hang of it, its not too difficult. Very time consuming tho - I would guess stripping a full jersey (sleeve & back numbers and nameplate) may take between 2-4 hours depending on material and numbers.

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Update

Got it home and washed it, I would say it came a little more than halfway out. I'll iron it tomorrow.

Edited by mfitz804
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Always does the trick!

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I started stripping a Edge 1.0, and I have removed one set of sleeve numbers, and I have noticed that there are a few little holes where the numbers were stitched. Should I keep going with the strip job? If I do continue stripping I will probably choose 88 for the new number since it is the only number I could think of to cover up the old number of 69.

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