The Devil's Tape

[UncleEbenezer]

As eny fule kno, when painting a wall you use masking tape to protect surrounding things that aren't being painted.

This rookie fule happened to have a lot of parcel tape going spare, so used it, in blissful ignorance of its persistence. Some of it peeled off OK, but how the **** do I get rid of the remainder? The area of serious difficulty is the shower cubicle.

[Itsallaguess]

Some of it peeled off OK, but how the **** do I get rid of the remainder?

The area of serious difficulty is the shower cubicle.

It might be worth tackling this in two stages...

The first stage is to get the 'plastic' coating of the parcel tape off, which might benefit from a warming with a hair-dryer and then carefully peeling away with tweezers, a scraper, or a knife, depending on how hard-wearing the underlying surface is. The trick with this stage is to warm the underlying sticky stuff, which will hopefully help with the initial removal of the tape element itself.

Careful with a hair-dryer near bathroom sealant though - you might want to use a protective barrier to prevent overheating your water-proofing, and a gentle warming might well be enough anyway, so start from that end of the heat-spectrum first if possible...

If you manage to get the coating off, then any remaining sticky residue is likely to come away more easily with a cloth after it's been dabbed with a little WD40 soaked into a kitchen towel.

As with all these plans, it's difficult to judge without seeing the underlying situation, so probably best to test the above process somewhere discreet at first...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[mc2fool]

As eny fule kno, when painting a wall you use masking tape to protect surrounding things that aren't being painted.

This rookie fule happened to have a lot of parcel tape going spare, so used it, in blissful ignorance of its persistence. Some of it peeled off OK, but how the **** do I get rid of the remainder? The area of serious difficulty is the shower cubicle.

Are you talking about peeling it off at all, or getting rid of the sticky gunk left behind? If the latter try white spirit. If the former try getting under an edge and dabbing white spirit under it as you peel further. Or try IAAG's method to get off the outer layer and then use white spirit on what's still there.

[bungeejumper]

Are you talking about peeling it off at all, or getting rid of the sticky gunk left behind? If the latter try white spirit. If the former try getting under an edge and dabbing white spirit under it as you peel further. Or try IAAG's method to get off the outer layer and then use white spirit on what's still there.

Indeed. Most tape adhesives will respond to either white spirit or meths, but sod's law says you'll always try the wrong one first. And I often find that a washing up sponge with a gentle scourer surface can speed the task. OTOH, my old dad was known to use petrol, which can be a good way to avoid getting old in the first place.

BJ

[pochisoldi]

When it comes to removing stuff I have a hierarchy:
Wet cloth
Wet cloth+detergent
"IPA" Isopropyl Alcohol (aka propan2ol, IPA, "rubbing alcohol")
Meths
White spirit/Petrol/paraffin etc.

In recent years I've never gone any further than IPA for anything other than cleaning brushes.
I consider IPA to be one of those things you always have in the cleaning cupboard - a 500ml bottle lasts for years.

[jfgw]

I am trying to think of where in a shower cubicle you would be painting. I would avoid WD40 anywhere near silicone sealant. I have seen it suggested for silicone removal but this is a bad idea as any residue can soften the new sealant. I find that PVC cleaner is an excellent solvent for many things and it would probably work on parcel tape adhesive. It is also good for silicone removal (it is what I mainly use it for) however, so keep it away from any such sealant.

https://www.toolstation.com/everbuild-pvcu-solvent-cleaner/p31464

Cheaper here (£6.17 EXC VAT, £3.72 INC VAT) https://gkproductsuk.com/products/everbuild-pvcu-cleaner?variant=42858714529969&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAjw3dCnBhBCEiwAVvLcu4sEiBCgN8ocn5j7_GUIpu1Ds0bOkBIy7v25lA5lbiQenecpPZ1ErRoCEzEQAvD_BwE


Julian F. G. W.

[bungeejumper]

In recent years I've never gone any further than IPA for anything other than cleaning brushes.
I consider IPA to be one of those things you always have in the cleaning cupboard - a 500ml bottle lasts for years.

Each to his own, I suppose. I keep mine in the fridge. A 500 ml bottle lasts about twenty minutes. What am I doing wrong?

BJ

[ReformedCharacter]

Another option that may work is mineral oil, I'd suggest 'baby oil' but I doubt if UE has any to hand My wife has to apply patches for medical reasons and neither meths nor isopropyl alcohol would remove the residue. A nurse suggested baby oil and I was rather sceptical but it actually works very well, at least on that particular adhesive.

Good Housekeeping seems to agree that it can be used for removing adhesive:

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/q-and-a/a2438/remove-sticky-adhesive-oct02/

RC

[UncleEbenezer]

I am trying to think of where in a shower cubicle you would be painting.

Around it! And the reason it's difficult is twofold: firstly the tape sticks fiendishly to it so peeling it off leaves residue, and secondly it's too soft to use abrasives like a brillo pad or to scrape aggressively. Other things - like mirrors and wall lights - were less of a problem.

Thanks for the responses. Some of them are things I've already tried, others I shall decide what to try next and report back if something works well.

[servodude]

I am trying to think of where in a shower cubicle you would be painting.

Around it! And the reason it's difficult is twofold: firstly the tape sticks fiendishly to it so peeling it off leaves residue, and secondly it's too soft to use abrasives like a brillo pad or to scrape aggressively. Other things - like mirrors and wall lights - were less of a problem.

Thanks for the responses. Some of them are things I've already tried, others I shall decide what to try next and report back if something works well.

There are some things I've found that only sticky stuff remover works on.

I use the Orange Power one
- the only UK reference I've found is in the mail (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8950119/Shoppers-raving-cleaning-buy-Planet-Ark-Orange-Power.html)
It normally turns adhesive residue in to something you can just wipe off - and smells very pleasant in the process

It's a bit more viscous than spirits so perhaps its quite close to the baby oil already mentioned - just repackaged for the a different job

-sd