Water Damage & Flooded Basement Restoration Services

How to Remove Price Tag Stickers

By the RestorationSOS Educational Staff

Have you ever purchased something with a price tag stuck directly on the surface of an item? You can tell that the tag isn't going to come off cleanly, which means an unsightly residue pattern roughly approximating the location and shape of the original price sticker.

Most times, price stickers are stuck to outer packaging that will be thrown away anyway. However, sometimes you may purchase an item with a pricing sticker directly on the item itself such as a book, CD, or even a piece of furniture.

How a Price Sticker Should be Removed

First, peel as much of the label off with your fingers as you can get. Sometimes you get lucky and the label comes up with no sign that it was ever there. If you end up with some sticky leftovers, then you will have to decide what method to use to try removing the sticker depending on the item it is stuck on.

Hard surfaces are usually much easier to remove residue from than clothing or furniture, so the type of removal solution you choose depends on the material involved. For instance, peanut butter is actually a great removal tool for clothing because it works into the glue and any residue may be washed out, but it would be lousy on furniture because it leaves behind grease that is resistant to traditional furniture cleaning methods. Be sure to research possible results before using a chosen method.

Oil-based products will remove glue residue by helping it to release from the surface through lubrication and alcohol-based products will dry out the residue for easy removal. Some cases may require some experimentation to find what works the best. If you aren't sure of the result, you may want to test on a small or less noticeable area before committing to removal solution.

Oil-based products are not recommended for clothing or other fibrous materials as it may cause staining. If oil has already been used, then promptly treat the area with a grease-fighting stain remover. This will remove the oil and prevent spotting.

Other Removal Methods
Commercially available products such as Goo Gone are ideal for most sticky residue problems and they are readily available at most grocery and convenience stores. WD-40 is also a commonly accepted solution for removing sticker residue with no lingering effects (it may leave behind an oily residue, but that is easily cleaned up with a little soap and water). Any removal solution should be first tested in a small unnoticeable area first. Other common removal agents are nail polish remover, petroleum jelly, hand lotion, Windex, paint thinner, and vegetable oil.

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