Question: How do I remove glue and tape

[nannytrooper[TK]]

I am trying to repair a suit that I bought and need to remove a lot of tape and glue. It is mainly on the inside of the suit, so minor discoloration will be okay. I just want to know what type of solvent to use that wont create a lot of damage.

[bodatheyoda]

I am trying to repair a suit that I bought and need to remove a lot of tape and glue. It is mainly on the inside of the suit, so minor discoloration will be okay. I just want to know what type of solvent to use that wont create a lot of damage.

 

 

Why do you need to remove it if it's on the inside?

 

Also what type of glue? Is it just glue or is it an epoxy?

[SuperTrooper]

Most tapes adhesive will turn loose with a hair dryer. For the glue it's best to know what type it is first.

[Chunk[501st]]

For the tape & tape residue use WD-40. It will remove all the sticky residue. I used this on the front of my armor to remove the old masking tape. Didn't hurt one bit, even left it shinny. If the tape is super stuck on the plastic, you can use engine starting fluid. It's sold at any auto parts store or Walmart. About $2 a can. Spray directly on the tape & it will come right off.

[Quebectrooper]

For the tape & tape residue use WD-40. It will remove all the sticky residue. I used this on the front of my armor to remove the old masking tape. Didn't hurt one bit, even left it shinny. If the tape is super stuck on the plastic, you can use engine starting fluid. It's sold at any auto parts store or Walmart. About $2 a can. Spray directly on the tape & it will come right off.

 

Yes good advice.

 

I also know that Wd-40 or mayonnaise will do the same job .

[Chunk[501st]]

I found out about the mayonaise along time ago. When I tell people that it will remove residue, they look at me crazy. That's why I didn't mention it. But now it's out in the open. Everyone to the fridge!

Edited May 11, 2010 by Chunk

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Use a hair dryer / heat gun on low to warm up the tape / adhesive to remove it. You can soften up the residue and use a fresh piece of tape to quickly "tap" the area, and the soft adhesive will stick to the tape. the rest can be wiped off.

 

Personally, I would not use WD40. It's a solvent for grease, not plastic. I use alcohol or Goo Gone for adhesive residue.

[PGHtrooper21]

I am trying to repair a suit that I bought and need to remove a lot of tape and glue. It is mainly on the inside of the suit, so minor discoloration will be okay. I just want to know what type of solvent to use that wont create a lot of damage.

 

"GooGone" It removed "E6000" I did a remod on my ANH finishing strips. I glued the finishing strips and after 5 months I removed the strips with a utility blade, scraped as much as I can off. Put some "GooGone" on a paper towel and kept rubbing till it came off. Then I wet a paper towel with water wipe the parts. Dried them and used alochol prep pads to clean the surface and your are done.

 

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/327686/Goo-Gone-8-Oz/

 

You can find this at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Target, KMart, Etc.

 

Andy

[Chunk[501st]]

Use a hair dryer / heat gun on low to warm up the tape / adhesive to remove it. You can soften up the residue and use a fresh piece of tape to quickly "tap" the area, and the soft adhesive will stick to the tape. the rest can be wiped off.

 

Personally, I would not use WD40. It's a solvent for grease, not plastic. I use alcohol or Goo Gone for adhesive residue.

WD-40 is NOT a solvent. It a lubricant which means it is a grease. It says right on the can" effectively cleans most surfaces of: adhesives" & " will not harm plastics" Im telling you, I used this on the FRONT of my TK theigh armor. Will not harm it at all. I sprayed it onto a napkin & wiped away the residue with slight rubbing. Then washed with dish soap & dried with a towel. The tape I had on my armor was about 2 1/2 years old. The residue was hard & yellow. It came right off & my theigh looks good as new.

Edited May 11, 2010 by Chunk

[nannytrooper[TK]]

Thank you for all the help.

 

I will be working on the first piece tomorrow. In response to why I need to remove it - when I took the straps off, it left lots of exposed glue on the inside that will end up sticking to my Under Armor if I don't remove it (or cover it with something). After looking at some of the other pieces, I have found lots of glue and tape on the outside of it as well.

[EOTK]

Peanut butter also removes sticker / tape adhesive. Personally, I'm Goo Gone guy now.

[nannytrooper[TK]]

Okay - I tried to remove the crap today with very little results. I started with WD-40 since that is what we had readily available at home, then moved on to Goo Gone. After several attempts at both - I left the stuff on for varying amounts of time (up to one hour), I moved on to trying the mayonnaise and then the peanut butter. The Goo Gone managed to remove some of the residue left from the tape on the outside of the front (not sure why it was there in the first place), but nothing has worked on the residue from the velcro ab buttons (at least I think that is what the circles were). The good part about all this is the residue remaining is no longer sticky - it just looks bad. At this point I have to decide if it is worth it to try the hair dryer.

 

From what I can tell, the yellow substance that was used mainly on the inside of the front is not really a glue that most people would have used for plastics, it is more of a type of wood insulation or filler. It is very similar to stuff I have seen in the cracks between the boards in a log cabin. The unfortunate part is this must have been very runny when applied as there is trails of it that run onto the outside of the suit. At this point it is looking like my only option is to sand it off with very fine sandpaper.

[Chunk[501st]]

If it is the foam/crack sealer you can try this. I had the same stuff on some of my projects. But never left on for more than a few days. Trim off as much as possible with a new exacto knife. Then sand lightly with the 2000 grit sand paper(you can find this at auto parts store) Once it's gone, you can use Novus Plastic Polish to bring back te shine. Novus is a 3 step process.