NA - Removing laminate glue

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ateamer

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Mrs. ateamer is working on a project - redoing a picture frame. She removed the cracked plastic laminate from the wood, which left behind a sticky glue residue. I’ve tried acetone, mineral spirits, alcohol, Goof Off, and Goo Gone. It’s still tacky - nothing seems to remove it. Sanding it with 180 grit just clogged the sandpaper.

Any suggestions? My inclination would be to have it re-laminated rather than trying to paint it, or just buy a new frame.

Note: I don’t much care about art if it can’t fly.
 
Sounds like contact cement, which can be a ***** to remove. Search for "adhesive eraser", they come in pads which require some elbow grease or wheels that go in a drill. They work pretty well.
 
Xylene. 3M makes an adhesive remover, 08984, that is xylene base. Buy the quart, not the spray can.
 
Nah. It sounds like contact cement to me. I used corn starch. As you rub it in, the cement balls up and won't re-stick to anything else. Give it a try and report back.
 
ateamer said:
Mrs. ateamer is working on a project - redoing a picture frame. She removed the cracked plastic laminate from the wood, which left behind a sticky glue residue. I’ve tried acetone, mineral spirits, alcohol, Goof Off, and Goo Gone. It’s still tacky - nothing seems to remove it. Sanding it with 180 grit just clogged the sandpaper.

Any suggestions? My inclination would be to have it re-laminated rather than trying to paint it, or just buy a new frame.

Note: I don’t much care about art if it can’t fly.
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This stuff is by far the best adhesive remover that I have ever used.
It won't hurt paint, I used it to remove large decals off trucks and cars.
I used to display new sponsor decals each week on my race cars. Different sponsor for different tracks and parts of the country. So I was removing and re applying decals quite often.
I have used gallons of this on all kinds of stuff. It removes contact cement and all adhesives I tried it on.
My wife uses it on her antiques to remove price stickers,ink and dirt, on wood, ceramic, plastic. Safe to use on every thing. Mild smell and easy on her hands.
I used it to remove 45 year old contact cement off the door jams on my cessna to apply new weather stripping.
I have used 3M adhesive remover, Car Bright is way better and safer to use.
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Took 5-10 minutes with a red shop rag to remove this adhesive. Does not hurt the paint. The adhesive wound up on the floor. I only used a rag and plenty of solvent, no scrapers.
1e611b78-8f5c-46f8-afc7-bb2f861c46a4.jpg
 
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Well, @Gary Ward , I had the wonderful experience of removing sponsorship decals off of race cars and mostly used a plastic scraper and 3M 08984 or another solvent used by paint shops for stripping waxes/resins (also made great tire prep for race kart tires for road racing). However, I have also stripped the adhesive off of my 182 baggage door for new seals and 3M wouldn't touch it. The amazing photo of your spotless door has me sold!!! Any product, short of one that makes the toxicity of Chernobyl blush, that can do that to the original Cessna seal adhesive has my vote. I will be ordering some today since I will be doing the same again on my 210. Thanks for the tip.
 
It does not remove paint, Cessna kept the door jams bare. It removed all adhesive with no paint removal.
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I also used it remove my tail numbers and a couple 45 year old baked on birds. It was the toughest job yet. Let it dwell on the surface and it will do the job.
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I removed that 1997 sticker also.
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Gary Ward said:
This stuff is by far the best adhesive remover that I have ever used.

I have used 3M adhesive remover, Car Bright is way better and safer to use.
054664d7-dc16-4901-86c8-eb4c1c936bfa.jpg
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Sigh, from their website: NOT FOR SALE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
 
dtuuri said:
Nah. It sounds like contact cement to me. I used corn starch. As you rub it in, the cement balls up and won't re-stick to anything else. Give it a try and report back.
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My mind was going to temperature, thinking that if it's gummy it might solidify if chilled, such as by rubbing it with ice. Then maybe it could be scraped....like getting chewing gum out of carpet or fabric
But yeah, corn starch seems like a great idea. Alternatively, maybe talcum powder. I've done similar sticky cleaning jobs (although prob not this type of adhesive) with dry powders such as scouring powder (bar keeper's friend, etc.) or with salt.
 
farmrjohn said:
Sigh, from their website: NOT FOR SALE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
Click to expand...

Mississippi don’t care!

“Order placed, thank you”. Yay!!

Pirep to follow… Been known to wait 30 years to make some adhesives easy to remove, think peel and stick linoleum. Not sure that’s still a viable option at this point.
 
A pull scraper from a big box paint aisle will make it easy. No chemicals required.
 
There is NOTHING about a manual scraper of ANY KIND that is either easy or fun… and I have a broad definition of fun… just sayin.

Even the ones that require gas, diesel or 240v. Bleck…

Edit: not to say it ain’t the best way to go, but still, I’ll stand by the above. I’ve even designed custom scrapers and have training in metal scraping, and own a Biax and an Anderson Power Scraper… STILL…. not EASY or FUN.

Edit edit: don’t anyone panic and call for help (or notify faa aeromed), I’ll recover from this short bout of PTSD shortly. Go sniff some MEK or Goof Off, that usually helps.

Tools
Ever wonder what kind of tools inspired Tools?
 
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