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Adhesive residue removal


Mean Green

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I have just acquired a Discovery 200tdi which has a full length honeycomb reflective side stripe. The reflective part is coming off relatively easily with the use of a heat gun but it is leaving the very sticky residue.

Is there a particular solvent that can take this off?

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Petrol is a lot better on your skin that diesel. Diesel will also remove the glue residue, but it is very nasty.

Really. As an ex diesel fitter being used to getting soaked in diesel it didn't dry my skin up like petrol. Here I'm talking proper petrol. Not the stuff thats sold as petrol now. The stuff sold now is that dangerous to get on your sking that I'll not work on a petrol car.

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OK, if that is the case then I stand corrected. I was told on a safety at work jobbie (quite a few years ago though) that petrol, although it does dry your skin out, is not as bad for you as diesel. When diesel enters your skin it leaves the oily residue and over time can lead to dermatitis and possibly cancer. Year ago when the tanks in the army changed from petrol to diesel a lot of the drivers got ill because they used to clean the tanks with fuel. Petrol would just evaporate away and diesel would stay, get into your skin and wasn't good for you.

So things have probably changed in the 20 years or so since I took this safety at work course (I was a plant mechanic working on JCB's etc) so if you are right and I am wrong, then I accept my error.

But either way you should use barrier cream or gloves when working with any chemicals.

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3M make a product especially for removing the residue.

Yes they do! Ambersill and a few others do very good ones too!

http://www.3mselect.co.uk/p-2239-3m-general-purpose-adhesive-cleaner-1-litre-tin.aspx

or

http://www.3mselect.co.uk/p-1019-3m-citrus-cleaner-adhesive-remover-spray-500ml.aspx

The ambersill one is 'Label and Adhesive Remover FG' - again a citrus based stuff. I've used this on many LR things - works a treat.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/cleaners-degreasers-polish/0491724/

MEK will do a similar job too - essentially nail varnish remover, but will probably smear all over the place due to the polar / non polar nature of the solvent - I work with adhesives all day.

Steve

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I have some stuff called 'Sticky stuff remover' which came from Lakeland Plastics.

I think it's made from Orange Peel - smells like it anyway. It's just amazing for removing any kind of sticky residue even from surfaces which would be damaged by solvents.

Si

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I took some side rubbing strips off one of my cars and used Stick Stuff Remover as Simon suggests and if left to soak in for a bit it works well - it still needs elbow grease mind and I found an old AA membership card or other useless credit card sort of thing helped it off without scratching the paint underneath if not pressed too hard.

Rob

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Another shout for MEK here as I use it at work too. Just don't breath in ANY of it, bad stuff. I used Autoglym Tar remover when I did mine which did the job with no bad effect on the paint. Also you don't have to worry about it melting your hands or destroying your brain too much.

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