How to Remove Print From Cloth Bag (Canvas, Nylon, Leather)

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The bags may be great, but the advertising on them may not be so welcome. The reason for that rejection is that not all printed items on bags are nice to look at. Some are tacky and use wild colors that just don’t go with anything else.

How to remove print from cloth bag: The removal process will depend on what made the print on the different styles of bags as well as the fabric used to make the bag itself. You can try different solvents and a product called Awesome but these products may damage some fabrics while working great on others.

To learn more about removing print or logos from cloth, nylon, canvas, and leather bags just continue to read our article. It has the information you need to know about in order to get the job done right. Take a few minutes to see if these solutions will work for you.

This process works on clothing so it should work on cloth bags that have prints on them. The first step is to place the bag on a flat surface that won’t be harmed by a hot iron. next, place a towel between the printed surface and the surface underneath.

The towel will go inside the bag. This will protect the other surfaces from any drips and other damage. Step three has you soaking a towel or some other large cloth and placing it over the print. This cloth will protect your iron from any melting particles.

Now, place your hot iron on the wet cloth and apply enough pressure to ensure the heat is reaching the print. When the cloth between the iron and print is dry, remove the iron and lift the cloth. If you delay in this step, you may scorch the cloth.

The next step will be for you to take a sharp knife and begin to scrape the print off the cloth bag. Use the knife to lift the edges of the print and then grab those edges and peel the print off.

Continue with this process until the print is gone. It may take several wet cloth and iron treatments before the print is completely removed. Another method is to use solvents.

Those solvents can be rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, or some adhesive removers. Turn the cloth bag inside out and after testing to see which one will work the best and doe snot stain, etc., soak the fabric behind the print.

Wait a little bit and then turn the bag right side out again and start to peel the print off the bag. You can use a sharp knife to lift the edges. repeat this process until the print is gone. Then wash the bag normally in order to remove the solvent.

Canvas is like cloth, and it is just tougher cotton as well as a thick material. Since it is made from cotton, the above two processes should work on this type of bag. You just have to make sure when you use solvents to do a test in a hidden area to make sure those solvents do not damage the canvas material.

Proceed slowly when using solvents as time is on your side. Let the solvents soak in enough before trying to remove the print. It may take a few minutes to let the solvents do their work and save you from repeating the process.

Also, take care to prepare for the fumes that may come when you use this option. Those fumes are not healthy to breathe in even for a short time. When you use the iron method, just make sure to not leave the iron on for too long.

You only need to wait till the wet cloth dries before you begin scraping and peeling. Depending on the type of print, this removal could take a short time and could take a long time.

Jute material is often known as burlap and is made into burlap and gunny sacks. That comparison tells you that the fibers on the jute back may be porous, rough, and very hard to remove prints from their surface.

This texture may make it hard to remove prints from the surface of the jute bag. If the print is painted on, then you can try to use a paint remover or a paint thinner to get the print off. The drawback is not just the odor and fumes but the thinner may damage the jute fibers.

Other solvents may also produce the same bad results. You can try the iron method as jute is a cloth and that material should be vulnerable to a heat application. Just watch the time the iron is on the cloth and do not let it sit for along time.

However, you can remove the logo without removing the logo. This is called covering up with something more attractive and ribbon is always a good material one can use to cover up advertising and other prints.

You may need to sew several lengths of ribbon to cover the logo and you should choose an appealing color or two in order to make the bag look attractive, exciting, or anything but boring. Unless you like boring and then the color options open up to a very large selection.

Instead of ribbon, you can use another material large enough to recover the bag or even just the side that has the logo. How you do this will be up to your creative sewing skills and you have lots of options at your disposal.

Do some brainstorming as jute is a hard material to work with and it can be a bit rough on your hands as you handle it frequently.

This process will depend on who you talk to. Some people say that if the print is on leather, there is little you can do to remove it. In fact, we did not see any instructions for removing prints from leather during our research time.

On the other hand, some people suggested using gas, kerosene, and other flammable liquids to get the print off but those suggestions did not come with any instructions to follow. You would have to proceed with caution for those liquids can harm the leather if you apply too much.

You can try nail polish or rubbing alcohol but you shouldn’t have much luck placing those solvents on the reverse side as the leather may be too thick for the solvent to reach the print.

If the print has been applied with paint, then you can try olive oil to remove the old paint. Or you can go with vaseline if you do not have any olive oil in your home. Both options need a test first to make sure they won’t harm the leather the print is on.

When using these options, you should be prepared to apply some beeswax as the leather underneath the print may look dull. You would need to recondition the leather to get it looking like the rest of the bag.

You can try the iron method on other types of print but that may or may not work. There is no guarantee any of these options will work simply because of the nature of the leather material and the type of ingredients used in the print.

The method you need to use depends on how the logo was applied. If the logo was embroidered on, then you will need a seam ripper to cut the stitches and remove them as you go.

Once the logo is off, you may be left with an ugly-looking area that may have a lot of holes in it. You would need to cover up that area to make the bag look nice again. There are lots of options and methods to do just that.

If the school bag is plastic and the logo was a silkscreen application, then a little soap and water should do the trick. You may have to rub a little harder than usual but the logo should come off eventually.

Rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, and similar solvents may work on different logos depending on the material the school bag was made from. If it is plastic, then you just place some on a cloth and wipe away until the logo disappears.

Paint thinner should work in this situation as well. The removal application will depend a lot on the ingredients of the logo and the bag material. If the logo is a print and the school bag is made from cloth, then you can use the first methods mentioned above.

The iron option seems to be the best when the logo is print and the bag is made from cloth. Or you can try to cover the logo with a unique design of your own. Embellishments may work and allow you to cover the logo with a small piece of fabric then sew the embellishment over that small piece of fabric.

There are numerous ways to cover up a logo and if the bag is plastic, you can always paint over the bag and change the color. This will hide the logo at the same time.

The method you use will also depend on how the logo was placed on the backpack and the material of the backpack. When the material is made from natural cloth, you can use the iron method.

But if the backpack is made from nylon or some other synthetic material, this is not going to be a good idea. The heat could distort the material and ruin the backpack. That leaves the solvent option if the logo is a print or silkscreen.

Again, you need to do a test in a hidden spot before applying any solvent. This protects you from using the wrong chemical formula. There is the possibility of a chemical reaction since synthetics are made from a variety of harsh chemicals.

Make sure to wear some sort of breathing protection in order to not damage your lungs by inhaling the fumes. Then some people have suggested using reflective tape to cover the logo if it is a print, etc.

The reflective tape would be a safety bonus and keep you very visible when out in the woods. That option may be the best one to use as you kill two birds with one stone. But if the logo is embroidered on, then you would have to use a seam ripper to cut the stitches and pull them out one at a time.

That option is time-consuming and you may be left with an ugly area again. But that area can be covered up by reflective tape so it is not seen and you become more visible. The choice is yours but again proceed with caution as backpacks can be expensive and the risk of damaging them is real.

If the print is silkscreen and the bag is made from hard nylon, then you can use some WD-40 and soak the screen. Let the chemical liquid pool over the silkscreen before you do anything else.

Once it has pooled, scrub very hard with a clean towel, and do not worry if you are rubbing the print with a WD-40 wet towel. That will help in the removal process. Repeat the process until the screen print is gone.

For nylon fabric wash the bag in cold water only. It is imperative not to use warm or hot water and if you have to, shut the hot water valve off first. Next, you place the nylon bag on an ironing board and place a plain paper bag over the screen area. Do not dry the nylon but lay it down while wet.

The paper bag should not have any shiny film on it when you do this. Then iron the paper bag to lift the silkscreen. If all of the print did not come off in your first attempt, replace the bag with a new one. If you flip the bag over you run the risk of transferring the silkscreen to your iron.

Repeat this process as often as needed until the print has disappeared completely. Also, never iron the nylon directly or you run the risk of harming the nylon material. For nylon bags like computer bags, you can try using nail polish remover and a cotton ball. Then rub the soaked cotton ball over the print to see if that removes it.

This may be slow going but it may also be very effective. You can try heating the logo or print and peeling it away but be careful as nylon and heat do not mix well. Make sure to place a towel under the logo or print when you work on it.

The first step would be to get a sharp knife or similar object and scrape away as much of the rubber as possible. This needs to be done carefully as you do not want to damage the fabric.

Then you can try some dry cleaning fluid, which was once Tetrachloroethylene but may be now perchloroethylene because the former fluid ingredient was banned in some places. Rub that on and see if it softens up the rubber more so it can be scraped off without harming the fabric.

If there is any residue leftover, you can rub some dry solvent over the area with a damp sponge. This solvent can be found in janitorial supply outlets. Let the solvent soak in and allow it to dry.

Then put some laundry soap over the area and wash according to the laundry instructions for the fabric that held the rubber logo. One word of warning, do not place the fabric in your dryer until all the rubber is gone.

The heat can melt the rubber material and spread it further over the shirt, bag, or whatever it is on. Make sure all the rubber is gone before you dry the bag.

Removing the logos and prints off of different bags can be a time-consuming and energy-using task. Make sure you have lots of free time to handle this project as a rushed job may not look that good when you are done.

When the logo or ad is sewn into the bag, that will be the easiest one to remove. Cut some stitches, pull the thread and it is done. Until you see the holes and the different colors underneath where the logo was placed. Pick the best method for you and the fabric you are working on to get the best results.