My Two Favorite Ways to Remove Stickers and Glue
A surprising number of products with permanent stickers end up in your home. For example, many stores still use price tags, and glassware almost always has a sticker on it that contains some information about your product. They are difficult to remove and can leave marks, but I found a couple of tips on social media that both work great.
Adhesive removal tip 1: melamine sponge
I don’t even remember where I first heard that you should use a melamine sponge, like a Mr. eraser. Clean Magic Eraser to quickly get rid of stickers and glue residue, but I know it was on TikTok somewhere . However, I remember where I first tried it: a few months ago I ordered a new glass table and, while assembling it, I noticed that the manufacturer had placed informational stickers directly on the glass. How nice of them! An old TikTok hack surfaced from my long-term memory. I grabbed Mr. eraser. Clean Magic Eraser ( Ultra Foamy to be exact) moistened it and began to rub. The sticker has dissolved. It disappeared. It was gone before I even realized it; I didn’t clean anything.
This can be done with any melamine sponge, although I prefer Ultra Foamy just because it has some serious foam to it. To demonstrate how well this works, I found a sticker that had been hanging on another desk for several weeks; My goal was to remove half with Magic Eraser and half with a second hack that I’ll talk about shortly, but again, Ultra Foamy worked too well. All the sticker that I couldn’t easily remove with my fingernails came off instantly, most of it dissolved in place, and the rest was easy to pick up by hand. Sorry for my demo, but overall I was lucky. It happened so quickly and perfectly that there was no point in taking a photo in the middle of the bush. Where there had once been a strange tan sticker that reminded me of summer, there was now nothing: no sticker, no glue residue, nothing.
Adhesive Removal Tip 2: Hair Dryer
Since I was planning on using the same sticker to demonstrate both hacks, literally peeled, I started looking for another really stuck sticker that could be removed using a second method: a trusty hair dryer. I found a six year old candle that I never use because the smell is sentimental to me. If any sticker was really stuck, it was the one that had been hidden under that candle for more than half a century.
This hack is very popular on TikTok, where creators demonstrate how easy and well it works. It’s simple: blow the sticker with a hairdryer for a few seconds and you’ll suddenly be able to tighten up the edge. (If it’s a larger sticker, this may take a minute or two.) What’s more, the adhesive will melt along the entire length of the sticker, so it will come off right away without tearing or leaving streaks.
I recommend this technique for large, full-length stickers, but not for dealing with the remnants of old, half-removed ones. If there’s sticky liquid stuck to something but there’s no actual sticker to yank, melting it will create a mess that you’ll have to scrub off. You’ll need a melamine sponge anyway, so just skip the hairdryer and get straight to it.
So, back to my candle. I inspected the sticker underneath and found that it was completely stuck, was not lifting, and definitely had no weak spots that I could peel off. I turned it over onto a flat surface, hit it with my favorite Dyson and in just two minutes I was able to remove everything at once, without leaving the slightest residue behind.
Both of these hacks work great and I prefer them to others I’ve tried. Acetone, for example, works, but it takes forever to break down the sticker and glue, leaving behind a streaky mess that you have to constantly clean up. (Also, if you’re painting your nails, you’ll have to wear gloves for this.) Likewise, soap and water can dissolve the paper part of the sticker if you’re patient, but it takes too long and, again, requires too much scrubbing . Vinegar works too, but it stinks. The magic eraser removes glue and the hair dryer instantly peels off any sticker, all without having to do too much or get the area dirty.