Quickly remove adhesive residue - from plastic, metal & Co

• Washable adhesive
• Advice on the right solvent
• Remove normal adhesive residues
• Various adhesives
  • Double-sided adhesive tape
  • edge band
  • adhesive films
  • tile glue
  • foam adhesive

Glue remnants are sometimes ugly, sometimes they have to go away so you can finish a repair successfully. The article will tell you how to do it the fastest.

"Half Our Life" is pasted, and whatever is "de-sticking" must be reconnected. Usually, the adhesive residue must be removed before that goes well ... Here is an overview of how to do this annoying task as quickly as possible:

Washable adhesive

Normal household adhesives are solvent-free and washable, for example the "UHU stic glue stick solvent-free", a 40 g heavy stick for turning or the "UHU all-purpose glue without solvent".

These and other non-solvent glues (glitter glue, colored glue and photo stickers, for example) may stick paper, cardboard, fabrics and polystyrene. These are permanent, but washable.

If you can assume that such an adhesive was used, you have it pretty easy, because these adhesives are in principle wonderfully easy to solve:

If stains on the skin or clothing occur during gluing, they can be washed out immediately with lukewarm water. When the glue has dried, it can be machine-washed at 40 or 60 ° C, normally with detergent additive. Similarly, it works with adhesive residues on kitchen boards, plates, etc .: Wash the normal in the dishwasher with.

It will be more difficult if the adhesive has landed on non-washable material and / or if you want to rid the glued workpiece itself of adhesive residues or the entire adhesive. But even there are a few tricks that you can read in the article "Superglue of clothing and skin removal".

Incidentally, these adhesives are also pleasantly non-toxic, here is an example of a safety data sheet that mainly mentions what needs to be ignored or is not necessary because the product is not toxic enough for the warnings that belong to the relevant item: Safety Data Sheet

Advice on the right solvent

However, most adhesives are not only persuasive with water, but contain synthetic resins or synthetic rubbers, usually mixed with solvents.

This also applies to any normal eagle owl or Pattex, in "UHU all-glue nipple bottle" is z. B. in the safety data sheet as "chemical characterization" indicated that it contains ethanol, acetone and ethyl acetate. Partly highly flammable substances, for the handling of these substances numerous hints will be given in the safety data sheet.

Many of the solvents are flammable and highly flammable, some irritate the skin or eyes and / or are harmful by inhalation. Before you start cleaning, you should use naked flames, sparking devices, open electric radiators, etc. turn it off or put it away to prevent fires, explosions and deflagrations. You should put cigarettes away and avoid inhaling the solvents. Not just for health reasons, but solvents have an acute narcotic effect if you breathe in too many vapors. When working in the apartment good ventilation is essential, wide-open windows, such cleaning is best carried out outdoors. The solvents also have a fat-dissolving effect, any contact with the skin degreases the skin and thus deprives it of natural protection; you should avoid it as much as possible and, after cleaning, should be thoroughly creamed immediately. If solvent gets in the eye: Rinse well immediately and with plenty of water, then quickly to the doctor.

With regard to the substrates on which the residues are to be removed, the same applies to all solvent-based adhesives:

The solvent mixed in the adhesive is usually also the suitable solvent to remove adhesive residues. On the product you will at least find information on whether solvents are included. Whether the adhesive is "washable" is usually explained by the product information.

Sometimes it is also directly on the package, which solvent was used. Sometimes you have to check the manufacturer's website. If you know which solvent you need, it does not start immediately with removing the glue residue. Rather, you should now take the cotton or cellulose cloth in hand, you need anyway for the removal of glue and look on the ground (its back) an invisible place.

Tip: Do not use synthetic fiber cloths or cloths with synthetic fiber components, which could not handle the solvent.

There drip now a drop of solvent on, if it is too much, immediately wipe away with the work cloth. Depending on the material of the now just a while on the ground, then you have in doubt only a tiny loosened point. Or is gently rubbed, observed and wiped away with kitchen paper in case of doubt.

Tip: Water + cloth for wiping should be quickly accessible.

If you know that the material can withstand a solvent, you can get started. If the glue test is already quite old and well dried, you can put the solvent-soaked cloth on the glue residue. And cover this "package", with a plate or paper towel and foil. The solvent may now act a little.

For thick layers of adhesive residue, first of all loosened adhesive is scraped off with the back of the knife. If necessary, repeat this process several times until you can wipe away the remains and shadows with the solvent-soaked cloth.

If the glue remains on clothing, the treatment just described should be done before washing or garmenting the garment.

If the material does not endure the solvent, you should under no circumstances clear out the entire cleaning cabinet or workshop cabinet and try out with existing means. Also, avoid testing alleged "grandma home remedies" advice from the Internet if you are advised to use unidentified and potentially chemically reactive substances.

There are a number of Internet portals that want to get rich with advice on any topic, paying qualified authors and editorial examination bothers. Go to the manufacturer's website, if you can not find your specific problem there, call him. The further away the company is from the international mega-corporation, the greater the chance that a long-time employee will be brought to the other end of the line, who has already experienced everything, really everything with gluing and de-sticking:

An overview of adhesive manufacturers with a search for alphabet and search for the field of application of the adhesive can be found on the website of the Industrieverband Klebstoffe eV at www.klebstoffe.com/ueber-den-verband/mitglieder/mitgliedsfirmen.html.

Remove normal adhesive residues

If you want to remove only normal household and office adhesive from the tube, you get the fastest with normal solvents from (in case of doubt preliminary check as just described), also the basic procedure remains the same:

• Alcohol (alcohol, in need of vodka from the home bar) works, but only as long as the glue is not completely dried out
• acetone
• nitro thinner
• Ethyl acetate (= ethyl acetate) is quite often recommended as a solvent for adhesives. This chemical compound is no longer marketable, because it not only solve the adhesive, but also used for "sniffing". Therefore, it may only be sold in pharmacies on presentation of a corresponding tissue certificate. Because it is such a good solvent, however, ethyl acetate is included in many nail polish removers.
• Liquefied petrol (light gasoline, benzine, cleaning gasoline) dissolves grease and glue
• Turpentine substitute, usually white spirit, you use for environmental protection and health reasons as possible aroma-free "odorless" white spirit

For removal in particularly tricky situations or on particularly sensitive surfaces, see the article "Removing superglue from clothing and skin". Super Adhesive is the most determined representative of this family of adhesives, clothing and skin are the most sensitive substrates - whatever you get here without any damage, you get from all (non-chemically reactive with the solvent, preliminary test is always mandatory) substrates.

Various adhesives

In our everyday life, there are many more adhesives, although we usually pay little attention to this fact. Unbelievably many things of daily life are held together with glue, because it would be far more expensive to connect the items in a different way, often other compounds would also keep worse. Every day is adhesive use z. In the following branches / areas of life:

• Paper and packaging industry
• Möbelfabrikatio
• automotive
• Construction and equipment industries in crafts
• bookbinding
• cable manufacturing
• electronics
• Do-it-yourself
• school
• office
• household

Wherever an adhesive joint "flies", the remnants of the old adhesive must be removed before re-bonding for the new bond to hold (unless you know exactly which adhesive was used and learn from the manufacturer that "new" on the Remains of "old" can be glued, extremely rare case).

Therefore, there are tips for removing some household-typical, but very special glue residues:

Double-sided adhesive tape

1. Remove any remains of double-sided tape

When double-sided tape is used to join two surfaces and separate them again, this sometimes has to be done very carefully, because a surface is so sensitive that it can be broken down, for example. B. would suffer when using a chisel. For example, a mirror, which was glued to the bathroom wall with mirror tape. If you want to remove it and the mirror is to remain completely, it is carefully separated from the wall with fine wire or floss. When wire or thread is working through the adhesive layer, they do so at different heights; on both surfaces, most of the remnants of adhesive tape are left hanging:

These rests should first be heated with a hair dryer, sometimes you can just rub them away. If that does not work and you know which tape was used, there might be a special glue remover in the hardware store. If not, it's your turn to try benzene, you can also try it with silicone remover, alcohol and the insider tip car paint polish (do not forget to check the background for the test).

edge band

2. Remove residues of edge bandages before renewal

Old, damaged edge trimmers are gently heated with the iron until they can be pulled off. A degree-of-degree fumbling from the slightest heat adjustment to the heat, in which the edge dissolves, but the plastic does not melt, there are always leftovers on the edge - which must be gone, if the new Kantenumleimer not immediately waves again to beat.

If you have to grind anyway, because the old edgebanding has come loose due to bumps, you can cut off the remains carefully with the chisel. If the edge is smooth, usually a very fine wire brush with alcohol, which makes the substrate also fat and dust-free. When it is dry, the new edge can be ironed.

adhesive films

3. Wall tattoos, dc-fix and other adhesive films

Adhesive films for surface design are usually removed by peeling off after heating. Adhesive residues are usually small and disappear when washing with a sponge, before removing larger adhesive residue with any solvents you should ask the manufacturer in case of doubt.

tile glue

4. Quickly remove tile adhesive residues

Here and at the next construction foam is to be taken literally literally, because glue remnants of both can be freshly removed well, later only with difficulty:

• fresh tile adhesive can be washed off with water and sponge
• Read on the box first when the glue hardens, tile adhesives take up to 15 hours to harden.
• hardened tile adhesive residues (dispersion adhesive) can be removed with a paint remover for dispersion paints (wear gloves, paint strippers are not skin-friendly)
• mechanical removal works well on hard surfaces such as screed, brick or concrete: masonry hammer, chisel, planer, spatula (stable scraper)
• For larger surfaces, use a hammer drill with a chisel
• Tile adhesive residues on soft surfaces first carefully with the grinder edit
• then with the Flex and diamond grinding wheel, enormous dust development (respirator mask)
• Then with a concrete grinder with diamond grinding cup, dust development so, best in the hardware store lend equipment with connectable industrial vacuum cleaner
• For soft surfaces, carefully adjust the speed so that the ground is not immediately ground away

foam adhesive

5. Building foam and other foam adhesive for sealing, filling etc.

Above all else, dirt from construction foam or mounting foam must be removed quickly; once they have hardened properly, they are extremely "hard-wearing", ie difficult to remove (and attract dirt and turn yellow in sunlight).

Construction foam is mostly polyurethane foam, and is made of polyol. Polyol is a crude oil-based organic compound which, when in contact with isocyanate, becomes polyurethane; Accelerators, flame retardants, blowing agents, stabilizers are also still in the mixture, which sticks, models and seals so well and bombproof. A devil's stuff, hardened mounting foam is resistant to all means that are normally good for removing the traces of work: Neither water, nor oil, gasoline, alkalis or the usual solvents can harm the hardened foam.

Fresh construction foam is wiped off with kitchen paper as completely as possible and then washed with water.

Old mounting foam is more inaccessible:

• after careful preliminary testing on the ground you can try soaking it
• in acetone, nitro dilution or special solvents from the manufacturer
• Pay particular attention to ventilation and protection from inhalation

If that does not help, it's time for mechanical removal, depending on the substrate, using the following methods:

• what can survive, can be cut off carefully, with a cutter or sharp knife
• Construction foam on hard surfaces disappears with the Ceranfeld scraper or a fine wire brush
• Remove foam on soft surfaces with fine steel wool

Just as amusing as removing construction foam can be the removal of wallpaper and the adhesive residue left behind by them, especially if the wallpaper has been on the wall for an eternity.

Would you like to learn more about removing construction foam "> Remove mounting foam