How to Get Sticker Residue Off Clothes

There you did it, you accidentally washed your favourite piece of clothing with a sticker on it. Now what? All the paper part of the sticker will be washed off and you will be having all the stubborn gluey sticky adhesive residue. So, the question now is, what is the process of removing sticker residue? How do you get rid of the sticker residue? Will it affect your clothing? Or do you just throw the clothing away? There are a lot of concerns.

It is harder to remove sticker residue from clothing when the clothes are washed and dried. Why? Because when you wash your clothes, the paper part of the sticker is removed completely but the adhesive residue is left.

Then when you further dry the clothing, the adhesive part hardens and sticks to your clothes. These are very hard to remove. The urge of removing sticker residue from clothes will compel you to use sharp knives or razor blades to scrap the adhesive residue off from your favourite clothing but wait there, don’t do it.

You are going to ruin your favourite shirt because the adhesive residue might still remain intact after all the scraping, but your favourite shirt might not. Read this post till the end to know how to remove adhesive, duct tape, or glue residue from your clothes yourself.

How To Remove Sticker Residue?

There are numerous ways by which you can easily remove sticker residue or tape residue from your clothing. Carefully following all these methods, you can gently remove residues off clothes and again happily wear your favorite shirt. So here are some easy ways of cleaning by which you can remove sticker residue not only from clothing but from plastic, wood, glass etc. Some Of the adhesive removal supplies are:

• Cotton balls
• Paper Towels
• Sponge
• Old Toothbrush 

Before using any of the products, scrape the area by gently rubbing the sticky glue on it by placing the garment on a flat surface. You can also use your fingernails to get rid of the sticker residue. After that, these are some of the really simple cleaning tips to remove sticker residue from clothes.

Acetone / Acetone Nail Polish Remover 

Acetone is one of the things that work wonders in removing sticker residue from clothing. Acetone nail polish can also be used as it contains acetone in it. But while using acetone, you have to be careful about the type of fabric. There are certain fabrics that are non-acetate, and if you use acetate on them, your clothing will be destroyed, basically melting. So, to avoid that, you have to ascertain whether your clothing is an acetate fabric (Colorfast) or not. Now how do you do that? First, use a cotton swab in the inner seam of the clothes to determine whether the clothing is colourfast or not.

If the colour of the clothing starts coming out, then you should not use acetone to remove the sticker residue. But if the colour doesn’t come out, you can now follow the easy steps to remove sticker residue off your clothes using acetone. To get the sticker residue off clothes, put the affected area down and on the back of the stain, using a towel, and dab acetone to gently rub to remove the sticker residue. Using the towel, start removing the adhesive residue as it loosens up. After the entire adhesive residue gets removed, the cloth was according to the care label.

Dish Soap With Warm Water

Yes, to remove sticker residue from clothing, you can also use soap and warm water. Just by following some simple steps, you can get your garment clean. The first thing you need to do is gently rub dish soap diluted in Hot Water on the sticker residue and then leave it for a while. After that, using a butter knife or credit card or dull knife, start scraping the sticker residue. You can also use a microfiber cloth, as it is very effective to remove sticker residue. You have to keep doing this until all the residue is cleaned. After all the sticker residue and soapy water is gone, wash your cloth according to the care label and let it air dry.

Peanut Butter and Soap Water

What sounds more unbelievable than peanut butter removing sticky residue? Well, it’s true. Peanut butter contains different oils that can come in handy in removing sticker residue, tape residue, masking tape or any kind of adhesive residue. Just by following some simple steps, you can easily get your garment clean using some household items like Peanut Butter. Take some of the smooth peanut butter without any chunks. Using a butter knife apply the peanut butter on the sticker residue and cover the residue properly with peanut butter. Let it sit for several minutes. After that, using a toothbrush or cleaning brush using circular motions, try removing the sticker residue that has now loosened up by the oils of the peanut butter. Wipe the entire peanut butter off the garment. After that, using a bar of dish soap, scrap the sticker residue. Blot the area to remove the excess oil. Once all the residue is removed, wash the garment as usual.

White Vinegar But Warm

Get distilled white vinegar and then put it into the micro-oven and warm it up a little. After that, use a clean towel, dab in the hot vinegar on the sticker glue and let it sit for a few minutes for it to soak. Get your hands on a butter knife or a spatula and start scraping the area gently to remove the sticker residue. Once you are done scraping, apply a small quantity of laundry detergent and rub it in the area. Once you are done rubbing, rinse the area and wash your garment as usual.

Rubbing Alcohol 

Use some rubbing alcohol on the sticky residue using a cotton swab, and this is how you will bolt the sticker residue from the clothes. Let the rubbing alcohol sit for several minutes. Then using a butter knife or spoon, scrape the sticker residue. Keep repeating the process unless all the sticker residue has vanished. The. Wash as usual and let it air dry.

Lemon Essential Oils

Lemon essential oils are also a great product which helps in removing sticker residue from clothes as it helps in loosening the sticky gunk. You just have to add a few drops of lemon essential on the sticker residue and let it sit for several minutes. Using a dull knife or fingernails, you can scrape off the sticker residue. Then you can wash and dry your garments in the washing machine according to the care label.

Ironing

Yes, you can use heat to loosen the stubborn sticker residue, and a clothing iron will be the best tool for you. You have to get an ironing board and then set your iron at the highest heat. Iron your cloth, but the adhesive part should face the ironing board. Once you are done, and the sticker residue has melted, using a credit card or a dull knife, scrape the adhesive residue off your garment gently. Repeat these steps until all the residue vanishes.

Masking Tape

Using masking tape to remove sticky tape residue is a real simple task. You can use this method on adhesive residues that are not stubborn. You just have to apply the masking tape over the sticker residue and then peel it off. Keep repeating this until all the residue is gone. Instead of using to get rid of sticker residue, you can also use packing tape as an alternate solution.

Goo Gone

Goo gone is a great product that can be used to remove all sorts of sticky adhesive residue from clothes. You can use them easily because they come in spray bottles. You just have to apply the goo gone over the sticker residue and let it sit for several minutes. Then blot the area and then scrap the area. You can also use a credit card, butter knife or spatula to scrape the adhesive residue. Use a paper towel or a clean rag to completely remove the sticky residue. Then wash your garment as usual in a washing machine using laundry detergent.

How Can You Make DIY Goo Gone?

Just by using ½ cup of baking soda with ½ cup of vegetable oil and 6 drops of lemon essentials, put all the ingredients into a blender and make a thick paste; this is how you can easily make it at home Goo Gone.

Stain Remover

The foremost thing to do is to ascertain whether your garment is colour-fast or not. Using a cotton swab, take some of the stain removers to test an inconspicuous area and dab it in the inner seam of your garment; if the colour starts coming out, then you cannot use this solution. But if your garment is colourfast, you just have to soak the affected area in the stain remover for a few minutes. After that, gently scarp the area using a butter knife or credit card. To remove the residue completely, use a paper towel to wipe out the sticky residue, then rinse it in warm water.

Plastic Scraper

Rather than using sharp objects to scrape the sticker residue, you can use the edge of a plastic card, dull butter knife or spatula to scrape adhesive residue from many surfaces without scratching. You can also rub the debris away with a rubber eraser but do not use stainless steel products to remove tape residue from clothing as it can damage the fabrics. instead. These are some simple ways to get sticker residue off the plastic, but you have to be careful. Instead of directly scraping the residue, consider rubbing with dawn dish soap or soapy water for some time.

Hairdryer

If you have sticker residue on your bathroom walls, you can use your hair dryer to remove it easily. Start the hairdryer and aim it towards the sticker residue. The heat of the hairdryer will help the sticker residue to loosen the adhesive residue, and then you can easily scrape it off. Don’t forget washing and drying the cloth afterwards with a small amount of adhesive remover solution on it (you can also use liquid laundry detergent, dish soap and warm water solution) to make sure the sticker is gone completely.

Freeze

In case you are removing sticker residue from clothing made of synthetics, you need to freeze the clothing for about 45 to 90 minutes. After that, pluck out all the Harden bits of the sticker residue as much as possible. After that, soak the affected area with dish soap and water and clean the leftover residue with a microfiber towel. And then, the cloth should be watched and dried according to the care label.

Wd-40

This is one of the lubricant sprays that is used for many purposes and getting sticker residue off clothing is also using this spray. It comes in a spray bottle, just spray it on the sticky residue and leave it for several minutes. After that, wipe the remaining residue using a clean rag. Letting the spray sit on the stubborn stains for some time so it can reach the sticky side too. If you want, then you can also rub the residue or gently scrape the sticky area while applying the spray.

Dry Cleaning Solvent 

If you have a dry-cleaning-only garment, you can use a dry-cleaning solvent to remove sticky residue adhesive by using a cotton swab or sponge and dabbing it in the affected area. But don’t take risks in case of costly garments and give them to the dry cleaners. Since these professional services use right cleaning products you will be able to remove even the grease stains easily without any issues.

Final Words

Stuck with sticker residue or tape residue? These were some of the really simple steps that you can use to remove the sticker glue from your garments or any other surface. As you can see, there are numerous ways like using hot water and dish soap, acetone nail polish, nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol, lemon essentials and other essential oils, distilled white vinegar, laundry detergent, stain remover, vegetable oil, hot water, baking soda, rubber eraser, hairdryer, hot vinegar etc.

With some tools like a clean cloth, butter knife or credit card, microfiber cloth, clean rag, razor blade and other household items, by which you can easily remove the sticky mess. But you have to always remain cautious and know about the type of fabric and do a spot test to know that the solutions or the products may not harm your clothing. So these were some of the tips and tricks to wash any article of clothing having sticker residue or tape residue.