littlebone Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I tried to remove the UPC label from my toilet bowl brush today. It had the manufacturer's name, the UPC bar code and some other stuff. Now, I'm the kind of person who thinks that advertising may have its place, but my bathroom (brush) is not that place.The label was put on with a glue that would not give up. After much scraping under hot water, I was able to get the paper stripped off the handle. But there was a glue residue left that was sticky to the touch and would not come off with soap and hot water. Genius that I am, I tried to use a green plastic scouring pad to clean the glue off. The pad ended up spreading the glue to the length of the handle. And now my white brush had a green smudge, also the length of the handle. And it was still sticky. (The whole length of the handle, of course.)I had to scrape the brush handle for 10 minutes with a sharp knife, but I finally got rid of the glue. Of course the handle was no longer smooth, but it was a minor victory. Now what really bothers me is that they didin't have to use that kind of glue to attach their name permanently to the brush, their name is molded into the plastic. So, do any of you take such measures to remove those odd labels or do you just live with the advertising and logos in your life? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Depends on the product and Acetone removes glue really nice btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_P Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 It had to be water proof glue considering the environment it was to be used in. I find that light oil will help remove the sticky reside that I encounter. Pre-shave lotion works great and I suspect cooking oil will also. In a pinch, and depending on the size of the glue spot, wiping a finger across your forehead at the hairline will provide the needed oily substance. I'm thinking the residue from a price tag. This trick comes in handy at Christmas time when wrapping presents packaged in plastic. :)The things we talk about in this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross549 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Littlebone,It somehow worries me that you spent all that time working on one little label.I worries me more, however, that you spent the time to write an incredibly clear and detailed post about it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Goo Gone - the best all around remover for sticky stuff. Available in fine hardware stores everywhere!http://www.magicamerican.com/googone.shtmlP.S. I have to agree with Ross... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Actually, I am reading with interest. Did not think it would apply but thinking back to yesterday and trying to help hubby remove tape where they had a tube taped to his face for 24 hours and all the residue left behind. I spent 15 minutes trying to get it off his face. He said something about shaving lotion but did not have anything there to test it. I kept thinking "If only I had some GooGone here. " That stuff works great and lasts forever. A small botttle lasted years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Goo Gone has been in my toolkit for years. Great stuff. Ever have a label peel off and get stuck on a roller in your printer? Some of the hardest to remove adhesive is what they use on duct tape. I had a Ford Explorer Sport that had those side windows that pop out about two inches and lock in place. Well the lock/handle on one broke so that the window was flapping and banging around. Ford had to order the part so I was a week with this window flapping around. I was certain it would get further damaged if I didn't do something to hold it in place. So out came the duct tape. Once I got the replacement lock and put it on I had to remove the tape. Which left the biggest layer of sticky goo on the truck. Goo Gone removed the Goo without removing the paint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 'nother GooGone users here. Don't immediately start scraping/wiping; you have to let it sit for about 30 seconds. If you don't have any GooGone, in a pinch vegetable oil might work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluttermagnet Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I tried to remove the UPC label from my toilet bowl brush today. It had the manufacturer's name, the UPC bar code and some other stuff. Now, I'm the kind of person who thinks that advertising may have its place, but my bathroom (brush) is not that place.So, do any of you take such measures to remove those odd labels or do you just live with the advertising and logos in your life?I have removed many a label over the years. I see nothing at all odd about that. I believe that millions of folks do the very same thing. I have been known to patiently remove cloth or plastic labels from new jeans, even resorting to seam rippers and other such sewing exotica in my quest to remove unwanted advertizing. I refuse to be a billboard for almost everybody, with a very few exceptions. Which brings me to the subject of 'using the right tools'. Your heart was in the right place, but you didn't recognize that the means to remove this offensive labeling should be chemical rather than mechanical. Several in this post have it right, with various products recommended.I would just add that there are a lot of good choices that will do the job. (Acetone will work but may be overly agressive as it can quickly soften up certain plastics) I have used a lot of lighter fluid and rubbing alcohol with good success. Depends entirely on details of the paper (or plastic) label manufacture and the exact adhesive used. Paint thinner will often work. Fingernail polish remover will almost always work. Often it helps a lot to get the shiny layer ripped off the paper, so these chemicals can begin to penetrate through to the adhesive.For tough jobs, I sometimes resort to some very potent lacquer thinner (solvent) from the auto painting industry. Very effective and for some reason is less likely to dissolve plastics like acetone, MEK, and toluene will. Best to avoid these last three items unless it is a really tough situation. I would add that even with the optimum chemicals in use, sometimes the best you can get is to soften up the adhesive, not completely dissolve it. That is usually good enough, however. Once softened, the adhesive can be removed easily enough by rolling it off using the balls of the fingers, or sometimes smearing it off gradually onto a paper towel which you keep turning over to a clean side as you go along. None of this is an exact science, as there are so many possible solvent/ adhesive/ paper (plastic sheet)/ substrate combinations possible. After a while, you get pretty good at guessing which solvent and technique to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc-tecky Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I confess, pealing off certain sticky labels is a pain. Milk jug labels peal off with great ease after using a certain amount of near boiling hot tap water, which is like using a hot knife to cut through cold butter. But not all labels peal off with such ease after such treatment. Perhaps the central air/heat register vent might help in this case.So that's how you use Goo-Gone, wait for 30 seconds. LOL - whoops!! On another note, I thought fingernail polish was acetone. And thinking about oily foreheads and fingers, maybe that's why after rubbing my forehead I can smear magazine text literally right off the page?? Oh, wait...that's another issue not related to glue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Many nail polish removers are acetone but the trend today is towards non-acetone based removers. That is so they are gentler on your nails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrine Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Avon Skin-So-Soft also works great to remove sticky residue. We keep a bottle handy for washing grease or paint from our hands, removing tar spots from the car. It also removes soap scum from shower doors, shower curtains, windows, as well as bathroom and kitchen fixtures. It removes lime and hard water deposits from windows, fixtures, shower doors, and tile! A lot of people swear by Avon SSS as an insect repellant. My daughter uses it on her horses to keep the black flies away. It isn't 100%, but she found that helps better than anything else she has tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc-tecky Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Makes you wonder what they are putting into that stuff?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zox Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Goo gone all the way.Interesting, now you got me into thinking.When I get home tonight I'll have to look at my toilet bowl brush I suppose I am not noticing any more labels or I don't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebone Posted December 11, 2003 Author Share Posted December 11, 2003 Thanks for the glue tips. I'll look into Goo Gone. It really bugged me when my great idea (the plastic hscouring pad) ended up making the problem worse. But there is still that nagging question, that Cluttermagnet addressed also: Are there too many ads and logos in our life? If I get a free baseball cap with someone's logo on it, I don't see that I have a right to complain that they permanently placed the tag there. But if I go into a store and all of the baseball caps have logos (and the tee shirts and the sweat shirts and ....) then shouldn't I be upset that I am paying someone to be their walking billboard? Shouldn't they be paying me. I don't think I am getting a discount on the cap or tee shirt. Especially if the logo is the logo of the manufacturer (e.g. Nike, BugleBoy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Welcome to Scot's "Hints from Heloise"! Looks like we need a new "Houshold hints" forum! http://heloise.king-online.com/Heloise_200...30822/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 I like this kind of post...real life situations that we usually suffer alone and in silence (not counting muttered curses).Skin-So-Soft is also useful around my house to keep flies off the dog's ears, a serious problem in the summer months.Along these same lines, today I found myself once again behind a car driven by a teenager, sporting a rather large bumper sticker for a heavy metal band stuck to the paint portion of the trunk. I always wonder about people who put stickers on the paint. Do they realize that they may never be able to remove it...after it fades to unreadable...after they've lost all interest in the subject of the sticker...when they want to sell their vehicle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Most annoying bumper sticker: "Hang up and Drive!"I've seen this sticker on 3 different cars... ALL THREE TIMES, The driver was talking on a cell phone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Along these same lines, today I found myself once again behind a car driven by a teenager, sporting a rather large bumper sticker for a heavy metal band stuck to the paint portion of the trunk. I always wonder about people who put stickers on the paint. Do they realize that they may never be able to remove it...after it fades to unreadable...after they've lost all interest in the subject of the sticker...when they want to sell their vehicle?Just like tatoos... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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