Tips and Techniques Thursday

Hi there everyone.  It's Thursday again, and I'm back with another set of tips and techniques for you.  This week, I am placing my attention on adhesives and how to remove them.

Last week, I talked about using a bone folder when applying adhesives with any type of liner attached to it, whether red or white liner.  But what do you do if you adhere your piece crooked or just not quite right?  Well, there are several things you can do to get that pesky industrial strength adhesive to release. One product is called Un-du.  Although expensive, it can be a lifesaver when saving a piece of artwork you spent hours working on, and it doesn't really take that much.  If you are unfamiliar with Un-du, it is a clear liquid that you spread along the area that is adhered, and it will release.  When the product dries, the adhesive quality returns and you can now adhere it properly.  It will not harm your paper, stickers, or embellishments, either.

Un-du adhesive remover

No Un-du, no problem.  I have found that using my heat gun to what I call "liquefy" the adhesive has saved me more than once.  Now, when using a heat gun, you want to keep the heat gun moving so as not to harm your piece.  You don't want to burn the paper, but simply heat up the adhesive long enough  to make it release.  Sometimes, the adhesive will remain intact on your paper and can be used again, but sometimes it is damaged and I just pull it off and put another strip onto my paper.  A small price to pay to save something you labored over.  I have even removed mailing labels from shipping boxes that I want to reuse just as easy as you please.  

Sticky scissor blades, or sticky residue left on something when you tried to remove a price tag or label? Again, Un-du will remove adhesive residue left on scissors, paper, plastic, etc.  Sometimes, the heat gun will work, too, but depends on the surface.  Always use caution when using the heat gun, though.  Another product I have found to help remove sticky residue is called Goo Gone.  It is a more oily, citrus-ey type of product, not suitable to apply to paper or anything porous, but works fabulously on non-porous surfaces, such as plastic, glass, ceramic, metal (like scissor blades), etc.

I want to point out, though, that these products only work on the self-adhesive type of adhesives.  It is much harder to remove anything that has been adhered with a wet glue.

Well, I hope that solves some of your more "sticky" situations.    Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week.  Till next time ....

Barbara