How do I remove a faux-painted decal from a painted wooden cabinet without messing up the cabinet's paint?

Question

I moved into a home that has wooden kitchen cabinets painted with white paint. There are also some decals pressed on that are supposed to look faux-handpainted. To me, they just look tacky, and I'd like to remove them. The problem is that when I try to remove the decals, the paint from the cabinet itself starts to come off as well. So far, I've tried rubbing alcohol and nail polish remover. Any other ideas on how to remove the decals without messing up the underlying paint? Thanks!

Answer 1

Previous answer was good but it is about a metal surface -  a different kind of paint is used with wood.

Take a warm washcloth and press against the decal for a moment to slightly heat the adhesive.  Use your thumb nail along the decal edge to see if comes up without paint.  If the cab paint is oil and the adhesive backing is waterbased, this will work fine.  If painted with latex (waterbased)paint and decal has an oil based or a stronger waterbased glue, then the adhesive is stronger than the paint and that's why it takes the paint off with it.  Then you have to make a major decision about living with the decals or repainting the cabinets.

Answer 2

use a blow dryer to warm adhesive and peel off, I had to do that with a work truck that had a bunch of old company decals on it