Decals

Give the glue a chance to dissolve too.

i dip the deal in water briefly, but let it sit for a while on a piece of paper towel before I use it.

Also, decals work much better on a glossy surface than a matte one

If you have old decals spray them with the decal sealer from testors for their decal paper. or spray them with dullcote or glosscote. 

It helps to put a liquid layer on the model just prior to placing the decal.

I used get a little saliva on my finger, wipe it on where the decal is to go...that helped a lot! Then I discovered micro-set, which also worked. These days, I brush on a little "Future", place the decal (roughly), a quick dab with a paper towel, then move the decal into it's final resting place...then, with a little bit of pressure, kind of roll the paper towel over the decal, pressing out and soaking up the excess.

I do pretty much like John says, but I mix some decal setting solution in the water I flood the area with.  Also, I am not above carefully pulling on the film with my super sharp pointed tweezers.

When you have decals that act like that the best thing to do is flood the area it is going to go with water.  If needed use a paint brush that is a little stiff and short bristled and work water under the edge until the decal floats.  Use a Q-tip, the pointed ones that Tamiya sells work well, to move the decal by pushing on the edge.  Don't press down and squeeze the water out until the decal is where you want it.  Place the paper where you want the decal to go, and once you have an edge of the decal off the paper, use tweezers to pull the paper out from under while holding the exposed edge of the decal with a Q-tip.

Good luck, learning to apply decals is a journey that never ends.  Paul Boyer has done some good articles on the subject in FSM old issues.