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How To STRIP A JERSEY 101


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Today I was asked for some advice on stripping a jersey from a member here, so decided it was time for a write-up. Enjoy.

I use two different seam rippers. The first has a round end, and the blade isn't overly sharp (can push pretty hard against my finger and won't cut me). The 2nd has a very fine tip and sharp blade (this bad boy could give a ladybug a shave...or slice its neck, if you have something against ladybugs) -

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On the ultrafil jersey I'm using for this example, the cross-stitch is wide enough apart that I can use my round ripper very effectively (the only time I ever really go to the sharp guy is for corners, multiple sewn areas, or really fine stitching). Although you can rip from the inside of the jersey (shown on the left), it takes more time and patience, and you run the risk of making a hole if you slip. I always start from the outside (shown on the right), and (depending what hand you are) I go right to left, keeping the blade on the inside of the twill so that if I do slip, it will only rub or cut the twill -

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With one hand inside the jersey to support from underneath, take your ripper and slide it under approx. 3 threads, and then keep going on to the next thread. If you go smooth and steady, every time a thread breaks at the end, a new one will be inserted at the tip of the ripper (almost always keep 3 on the go) and you should be able to simply glide it the whole way across -

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The nice thing about using a similar seam ripper with a rounded end, with air-knit or ultrafil, if you slip and poke through the jersey, often it'll slide right through the material, but no damage is actually done to the jersey except for a few stretched fibers (the pic on the left has the ripper inserted, and the pic on the right is after I pulled it out and stretched the material back into shape...no hole) -

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As I'll elaborate on a little later, I prefer to have all the stitching out BEFORE I attempt to remove a number, BUT, even before you get to this point, try and remove only a slight corner to see underneath, if possible. If my white jersey is stained pink from having red numbers that bled with the adhesive, chances are I won't be able to fix this and won't want to continue the strip job.

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Now that I have the bottom corner of the 1 done, (from the inside of the jersey) if I pull on the inside all the threads will let go very easily, but it'll leave me with a giant mess of little threads everywhere from having cut them all on the outside, boooo!!!

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So for the next section I ripped, instead of pulling the thread out from the inside of the jersey, I've pulled it through from the outside -

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Once pulled through all the way, notice how on the inside, all the tiny pieces of string have gathered on the one line, for easy removal. Yay, less cleanup!!! :)

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IMO - It's always easier to work from the outside of the jersey

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IMPORTANT - Try and remove ALL of the threading BEFORE you attempt to pull off any of the number. If you've only done the ripping, and start to pull it off, there's a good chance there might still be a few threads that are holding in the material, and you run the risk of creating some nasty pulls on the jersey (especially air-knit). Also, depending on the amount of adhesive residue, it may act like an old sticker. eg, if you pull nice and slow, the adhesive is more likely to come off with the numbers, but if you go too fast, or get caught on a tight thread, you may end up leaving some behind. Having all of the thread out will allow an easier, more even number removal.

Once ALL of the stitching is removed, fold and bend the jersey back and forth a few times. If the old adhesive is old enough, the numbers will show gaps on the sides, or best case, they'll fall off clean. If not, roll one of the corners over itself a few times, and try and create a gap. Once made, start to peel off the numbers. (note, I didn't do this yet, but I'll update this write-up another time with pics).

***If you start to pull up the number and notice it's really bad underneath, you have two options -

a) pay more to send it to EPS to have the residue removed, and attempt to clean it

b ) sew those numbers right back in place and live with the jersey, as is

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This is really awesome so far. Very kind of you to do this. I should be starting mine tomorrow and will also try to document it.

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This is one thread I'm going to follow. Love the detailed pictures so far.

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Great read. There is something I will never attempt. It's fascinating reading about it, but I'll just pay the extra money to have someone else do it.

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And the fun begins-

02.jpg

03.jpg

05.jpg

Ill be updating here-

https://picasaweb.google.com/111265845895044574484/LAKingsJerseyProject#

Also, I slipped and stabbed the ripper right through the jersey and my stomach just sank. It did absolutely nothing to the jersey. I picked up the pace after that and probably went into 5 more times with no damage. Pretty cool.

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And the fun begins-

Brandon,

It's a really cool idea, letting us follow along step by step, as it happens. Best of luck with everything!

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2 methods that I've used -

1 - Grab some Goof-off 2 (other stuff might work as well? I've only used this stuff...)

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- Take a soft toothbrush, and work it in.

You'll notice the adhesive will start to break down, and as you rub, it'll start to ball up in smaller pieces. It can get kinda messy in the sense that you'll be left with a bunch of small glue balls everywhere, but with some patience, you can simply pull them off one by one.

2 - take a towel and place it inside the jersey

- lay it on a hard surface (ironing board) and place a fine cloth or towel over top of the residue (thin and flat - not a fluffy towel)

- iron it, pressing firmly, and continously lifting the sheet to check how much is coming off

- move the sheet around to a cleaner area as the adhesive starts to come up

I've never used the two methods together, but I'd start by ironing and see how it goes first, and then turn to goof-off.

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I have finished stripping the sleeve numbers, that was by far the hardest part. The stitching was so insanely tight I almost had to go one stitch at a time and its harder to work underneath since its in a sleeve and there is less area to work with. Regardless, everything is now stripped.

I started the ironing technique and had very little success. I removed maybe 1/15th of the residue, very little to no change. I will be getting the goof off and trying that next.

Also, the sleeves are much whiter underneather where the numbers were. Might want to try to brighten that up since this is more of a test for me and the spots will be covered up. More pics coming later.

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I have some heat-sealed numbers applied to one sleeve of a jersey some time ago. I removed them using an iron, but the Goo-Gone didn't really work to remove it, and I even tried applying heat again. I'll need to look at some of these options as possible ways to go about that.

I also have a Richards jersey that the numbers weren't applied straight. I would assume that I could probably take this to a customization place (Flyers SkateZone) and they might be able to remove and reapply them for me. These were stitched, not heat-sealed.

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So after a few days off I got back on this. I could not find goof off 2 so I opted for Goo Gone (with plant power!!). So after harvesting the powers of nature I must say this came out pretty amazing. Id say its gone about 90%. Whats remaining will be covered up so I am definitely proud of this one. Ill be sending it in to get customized in a few weeks and will update upon its return.

Before

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After

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I only had to remove certain parts of the number residue because it was a #22 jersey becoming a #32. See all the pics here (my first link didnt work) - https://picasaweb.google.com/111265845895044574484/LAKingsJerseyProject?authkey=Gv1sRgCI6-pPyBoaCOjwE#

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Ok, cool, will give that a try. How about removing an iron on patch? My one Preds has the incorrect 10 year anniversary patch and Id like to swap them out. I tried heating it up with an iron but that thing seems super tight on there.

suter-f.jpg

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What about those Rookie 200X jerseys? Are those easy to strip?

Pretty sure I've read on here that those things are actually embroidered, in which case you're never going to get stitching that tight out of the jersey without ruining it.

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Props to Slim and Brandon for an absolutely fascinating thread. Just before this thread came out, I sent a Pittsburgh diagonal to EPS for stripping because I didn't have the guts to do it myself. After reading all this though, I might even want to give it a try next time! Great job, guys.

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I think it will be pretty simple, I just did my second Ultrafil last night. The most annoying part is the name if its not on a nameplate. I'd say go for it.

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Turn it inside out and iron it with a hot and steamy iron. That should help get rid of a lot of the silhouette.

Well this was definitely the finishing touch, what a tip. This 100% removed the name and all parts of the #2 on the right I needed gone. I was sort of worried I was going to need a nameplate and it isn't supposed to have one. But not anymore, this thing just looks perfect now. I was even having trouble with the sleeves and Id say that is 95% gone now as well. On the sleeve pic, the left is before, the right is after. Thanks a ton, this thing is ready to be lettered!

Im as unartsy as it gets and I did this all with pretty much 0 issue. Id definitely recommend more people do this.

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