Adhesive remover

[92_rugby_subie]

What do you guys use for adhesive remover? Safe on paint would be a huge bonus.

 

Had the wise idea to duct tape my trunk closed while latch was busted, but theres still adhesive and I dont want to repaint the car just yet, so Id like to avoid it.

[shortysayhi]

goof-off. or gasoline, they work really well.

[davebugs]

PB Blaster is more useful then you'd think.

 

I use it all the time for JY paint stick removal.

 

I just used it for the double faced tape from ventshades that had been on the car for 18 years. Take your time.

 

I tried alchohol, WD-40, bug & tar, diesel, probably laquer thinner, my usual suspects and the PB worked the best.

[Fairtax4me]

Depends on what type of material it is. Rubbing Alcohol takes off tree sap pretty well. You can try it on duct tape but I think a general adhesive remover would work better. You can buy paint safe adhesive removers from auto parts stores in the section with all the car wash soap and wax and detailing stuff. As well as it will work, don't use acetone. Especially near plastics like tail light lenses.

[heartless]

Goof-Off works quite well.

PB Blaster will also work, just takes a little more of it.

Both will leave an oily residue however, but that can easily be washed off.

 

Rubbing Alcohol will work, but again, takes more of it, and more effort.

 

I would NOT use gasoline on painted surfaces - it will damage the finish.

[92_rugby_subie]

Looks like Ill snag some goof-off then... the car needs a bath anyway

[Subruise]

if you can get to a sign shop ask to use some "rapid remover". let it sit for a minute and apply liberally. it turns the adhesive into a kind of snot like consistency. it can then be scraped off with a credit card or plastic razor blade (yes they exist, yes they are awesome). you then need to clean up the residue. if youre at the sign shop, use some application fluid. if they are tired of you asking for favors, use windex or the like. good luck rug

 

 

 

RV

[davebugs]

Along these lines I find a "windshield installation tool" or a "bone" as a lot of body guys call them are very handy. For dash removal, anytime you're prying against paint it increases your chences of not marking the surface, lots of uses.

 

Plastic, usually white, 2 tapered ends. Wonderful and universal tool. The tapered ends are rounded and often work good to scrape at the adhesive as you let things soak.

[edrach]

One of the best adhesive removers is WD-40! As long as it hasn't dried out, WD-40 will do the job. After that, just wash off the oily residue with a standard cleaner.

[idosubaru]

i'm not sure if this applies to duct tape but a friend told me to remove decals (which are stuck on) after letting the panel sit in direct hot summer sun last year on a fender.

 

it was amazing - the entire OBW sticker trim on the fender just peeled off in no time. i simply followed behind carefully with some kind of blade or scraper to help it along.

 

then cleaned up what was left with stuff like they're suggesting.

[shortysayhi]

i'm not sure if this applies to duct tape but a friend told me to remove decals (which are stuck on) after letting the panel sit in direct hot summer sun last year on a fender.

 

it was amazing - the entire OBW sticker trim on the fender just peeled off in no time. i simply followed behind carefully with some kind of blade or scraper to help it along.

 

then cleaned up what was left with stuff like they're suggesting.

 

If you do that use dental floss. And press it against the car. It's a lot safer then using a blade and works great. Then use what ever you want to clean up the rest

[hsnow]

There are a lot of options like goo-off or goo remover that you could try but I have always been content with using baby oil to get them off. Though the problem with this route is that you are left with an oily surface after the adhesive remains are removed. But I have never had problems with it after as a simple wash would take them out. Hope this helps you with it.

[alfredm123]

Removes misprinted adhesives and pastes before they cure and attach themselves to screens or PCBs.Strong, yet non-destructive cleaning product, fast evaporating and odour-free.Ideal accompaniment to in-line cleaning systems where adhesives are dispensed.Available in tubs of 100 pre-saturated wipes and 100-wipe refill packs

 

http://www.qtek.com

[mxmikie]

baby oil

[heartless]

I still say Goof-Off is the best product, hands down.

 

A friend bought one of those little "helping hands" things with the aligator clips for holding small items that had a magnifying glass on it (he has bad eyes) at a garage sale, but the seller had written the price in marker directly on the magnifying glass. he tried all kinds of things trying to remove the marker from the glass - WD-40, baby oil, multipurpose cleaners, and a few other things that I forget now - nothing worked.

 

I brought my small can of Goof-Off over, and had the marker cleaned off in less than 1 minute. a quick wipe down with some glass cleaner, and he can now use the thing....

 

It is also working well to remove very old varnish residue. I am in the midst of stripping some old cabinet doors with glass in them (very old glass) - the glass has paint and varnish around the edges. After a scraping with a razor to remove the bulk of the paint & varnish, the Goof-Off is doing a fabulous job of removing the residue left behind - making the job much easier to complete.

 

I have used it to remove sticky residues from removing window and/or bumper stickers, Sharpie marker on both glass and plastic, works well to remove paint residue from the hands if you are a messy painter...endless possibilites.

[davebugs]

Sometimes I get confused. There is "Goof-off" and "Goo-Gone" both can work well.

 

Just beware that there are 2 products with somewhat similar names to do somewhat similar things.

[mxmikie]

baby oil its also great on tar

[suberfox]

I can't believe no one has mentioned 3M Adhesive Remover. We used it in my used car lot to remove dealer stickers, etc. It works great and absolutely will not harm your paint.

[jj421]

This is a bit of an old thread and I'm 99% sure you've solved the problem, but the original post reminded me of my first car. On my old GL, my friends and I thought it would be cool to take red duct tape and make some racing stripes. I thought it was duct tape, so it wasn't permanent. A month or two later when I went to take the stripes off, the red part of the tape came off, but the adhesive stayed on. Spent hours with a hair dryer and screwdriver scraping it off the trunk and hood. Left the roof as is because it would've taken way too much time and it was hard to access. Since then, I have never placed duct tape on the exterior of any car again.

[Crazyeights]

Goo Gone works pretty well and is generally "safe" for most applications. Goof Off is stronger and will destroy some surfaces - use with some caution on paint. Some of the graffiti removers are pretty good as well but they can also damage/remove paint. As said above WD40 is pretty good also.

[Caepman]

Old post, but I have something to add (this is my first post... glad I can finally contribute something useful) that is very effective that I didn't see mentioned above!

 

I purchased an '85 GL wagon 4WD this past July (my third... '82, '83, now '85). My wagon is missing the back-most body side mouldings - all that remains is the sikaflex adhesive that once fastened the mouldings to the car (no clips holding the mouldings on my car, as is discussed in some forum postings!). While the mouldings on all four doors remained on the car, each was loose and ready fo fall off. I carefully heated each door moulding with an electric paint stripper to remove them with the plan to re-attach each with 3M two-sided moulding tape. Being careful at doing this I avoided bubbling the paint.

 

Before re-attaching the door mouldings I had to remove all of the sikaflex. I tried simple green, Goo-Gone, etc., but each of these had barely any effect on the dried-out sikaflex. The only thing that was effective was a razor blade, but it was difficult to use without damaging the paint. I searched the internet and learned about something called an eraser wheel (a.k.a. caramel wheel). This thing cost around $10 at our local auto paint/body store. It gets chucked in a drill and removed all of the Sikaflex in a timely manner with much less elbow grease compared to scrubbing with a cleanser/solvent. Furthermore, the eraser wheel is much less toxic and more environmentally friendly too!

 

If anyone is interested, the best source of info I found on using an eraser wheel can be accessed here:

[karlmagnum]

Eraser wheel would be my last option since 3M adhesive remove works really great.

[Caepman]

Trust me - Sikaflex is much more difficult to remove compared to 3M moulding adhesive tape. You want to go with the eraser wheel if you need to remove sikaflex. As I stated previously, solvents barely affected the twenty-nine year old, dried out sikaflex that was on my car. The eraser wheel allow you to use the energy of the electric drill it is chucked in, and it is less toxic to use! The eraser wheel removed the adhesive without affecting the finish of the paint - the same could not be said of all solvents.

[subarubrat]

And no joke, adding white flour to most of these methods will make them even more powerful, and allow gentler solvents to be used. I do allot of adhesive removal on pinball playfields where I remove the mylar that is cracking and peeling by freezing it then peeling. The method does not harm the paint but leaves all the adhesive on the playfield. To get it off I use flour (just a dusting) and regular rubbing alcohol because it bonds with the adhesive and does not allow it to re-stick to the surface. The goo just tars up as a big glue booger with no adhesion.