Double-sided tape. Removal of?

[Poignard]

Double-sided tape comes in handy for temporarily fixing a piece of wood to a bench for routing etc, but scraping the residue off afterwards is time consuming. Anyone know a readily available solvent that will shift it?

 

[mormargh]

B&Q Decorators' wipes seem to shift most things providing it's not too big an area. Alternative is to use a hot glue gun instead of the tape. The blobs of glue come off OK and the mark come off with sugar soap. Suggest testing on scrap first.

 

[npf1]

try acetone

 

[srp]

Try a different brand. We use a lot of this at work. Some of it is Sellotape branded - awful stuff, with the sticky residue needing hard work and loads of solvent to remove it. In the end we threw the last 10 rolls away, having only used two! I don't know the brand of the alternative stuff we have, but it comes from Techsoft UK . Scroll down to the bottom of the page to read what they have to say about it! (They actually refer to it as sellotape, but I'm sure that is not the case).

 

[Courageous]

+1 for the acetone!

 

[FlorealIII]

no chemicals , and certainly no aceton !
just use a handheld hair dryer .
( aceton is very poisonous for your liver and can be absorbed
by your skin this is also an organ remember )

 

[Poignard]

Thanks for the tips [and the health warning, Floreal!].

 

[Courageous]

Excellent remark floweryone...... Use acetone and protect that precious liver by both NOT drinking it AND wearing that marvellous invention - the rubber glove!

 

[Boathook]

Lighter fluid works well on some glues on tape.

 

[VicS]

Safety data for acetone (propanone) HERE Note the rubber gloves should be butyl rubber not the ordinary Marigolds.

White spirit usually works but in reality is just about has hazardous

I am a fan of Sticky Stuff Remover a safe citrus based cleaner that you should find in any good hardware store, and many other places too.
<span style="color:white"> ................................. </span>

 

[mormargh]

Neat. Must find.

 

[Airassmith]

Just a note about acetone. Its not THAT toxic, its commonly supplied in nail polish remover and has been used for that purpose for many years without ill effects as far as I'm aware. I wouldn't want to drink it or inhale lots of it but using the odd splash without gloves is quite OK.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
Just a note about acetone. Its not THAT toxic

[/ QUOTE ] Actual toxicity figures in the link I have already given.
Probably the biggest problem will be the effect it has on the skin in removing the natural oils. Protection of the hands if using it on rag will be therefore sensible. More sensible is to use something safer.

 

[pmyatt]

Warm the tape with a hot-air gun / hair dryer before removal and the warm softer glue does not get left behind - tip learnt when using double-sided cellotape for polythene double-glazing in the 70s.

 

[moody1]

An old trick is to take a piece of sellotape and press that on and lift away the old sticky with the new. Another is to use that sticking plaster remover Z-Off. When nothing else to hand, I've pinched hubby's After-shave as it has spirit in it.

 

[damo]

I just rub it with my thumb - it pretty soon rolls up into a little ball which picks up the the next bit, and so on.

 

[huldah]

One of the problems with removing substances such as glue and silicon rubber, is that the solvent runs off or dries to quickly. This is also true of paint strippers. One way round this is to cover the items with polythene. A pad of cut paper towels will hold a lot of solvent.

The glue used for sail numbers can absorb a lot of white spirit before coming free.

It is worth trying toffee tape, as used for estate agent signs. This is a very sticky, glue only tape. I believe it is effected by plasticisers, if used on certain plastics, so would probably react to white spirit.

Soak your hands in water and keep the scissors under water! I have prepared components using this glue, and stored them in water. That way they resist sticking together.

Philip