Removing sticker adhesive from thermoplastic

[Jim King]

On the topic of stickers, since I've started collecting older things, often from thrift stores or yard sales, some of the price tags were problematic 'till I found a solution on ehow.com  for a price tag put a drop of salad oil on it for a few minuts, sometimes longer if it's old. and it comes off very easily. I have to be very careful with the timing when I take tags off my LP album covers and get it off just before it soaks through to the paper, but works great on plastic type stuff with no worrys about scratches. I use a product called goo gone that works well I've used it on a plastic phone and it worked fine to take off crayon without discoloring anything too. I get the goo gone from the dollor store.

[HarrySmith]

hey Greg, I always soak my housings in hot water and Oxyclean, then all the stickers and adhesive just wipe right off

[Sargeguy]

Thanks,
I don't know what kind of adhesive was on that phone but it was a pain to remove fully and kept leaving a stain of residue.  I must have prevailed in the end because I sold it a while ago for $150.

[Greg G.]

Give me your address and I'll send you the spider.  I think its dead but maybe its only hibernating.

I've got one I'll send you too!

[DavePEI]

Thanks, the glue was really annoying-it kept smudging around but would not wipe off completely.

Several ways to do this. Alcohol will remove sticker glue, but takes its sweet time. WD-40 will also remove it because of its main ingredient, kerosene, which will also remove it. Diesel oil will also remove it. Finally, there are lighter fluids and Goo-Gone. You may have to fold a paper towel, place it over the sticker residue and soak it with any of the solvents above for a while to soften the residue.

If you scrape at all, use only your fingernail - anything else will scratch the surface. I have removed hundreds of stickers from phones coming into the museum. The only problem you may come across is that on colored phones, the area surrounding the sticker may have faded, while it will still be the original color under the sticker. This is because the sticker has protected the area under it by keeping the sunlight from getting at it.

Dave