Glass decals can be used around your home for both decorative and personal safety reasons and their design and application is pretty much limited only by your imagination.
One of the best things about decals is that they can be removed if you change your style or want to sell your home. This way your personal taste can change and you don’t need to make expensive repairs.
There are two basic types of ways decals can be adhered to glass. The first would be a sticky back decal that has a petroleum based adhesive. The second is a water based or non-adhesive design that is applied to the glass wet.
Glue Backed Decals
As you might guess the petroleum based glue decals are more difficult to position on the glass and also to remove. You simply peal the backing off of the decal and apply it to the glass after you have cleaned and dried it.
Water Base Decals
Water based designs can provide the same or even better adhesion and are used not only for simple decals on a welcome window at your front door but also for application of window tint in your car.
Waterbased decals require the same initial cleaning and preparation of the glass however when you apply the decal you first spray water on the glass then place the decal on the glass while it is still wet. The water will allow you to move the decal slightly but you should be pretty close in your first positioning.
When the decal is in position you use a rubber squeegee to force the decal to the glass removing all air bubbles and water.
Designs Available
Decal designs are limitless because if you can’t find what you are looking for there is a good chance a local sign or glass shop can make you a custom decal.
You can select from transparent colors that will allow light to pass through them or opaque decals which are great for lettering and logos.
You can be as simple as adding a entrance and exit or private only label for your business doors to applying a full logo design as a welcome for your customers.
At home you may want to decorate that sky light window with some faux stained glass. This will provide a reasonable representation of real stained glass in an area where using real stained glass would lead to water leaks.
Letting the kids decorate their windows with decals you know can be removed is a nice way to add a special touch to a room.. and remember they can always be removed.
Safety
If you have young children just learning to walk or older family members applying a few decals on your glass doors will allow them to better judge if the door is open or closed.
Another great place for safety decals is your glass shower door. You can go crazy for the kids and apply some fish or their favorite cartoon characters or you can use a subtle etched glass design that adults will enjoy more.
You should add stickers that are large enough to see from a distance and use colors that are bright. A few 3 inch red roses or ladybugs will really help.
Removing Decals
This can be a difficult task depending on the location of the window and the type that was used.
If you know that a rubber cement petroleum type adhesive was used to apply the decal (you can test on a corner usually) then best results will be if you use a hair dryer to heat the decal then use a razor blade scraper to peal the decal off in as few pieces as you can.
Water-based and non-adhesive type decals can sometimes actually be more difficult depending on their size. A razor blade scraper can be used to peal or scrape the decal from the surface. Heating the decal will probably not help a lot but if the decal has a plastic backing it may be worth the try.
Remember never use a scraper on a non glass surface because it will gouge the plastic.