How to remove traces of tape from various surfaces

Nowadays, people often use adhesive tapes (ordinary, color or double-sided tape), as a result of which they ask themselves: how to remove traces of tape? Yes, in fairness it should be noted that adhesive tape is a universal adhesive that is used everywhere, including in household chores. For example, when moving, cabinet doors are sealed to them so that they do not clap along the way. And in the end, the owners get the problem of unpleasant adhesive stains on the surface of their favorite furniture. How to remove these pollution?

How can I clean various surfaces?

You can wash off the adhesive tape from windows, furniture and other surfaces with various substances, some of which are available to everyone and are in every home. For ease of perception, we presented the entire arsenal of tools in the form of a list.

• Petrol.
• Ordinary stationery eraser.
• Vegetable oil (it is not so important which one is olive or sunflower).
• Hair dryer.
• Vinegar.
• Alcohol.
• Acetone.
• Detergent for glass surfaces (windows, countertops, doors, etc.)

It is worth noting that each of the listed funds is not universal and has a number of its shortcomings and possible “side effects”.

What to do with furniture?

First, we’ll deal with the most contaminated with adhesive tape surfaces - the facades of cabinets and other furniture. Furniture requires accuracy when cleaning, as its surface is not designed to be scratched with knives and watered with acid. Of course, we are exaggerating, but many people, trying to erase spots from adhesive tape, do something like this. And what would be better to do?

To clean the furniture, use oil, gasoline, an eraser or a hairdryer. Other substances can cause irreparable damage to the coating. However, it is necessary to say more about each of the substances.

• So, oil cannot be used on unpolished surfaces: it only absorbs, but does not remove pollution. As a result, the stain from the tape will become even more noticeable, since in its place a greasy oil blot will appear.
• Gasoline has a much wider range of applications. If this tool is used with caution, it can even be called universal. True, it is not recommended to use gasoline when cleaning polished surfaces: it is likely that the paint will dissolve, since gasoline is not only fuel, but also a good solvent. In addition, cleaning with gasoline can adversely affect the well-being of the person involved in this cleaning, if the room is not properly ventilated during operation.
• A stationery eraser is the safest and most practical tool that can be used always and everywhere to remove a layer of glue, to erase residues from double-sided tape or ordinary transparent adhesive tape from a window, cabinet door, or any other item. Only the amount of contamination can be a limitation, but usually there are not very large spots from the adhesive tape, so the eraser has the right to be called a universal and generally accessible way to clean the adhesive tape from furniture.
• The hair dryer cannot be called an independent cleaning agent, since it is used during the preparation of contamination for removal. The fact is that warm air makes the glue more viscous, dissolves it, which simplifies surface cleaning and makes it easier to wash with other, more aggressive, means, in particular gasoline, which we talked about above.

What to do with plastic surfaces?

In any home, it was already hard to find something that was not made of plastic. Furniture, electronics, toys for children, light bulbs, lamps and much, much more ... These things are also contaminated with adhesive from adhesive tape, and it also needs to be removed so that the thing is pleasant to use.

In order to erase traces of scotch tape, the same remedies are best suited as when removing dirt from furniture. The use of oil will be especially beneficial: in the case of plastic, it cannot be absorbed into the surface and acts only for the benefit of the situation: it changes the physicochemical properties of the adhesive, making it soft and pliable for removal. By the way, plastic surfaces that are associated with glass (for example, windows) can also be easily washed using oil.

The eraser again shows itself to be an “angel”, since it again helps owners and housewives to clean the pollution without harming the surface. All the work comes down to gently erasing the glue with an eraser and then brushing off the formed spools.

Gasoline, which should be used with caution in the case of furniture, does not cease to be an aggressor when working with plastic. Yes, plastic is less susceptible to damage by gasoline, but if it does not work correctly, it can be hopelessly damaged. For example, a noticeable bright spot may appear on the surface that cannot be washed.

The hair dryer is again an adjuvant. It will help wipe and clean stains from scotch tape, plain or double-sided. True, plastic is so poor in quality that it can begin to melt due to the flow of hot air, so you should be careful when preparing the surface for cleaning. If there are plastic windows in the house and they were stained with adhesive from adhesive tape, a hairdryer will help perfectly, since high-quality plastic is used in the manufacture of windows.

Household appliances, or how to clean what helps daily

At the beginning of the article, such items as vinegar, alcohol, acetone and detergent for glass surfaces were listed. We specially saved them "on hot". Using these four potent substances, household appliances can be effectively cleaned from glue stains.

Vinegar from the listed is perhaps the safest remedy. It allows you to easily wash the glue and, if any, pieces of the adhesive tape itself, extremely sticky fragments of double-sided tape, moreover, it does this gently and certainly will not leave a bright spot on the surface. True, old spots are too much for vinegar.

Acetone can be called a stronger version of vinegar, as it can remove old stains as well. True, if the surface is painted, it can dissolve the paint, which, of course, is undesirable. But acetone really helps with any degree of pollution.

Means for cleaning windows and other glass surfaces acts slightly weaker than acetone, but it is much safer, because it does not spoil the item being cleaned. In addition, if household appliances have a glass surface, it is very convenient to wash simultaneously the stains from glue, and other dirt (if any), and fingerprints. We also mentioned above that glue stains can also appear on windows. A specialized detergent will definitely help to cope with such a disaster without much difficulty. But we, however, do not recommend sealing plastic windows with tape.

It is easy to wipe off stains even from double-sided tape, and especially if you know all the pitfalls. We hope that our article was informative and helped you to clean the window, furniture or floor from pollution.