The worst thing to see on your windshield when walking back to your car is a bright, orange parking ticket. A close second is what happened to TikToker Doctor Vick (@doctor.vick).
In his video, Vick shares what happens when you leave a glossy flier on someone’s windshield. All under a brutal, scorching, Texas sun.
“All right so it’s so freaking hot in Texas,” he says, bringing his hand to a flier placed on the windshield of his car.
He demonstrates what the extreme heat did to the advertising mailer. “This stupid advertisement thing,” he says picking away at it with his fingers. It’s not budging. “[This thing] is now stuck to my windshield,” he says, laughing in defeat.
He attempts to peel a piece of it off his car but it’s a no-go. A portion of the mailer tears off in his hand. However, the rest of the ad has become one with his vehicle. Vick calls the Bestway ad the “worst spam mail of all time.”
How to get it off?
A good way to remove an adhesive sticker from a surface would be to apply a bit of heat. Taking a hot blow dryer to a sticker, maintaining distance so as not to singe/burn anything, works wonders. But the problem in Vick’s video is that heat is what caused this issue in the first place.
One way for him to remove it could be to try and blast his car’s defroster to a much colder temperature. Perhaps that could help stiffen the paper that melded to his windshield. So then, when he attempts to peel it off, more than just mere shreds will end up in his hand.
Other things he could try are regular old soap and water. However, with stickers, rubbing alcohol and some elbow grease usually dothe trick.
As it turns out, Vick isn’t the only person this has happened to. This Redditor complained on the r/CarTalk sub that they were in the same predicament. @Kashifr was left scratching their head and asking other users on the app how to best remove the blemish from their car. They wrote in their post, which featured a picture of the melted ad in question, “Advertisement left on my window melted, how to get off the sticky residue?”
Advertisement left on my window melted, how to get off the sticky residue?
byu/kashifr inCartalk
Viewers share their opinions
Since the Reddit user’s stuck ad was for L.A. Fitness gym, this one user on the app suggested they “stop by LA Fitness first. Make one of the managers clean it off for you.”
This was a nearly identical thought process to the TikTok user who replied to Vick’s clip. “I would drive to the store and make them remove it lol,” they said.
“I’d be driving my car right to Bestway for them to find the Bestway to get that off my windshield!” another echoed.
Another remarked that they would simply send the store an invoice.
But there was someone who provided some helpful removal advice. “Chill internet warrior. A razor blade to scrape it off costs less and is way faster,” they said.
And if you ever find yourself having to peel off a stubborn advertisement or sticker glued to your windshield, there’s hope. ProCurve Glass swears by the razor blade for getting rid of materials stuck to your car’s glass. The business writes, “Using a razor blade is the most reliable way to get rid of stickers on car windows.”
The company added, “To do it, you should clean the glass surrounding the stickers and then soak each sticker with glass cleaner. From there, you should use a brand-new razor blade and slide it underneath each sticker while holding it at a 45-degree angle. This should bring the sticker right up and remove it from the glass. If there is any residue from the sticker left behind, you can make a couple more passes at it with the razor blade to remove it completely.”
Does the razor blade trick work?
ProCurve states that folks should never apply a razor blade to the internal glass of a tinted vehicle, however. The blade will more than likely damage the tint material, making it come undone.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Bestway via email and Vick via TikTok comment.
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