Recently I received a bedroom set of furniture from my brother and, in shipping it to me, secured the drawers shut with large lengths of masking tape. Not any old masking tape, but the really crappy type. In removing the tape, it left behind most of the adhesive.
Since our mother would be upset if I shot him, I am left with trying to clean this stuff off of the furniture. The furniture appears to be finished with an oil, probably “Danish” oil, and has a more-or-less natural or light stain.
What is the best way to remove this goo without embarking on a re-finishing project?
Thanks much.
Replies
The risk you run (which you seem to be painfully aware of) is that whatever is going to eat the adhesive runs the risk of eating the finish. Not knowing the finish with certainty complicates things. What you have working in your favor is that cured oil finishes and oil/varnish blends have good short term solvent resistance. If you use a product that balances out between strength (not being too "hot") and evaporating fairly quickly, you might achieve some success without having to refinish things. I think my vote here would be a clean cotton cloth with Xylene, and work in small sections. Not being 100% sure of the results, I'd also keep an eye on the finish and the cloth as I progressed to make sure the cloth didn't start getting orange or yellow with finish. Straight mineral spirits I suspect wouldn't be strong enough; if you went for lacquer thinner or acetone I also suspect you'd begin eating the finish quickly. Other things to consider: true oil finishes don't build film thickness so you're basically working right next to the wood. If you do cause damage, oil finishes are some of the easiest to repair. If it is, in fact, danish oil, you have a thin film, since Watco and other danish oils are an oil varnish. Repair of that is as simple as scuffing with steel wool and re-application.
Try Formula 409 on it...preferably on a test spot in back. It might take a little elbow grease. I use 409 to clean my saw blades of pitch and all the other stuff that gets baked on it.
Some adhesives respond to alcohol. If not, try one of the commercial solvents for this problem, like Goof Off (different brands are not all the same by the way ). The citrus oil-based ones are the least likely to affect the finish. You'll still need to scrape the stuff off, but I use my fingernails once the solvent has seeped into the adhesive so as not to scratch the surface. Good luck!
P.S. Don't do this on those little stickers they put on fruit!
I've found that good old naptha takes off adhesive goo with a minimum of effort. It very quickly removes the goo entirely. I've yet to have it fail. Also, naptha is usually kind to finishes; I regularly use it to clean finished wood (it is a great wax remover) and have never yet had it do any injury to any finish--including shellac and oil finishes. But, of course, try it in an unobtrusive spot first.
Alan
Might be better to stay away from the Goo-off or whatever it's called. If the Naptha doesn't work, give my good ol' friend Orange Oil a try.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
If Bro used the crepped masking tape I would expect that the adhesive is rubber based with a tackifier to keep it sticky. If the naptha works that would be your easiest solution. If not, I would try Watco oil finish. Put it on a small piece of cloth so that it can soak over night. The rubber based adhesieves tend to soften with oil, but it does take some time.
FG, the press mechanics used to come to me for a bit of orange oil when they had a particularly badly inked repair to make. Printing ink that had dried for years would melt with the orange oil treatment. Printing ink is like paint, just varnish and pigment. Your orange oil might not be the 100% stuff and therefore not so agressive.
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
BJ, I wish I could remember what company makes the orange oil I'm speaking of -- don't have any here at the house, but I've used it on dozens and dozens of old pieces of furniture and never had the tiniest problem with it. To get major grime off (an old mahogany bookcase from an estate comes to mind) I've had to let the orange oil sit on the surface for 20 mins or so, clean it off an re-apply, but eventually it loosens all the junk up. Obviously, it's not a pure industrial strength product, but therein lies the charm I guess.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Just use a little "Goof Off" sprayed on a rag or towel. This stuff smells horrible but is a lot more smell than harm. Don't spray it directly on the affected area, that may cause you some problems. Just spray it on a rag and wipe away the glue. I have done this many times on all sorts of finishes and it works fine.
Something you might try before using any solvents is to apply some new masking tape over the residue, press it down firmly, leave it for a couple days, then gently warm it with a blow dryer and peel it off. Peel it with a shearing type action by folding it back against itself. This may very well take all the old residue off without harming anything. Have used this trick successfully several times after moving.
Rich
The Professional Termite
Rich, that's a great idea. I've used the hair dryer technique to remove auction labels from furniture and other items for almost 10 years now, but never thought about applying a new sticker over a messed up old one to get it off. Very, very clever. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
ADGUSTUM,
I have had some success with tape residue removal by simply using one of those soft erasers and a plastic credit card. The credit card is used like a scraper to get the big chunks off then the eraser rubs away the filmy glue residue.
sawick
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