Question:
Is there a common solvent to remove the adhesive after barcode labels have come off in the dishwasher?
I've seen nail polish remover recommended but have never tried it.
I use lighter-fuel for the Zippo to get the glue left behind by sticky
labels off the things it has clung to. It stinks and you have to wash the
thing afterwards, but it does the trick.
It depends what the adhesive is, try acetone (nail varnish remover), white
spirit, paint brush cleaner, meths, dry cleaning fluid (if you can get
hold of any), lighter fuel (or petrol if that is easier to come by) but
sometimes just rubbing with an eraser gets the worst of it off and then you
can probably remove the rest with one of the above.
Try butter or cooking oil.
Be careful with acetone (or chloroform) - you may dissolve more than the
adhesive.
Good point, I might also warn against Ouzo as a solvent, I once prepared
some propolis tincture in a plastic liquidiser goblet using said spirit and
it dissolved a hole in the goblet :(
Peanut butter also seems to work - but there are probably much better uses
for it
Sellotape - stick a strip over the adhesive and gently pull off. Some
of the adhesive will lift off. Keep sticking the Sellotape on and
pulling it off until all the adhesive has been removed.
I'd try a dry-cleaning fluid like Dabitoff, if you can get it. I think these
solvents are environmentally-hostile or something, and not as easily
available as they used to be, but there are times when nothing else will do
the trick.
Which contains/ed carbon tetrachloride AFAIR. Whether it's carcinogenic,
ozone-destroying or people got high sniffing it, I don't recall at all....
The second and third, I think.
...but I don't think it's available to the general public any more.
Mostly cos of the ozone thing and Montreal
I wonder what the dry cleaning business uses, then? Or are they allowed to
have great vats of the stuff while I have to make my precious little bottle
last for the rest of my life, even though I hardly ever have anything dry
cleaned? ITWSBT.
More than you probably need to know about Carbon Tetrachloride is at
http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/ccl4.html which says that it is
poisonous in large doses (liver and kidney damage) and possibly
carcinogenic. The most common solvent these days is Perc - Perchloroethylene.
Last updated
February 16th 2004
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