Cleaning Masking tape residue

gorbas · Mar 20, 2023

Does anybody figured out how to clean dry masking tape glue residue? I tried isopropyl alcohol and lighter fluid and they clean ~90% of it but the hardest part, on edges, stays solid.

Donald Qualls · Mar 20, 2023

If you can't let the residue soak in naptha/lighter fluid, you may be reduced to scraping carefully. If you use a hard plastic scraper (like the edge of a credit card) you'll have the best combination of straight/sharp edge to break up and lift the residue, and soft enough material to minimize the risk of scratching whatever the tape was stuck on.

MattKing · Mar 20, 2023

Does "Goo Gone" work for people?

Hassasin · Mar 20, 2023

MattKing said:
Does "Goo Gone" work for people?

Is that a fancy version of so-called glue remover? I was going to suggest the remover because it will rather surely work fine and leave no residue nor would it damage anything (still test it before going wild).

They used to make one with orange scent, worked great, and smelled good enough too.

MattKing · Mar 20, 2023

Hassasin said:
Is that a fancy version of so-called glue remover?

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2023

This reference does not work.

Edit: See below

MattKing · Mar 20, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
This reference does not work.

Do you mean the product doesn't work, or do you mean the link to an Amazon Canada product listing doesn't work for you?
Here is another link: https://googone.com/original-adhesive-remover

bernard_L · Mar 20, 2023

Not 100% sure about your masking tape, but for label glue, electrical tape, etc, the effective solvent is white spirit. Slightly oily, so post-cleaning with ethyl alcool or naphta may be necessary.

Hassasin · Mar 20, 2023

Gooo Gone - That's similar to what I used some years back, and it is citrus scented too

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2023

MattKing said:
Do you mean the product doesn't work, or do you mean the link to an Amazon Canada product listing doesn't work for you?
Here is another link: https://googone.com/original-adhesive-remover

When I select the symbol in the post, nothing happens. I had no idea it was GooGone.

aparat · Mar 20, 2023

In my experience, lighter fluid followed by alcohol works great.

gorbas · Mar 20, 2023

bernard_L said:
Not 100% sure about your masking tape,

Maybe you are right? I use beige and black masking tape for so many things in darkroom, I should start buying just 3M brand of it.

Thank you Matt, Donald, Bernard and others!
Scraping can be challenging when surface paint is not glossy but more cracked.
Matt, in London Drugs, GooGone is even cheaper than on Amazon. Will report back my findings

Truzi · Mar 20, 2023

I'm not sure how different GooGone is from naphtha (aside from the citrus scent), but it's worth a try.
You could also try acetone.

As mentioned above, you could also soak it. Try saturating a piece of paper towel or cotton ball with whatever you are using, and let it sit for a while, then gently scrape or rub. Repeat if it seems to work a little.

Sometimes I'll use an eraser to try to rub off residue, but you need to be careful of what you are removing it from - you don't want to mess anything up.

Donald Qualls · Mar 21, 2023

I'd avoid acetone; it's much more likely to damage plastics or paint, or to decolor dyed leather, than naphtha or derivatives thereof.

Alan Edward Klein · Mar 21, 2023

aparat said:
In my experience, lighter fluid followed by alcohol works great.

I believe lighter fluid is naptha. When I smoked, I used a Zippo lighter and was in love with the smell of the lighter when I snapped it open.

Nicholas Lindan · Mar 21, 2023

Goo Gone is made from citrus oil. I've never had it injure plastic, unlike acetone. Lighter fluid/naptha also seems plastic safe. TTBOMK, "white gas" (AKA Coleman Fuel) is naptha, but probably less pure than lighter fluid. Lighter fluid seems to leave no residue - a good feature for when a leaky Zippo seeps all over your suit.

Hassasin · Mar 21, 2023

Nicholas Lindan said:
Goo Gone is made from citrus oil

What Are the Ingredients in Goo Gone?

Petroleum distillates.
d-Limonene.
Aliphatic ether alcohol.
Orange sweet extract.
Glycol ether.
Solvent orange 60.

Don_ih · Mar 21, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
When I smoked, I used a Zippo lighter and was in love with the smell of the lighter when I snapped it open.

Same here.

The easiest way to treat masking tape residue is find a marker of the desired colour and colour it.

Goo Gone, in my experience, is not good - it will eat away a significant number of finishes.

Donald Qualls · Mar 21, 2023

Don Heisz said:
Goo Gone, in my experience, is not good - it will eat away a significant number of finishes.

That'll be the d-Limonene and ether-based ingredients. Ether is an aggressive solvent for organics, and limonene eats almost anything. Goo Gone is great on natural fiber fabric, enamel based paints, most kinds of rubber, and real leather -- none of which are commonly seen on cameras. Naptha will attack uncured oil based paints, as will mineral spirits (aka neutral spirits) -- but so will anything else that has any chance of softening the latex-based adhesive from masking tape.

Don_ih · Mar 21, 2023

Donald Qualls said:
Ether is an aggressive solvent for organics, and limonene eats almost anything.

It would also essentially destroy any shellac-based finish or any kind of compressed-paper fake leather you'd find on older cameras.

Nicholas Lindan · Mar 21, 2023

Hassasin said:
What Are the Ingredients in Goo Gone?

Petroleum distillates.

...

Hmm, I guess I won't use it to flavor orange cake icing after all.

The stuff dissolves styrene plastics, at a guess - keep it away from plastic airplane models. I have never had any problem with the stuff and other plastics, famous last words, I know.

Hassasin · Mar 21, 2023

Don Heisz said:
...

Goo Gone, in my experience, is not good - it will eat away a significant number of finishes.

I've not used it on all kinds of surfaces, but on those I have, never had an issue. But Goo Gone disclaimer is of course there to cover their end.

Donald Qualls · Mar 21, 2023

Nicholas Lindan said:
The stuff dissolves styrene plastics, at a guess

It certainly softens the polystyrene that's used for plastic models -- enough to make a mess of it if you try to use it to clean that plastic. The Goo Gone bottle, IIRC, contains a warning to test on an inconspicuous area before using on plastics or synthetic fabric.

gorbas · Mar 21, 2023

Masking tape residue on my Multigrade head was not giving up after brief application of Goo Gone. After soaking it for a few hours with paper tissue on the top it all went away. Also, my flash power pack square rubber feet disintegrated and Go Gone cleaned it like new.
Thank you all for great advices!

Roger Thoms · Mar 21, 2023

I’ve had good luck with De-Solv-It Pro Contractors Solvent. It a citrus based product that I originally bought from a video supply house who sold it as a VHS cassette label remover. Now Ace Hardware sells it so it’s pretty easy to find. With dried on masking tape residue you need to apply it a few times and let it soak between applications. Patience the key.

Roger

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