Tips to Remove Adhesive Residue

Removing adhesive from any surface can be a sticky problem. If the adhesive is on the plastic, you can soak the plastic in water, the topmost layer will come out, but a thinner layer will always remain. You will have to undertake some other steps to remove pasting glue. Nevertheless, it is not so easy with all the surfaces. Different surfaces need different tricks for removing adhesive. We will now see how to remove adhesive residue from different surfaces.

How to Remove Adhesive Residue from ...

... Wood

Many times, if there are children at home, they stick adhesives to wooden furniture and the parents have a tough time removing adhesive from wood. However, if you know the correct trick, it will not be a very difficult task. To remove sticky adhesive residue from wood or from furniture, you will need an oil based product, like furniture polish, cooking oil, mineral oil or baby oil. The best is furniture polish or baby oil. Dip a clean piece of cloth in the oil and place the cloth piece on the adhesive. Let the oil saturate the sticker. When the oil sits on the sticker, the oil will penetrate through the glue and then the adhesive and glue can simply be wiped away. If you notice, that there is adhesive residue on the wood, you will have to repeat the same procedure.

Warm vinegar can also be used to remove the adhesive from the wood. Like with the oil, moisten a clean piece of cloth with warm vinegar and leave it on the adhesive for some time. After some compression, you can rub the glue away from the surface, but be careful, when you are scraping the glue from wood, so that you do not damage the surface of the wood.

... Skin

If you have a bandage, surgical tape or a sticker on your skin, chances are high, that they will leave behind a sticky adhesive residue. Do NOT try to remove the adhesive residue from the skin with nails can inflame or irritate the skin, as you try to scrape the adhesive off. Luckily, you need not inflict the pain on yourself and you can make use of simpler and less painful methods. To remove the adhesive from the skin, take a clean wash cloth and dip it in baby oil. You can also make use of vegetable oil or almond oil as well. Rub the cloth on the area of the skin which has adhesive residue on it. Rub the area in circular motion for about 15 to 30 seconds with a gentle hand, until the residue comes off.

In case you do not have oil, you can also make use of isopropyl alcohol as well. The procedure would be the same as with oil. Soak a piece of clean cotton ball in isopropyl alcohol and rub it on the skin till the residue comes out. With the alcohol you will notice, that the adhesive residue will come out easily.

After you have used any of the above methods, wash the skin with lukewarm water and soap and pat dry. If there is some more residue remaining, repeat the same procedure again. Once all the adhesive has come off, apply a moisturizing lotion to the skin, to soothe the skin and soften the skin. Some people also recommend the use of a hair dryer to heat the area for removing adhesive, but there are chances of the skin underneath getting burnt.

For more information, take a look at, how to

• Remove Wallpaper Paste
• Remove Gum from Clothing

When you are removing adhesive residue from any surface, it is recommended you do not scrape the surface, as scraping will not only damage the surface, but the residue will not be removed completely.