[SOLVED] Window Gel Stickers removal

[Dave Liquorice]

No.1 Daughter has some of these sort of gel window stickers on her window.

have been on for a while: "couple of years, maybe". Her window is south facing. Some have "melted" and run down the glass. What is left is very sticky and soft. The above page lists the material as "TPR" or "TPE".

I suspect scraping off is going to be the only option, they are far to soft and gunky to peel off. Scraping will leave a residue on the glass, any ideas of a solvent or cleaning agent? Google is not very forth coming.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Dave Liquorice expressed precisely :

Try WD40, to prevent it re-sticking as you scrape.

[nightjar]

I would try spraying them with a chiller spray, to see if that made them easier to peel off.

Colin Bignell

[Carl Warnell]

Methyl-ethyl-ketone or 1.1.1 trichloroethane if you can get hold of either. I think at least one of them has been banned.

[Dave Liquorice]

very

Ah! A use for WD40. B-)

They really are very gunky, think the worst sticky label residue ever but a couple of mm thick...

I was thinking along the lines of gentle "solvents" first, neat detergent bit of water to start with though I doubt that will have any affect. Then move up through vegetable oils, mineral oil (WD40), lighter fluid, probably ending with Hammerite thinners (Toulene, IIRC?). I don't have any of the citrus based agents to try before the oils.

[PeterC]

If you can get some, Ecover made a terpene-based cleanser: "Natural Citrus-based Cleaner and Degreaser". Flammable neat, it will remove many things at high concentrations or neat.

[Tom]

You could try white spirit?

[geoff]

In message , Tom writes

Or the Label remover that Maplin, CPC, RS and everywhere else sell specially for such applications

[The Medway Handyman]

Don't you mean 'another' use for WD40? "WD-40 gets under dirt, marks and grease making it easy to wipe away. It also dissolves adhesives, allowing easy removal of labels, tape, and stickers"

it works :-)

[Anne Jackson]

I would use surgical spirit for anything "gunky".

[Toby]

We had a windows with loads of stickers on it ,and they all came off with just a Stanly knife blade (bare, not in the handle!) scraped against the glass - I expect this will work for these!

Toby...

[Dave Liquorice]

Well that was painless.

'Orrible sticky gunk but seemed more intent in sticking to itself than anything else. Stanley blade to lift the bulk and then pressed hard against the glass got most of the residue off. Found that detergent based liquid hand soap would shift what remained on the blade, my fingers and the glass. B-)

[Invisible Man]

Missed the beginning of the thread so apologies if this has already been said. Cellulose thinners remove a lot of adhesives including window stickers and sticking plaster mess. They also dissolve plastics and are highly inflammable. Be careful. Nail varnish remover might also work - also needs careful use to avoid collateral damage

[The Medway Handyman]

Bet you used WD40 and don't want to admit to it :-)

[Dave Liquorice]

Nope, that would have fallen into the "no smelly solvents until I'm back at school" restriction that was applied.

So, sorry Dave, I've not found a use for WD40 yet.

[Madeline Mary Holland]

replying to Dave Liquorice, Madeline Mary Holland wrote: I used nail polish remover - it was the only suggested solvent I had on hand - with a paper towel. It worked fine. I had wiped off a lot of it, but there probably was a couple mm. I couldn't scrape off.,,Thanks to whoever made that suggestion.

[Davey]

Note:

"posted on August 8, 2009, 1:48 pm".

I hope it's not still there.

[Dave Liquorice]

I can't remember the thread...

[Madeline Mary Holland]

replying to Davey, Madeline Mary Holland wrote: Window cling is totally gone and nail polish remover is readily available and CHEAP!

[Madeline Mary Holland]

replying to Davey, Madeline Mary Holland wrote: It's totally gone. The nail polish remover worked well with a paper towel. It is a solvent that is readily available and cheap.