Decals are one of the easiest and best ways to make any car stylish and sporty, be it a Honda, Pontiac, or BMW. They are totally easy to apply and you will have fun doing it, we promise! While some people may think it's a huge operation, let us be the first to tell you those people have never done it, lol. It truly is simple to apply any of our decals- whether by yourself in the garage or outside with friends, your auto is on the brink of cool, guaranteed! Just click the category below that your decal falls into and peruse the tips and techniques we have compiled for your decal applying pleasures. Got a question? Email Us!

More of  a note than a tip, we use the highest grade 3M materials for the decals that we produce ourselves (many sites and stores simply switch to lesser quality materials, and you won't even know it until a year later).

Last note before tips, we promise! Our decals are not like those horrible bumper stickers ("Recycle Your Children") that never come off, and when they actually do, leave a gunk that is permanent on your auto. No, we respect thy holy auto, and the last thing we want is a ruined one. Our decals use a special pressure-sensitive adhesive that just like Scotch Tape (made by 3M like all our decal materials), makes them only as permanent as you want them to be. This means your vehicle can change whenever you're in the mood- awesome, huh!

Clean is the keyword when it comes to decal application perfection (is that correct grammar?) The only way anything could go wrong is if you don't wash your hands and/or the site where you will apply your decal is not clean. So, wash your hands with soap and do it well- doing this allows you to handle the decal by hand and if you touch the adhesive side, nothing will happen. The following tips are for the decals we produce. Though most of the info is universal, follow the manufacturers tips first and foremost when you get a decal we don't make.

CLEAN THE APPLICATION SITE! It's even more important, but it's also simple. If the decal is going on glass, we recommend using Windex (w/ Ammonia) brand glass cleaner, as we think it is unsurpassed compared to any other stuff. If your decal is going on the painted body of a vehicle, clean the site first with water and soap to clear away larger dirt particles, then again with a specialty cleaner such as Goo-B-Gone or a homemade 50/50 solution of rubbing alcohol and water (it's Kentucky Moonshine!- just kidding). Rinse, dry, and almost ready to apply!
NOTE: Goo-B-Gone is excellent for removing tar, dirt, and old bumper sticker residue :D

THE STEP BELOW IS SPECIFIC TO DECALS PRODUCED BY AUTOTHING.COM
MOISTURIZE THE SITE! Right before you place the adhesive side of any custom decal against the surface it will be applied to, we have found that passing a wet dripping sponge across the area helps in positioning many decals after they have been placed down. We've heard other companies call using water "messy," lol, but that's dumb! If it helps make something look great- then do it! The pressure-sensitive characteristics of the decal adhesive allow it to betemporarily mobile on a slick surface of water, but only until the next step...

FLATTEN THE DECAL! People ask us, "How do I get the decal flat?" The answer is pretty identical, "Use something flat." Whether you live in New York City where there's always someone with a squeegee nearby, or you have one in your garage in Madison, Wisconsin, it works! Those things assist in decal applications so well, that you can go ahead and call yourself a professional when you're finally finished. If you're going to use anything else, make sure it's flat and dull. Credit cards are not just for autothings. They make really precise tools because their edges are not sharp and they're small, giving you total control when flattening out a decal; you can use a pin to rid of any small air bubbles you can't flatten out. Congratulations- you are a professional detailer!

BONUS = REMOVE REALLY OLD DECALS & STICKERS! If there's anything worse than removing an old decal or sticker off a vehicle, we'll give you $10.00 for naming it (no, not really!) Old "Ross Perot for President!" stickers should be peeled off as much as possible by hand first because most stickers/decals have an ultra-thin layer of plastic protecting them, which chemicals cannot soak into. Next, let some chemicals soak into them, lol. We highly recommend Goo-Gone and really nothing else. It soaks in with "citrus power" and after like 3 or 4 minutes, you can easily wipe off the gummy residue that once was Ross Perot's Presidential hopes way back when...

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Unlike decals, most sunscreens stick to glass via electrostatic energy- they cling, like magnets! These are not produced by us, so we do recommend reading manufacturer instructions before installing. These come in a one-size shape and the included instructions direct that you cut them to fit the upper part of the front/rear windshield areas. You'll be driving without the sun in your eyes in no time!

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For brand logos NOT produced by us, please read manufacturer instructions before applying. For any corporate logos that are produced by us, we recommend you center them on you rear windshield if it is safe to do so. Because safety is one of our highest concerns, most of our corporate auto manufacturer logos are outlines, so visibility is determined to be 100% if the logos are placed as recommended.

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Most Specialty Decals we offer are not produced by us, so please read the included manufacturer application directions. Specialty decals are generally smaller and include the Looney Toons characters, the Fear This line, and who knows what else! Most of these decals can be applied using our general tips listed at the top

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These are produced by us and we want to remind you that these also look too damn awesome on your front or rear windshield, even though they are intended for the Pony's bumper letters. Otherwise, if placing them on the bumper, first check that they are the correct size for your model Mustang, as we have a no-return policy on used decals (for obvious reasons, lol). If all checks out, we recommend applying the extra "G" & "T" letters you may have received along with the others first, just to get the easy hang of this. You can follow the instructions above, but we will send you a really nice instruction sheet, color and all, so just use that! Note that when installing the decal letters on your bumper, the letter material will roll up the slanted side-walls of the letter moldings, but not out of them. We produce them like this so that when your hot Mustang is viewed from an angle, it looks equally impressive as it does when looking at the rear directly- hey, concern for Mustang owners is an autothing AND a fordthing!

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People put these things anywhere they please and we understand- only you know your vehicle so feel free! Our cool recommendation (since we ALWAYS have one, lol) is that you stick to the upper areas of your front or rear windshield (unless you are putting them on your vehicle's body, in which case anywhere is fine). We love the rear when it comes to trucks and SUV's because they're so tall, have way steeper rear windshields than cars, and this allows really nice exposure to everyone beneath, lol. For cars, both the front and rear windshields are usually quite similar in terms of slant, so place them anywhere that you feel they will look best!

The biggest concern people have with placing the text of their vehicle name on their auto is the centering issue: "How do I get the letters perfectly centered and even?" Well let us tell you! Most of our text decals are perfectly spaced and aligned already, but say you have a Chevy Camaro and ordered the stylized "CAMARO" letterings. You can either apply them all at once from the backing they're on using your eye as a ruler and the general tips for applications above, OR apply one-by-one. When applying one letter at a time, start from the center of the windshield. In this case, you would apply the "M" a little left of center and the second "A" a little right of center. With this complete, it should be really easy to just follow the spacing, applying all the letters like the true professional that you have proven yourself to be. Drive on now!

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We produce these and we STILL get impressed how great they look on so many different vehicles! We've seen them on Mercedes sport coupes, Pontiac Grand Prix's, Mitsubishi Monteros, and so many others. The best part is you can get these with just the lines or even a custom graphic-text like your vehicle model within the rocker stripes- how cool is that! But anyways, applying these intimidates people the most because they're big and you have to do both sides of your vehicle. Actually, these are among the easiest of decals to stick on and they give one heck of a look to any vehicle!

When you order these, all you do to prepare the application is follow the general decal tips way above. We include instructions when you order, but here's the gist of it: [1] Apply one side of peeled stripe decal to side rocker panel towards front of vehicle [2] Pick up other end of stripe decal towards the rear end of vehicle's rocker panel area and measure levelness of stripe by eye or with a companion [3] When stripe is determined to be at a level position, simply smooth it against the body of the vehicle and remove the semi-clear protective sheet [4] And lastly, use a razor or an Exact-O-Knife to cut the striping when it passes over a crevice (such as door outline) and cut the stripe to 1/8 of an inch on the ends (presumably by each wheel-well, where the stripe ended). Does it sound like something you can do? Well, don't answer that with anything but a resounding "Yes I can!" because yeah, you can, lol.

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Striping your car, truck, and SUV has never been more easy. We offer Prostripe stripe tapes, which we feel are the finest available (Prostripe is made by label maker Avery, so quality runs in the family). Whether you are applying these to give your vehicle a new look or you're just (finally) replacing the striping that originally came with your vehicle, we can help you out, even though this will seem like a piece of cake! We also recommend reading the application instructions on the packaging.

Starting from one end of the cleaned vehicle, slowly unroll the tape and follow a straight path, all-the-while keeping the tape level. One you reach the opposite end of the vehicle, you can cut the tape to within 1/8 of an inch of the edge and firm the just applied tape down. Go back and use a razor or Exact-O-Knife to cut the striping wherever it passes over a crevice (such as the door outline). Prostripe does not recommend using striping tapes around extremely sharp corners, which is something most vehicle owners should not have to worry about anyways.

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