I buy a lot of second-hand books and I am always looking for the best way to get rid of hard to remove stickers without damaging my purchases. It's not only charity shops but also booksellers that have a habit of using these offensive stickers - there are actually easy-peel stickers especially for books but word seems not to have filtered down to some of the trade.
Anyway, I finally cracked the problem today using a windscreen scraper and lighter fluid. Worked a treat, literally took seconds and with no sticky residue left behind. I also used a trick of my own to avoid any chance of damaging the book by removing the cover and placing it on an old diary of similar size while working on it. The only word of warning is that the lighter fluid is highly flammable, damaging to skin and extremely toxic if inhaled or swallowed - apart from that it's perfectly safe.
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Cleaning Books
- Osciiboscii
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Re: Cleaning Books
Haven't tried it but I believe WD40 would work. I have a bottle of Sticky Stuff Remover for pesky jam jar labels.
Re: Cleaning Books
As long as you aren't tempted to sniff it then you'll be Mr Green
I have bottle of IPA no not the beer Isopropyl Alcohol that I keep handy for similar jobs if that fails then I try Acetone but that does dissolve some plastics.
- Del.Monte
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Re: Cleaning Books
There's a lot of trial and error stuff involved with cleaning things and I remember years ago I often put cast iron signs in the Rayburn to burn off paint not a bother; one evening I tossed in a couple of cast aluminium ones only to open the door a few minutes later to find them skeletal outlines - an expensive mistake not repeated.
'no more blah blah blah'
Re: Cleaning Books
Similarly I can remember cleaning a computer mouse off with Acetone and it dissolved
Re: Cleaning Books
I would try 'magic eraser' on delicate things that might be damaged by chemicals etc.