A (Crazy!) Easy Way to Remove Glue from Containers
I’ve been knee-deep in organizing our pantry, and have been using the most brilliant hack to remove glue from containers. This quick tip is something I would typically include in my Sunday Short newsletter…but it’s too crazy good that I want to make sure everyone gets to see it! Forget the GuGone and hours of scrubbing, my friends! Did you know hand sanitizer can quickly and easily clean off icky sticky adhesive! Let me show you!
True Story
A few months ago, Sam and Jack had doctor’s appointments. Upon leaving, Sam was given a handful of stickers as a reward for doing so well. Right after, we went out to lunch in a restaurant, where Sam proceeded to stick all the stickers to the table. “No big deal, I thought. He’s content, and I’m sure they will come right off.” Famous last words, right?
After paying our bill, I went to remove the stickers from the table only to learn that they were the yucky kind. You know…the kind of stickers that are impossible to remove and instead leave behind tons of paper and glue.
Greg came back from the bathroom to see me vigorously peeling layer after layer of sticker off the table and said, “Don’t you have any hand sanitizer with you?”
“Ummm…yes I do. Why?”
“Use it on the stickers.”
“What?”
“Hand sanitizer will take the paper and glue right off the table.”
“What is this voodoo magic you speak of?”
“We do it in the field all the time. To clean laminated maps and such.”
Full of 1000% skepticism, I put some hand sanitizer on the stickers and within seconds…the stickers peeled right off. No scrubbing. No cursing. No glue left behind.
Seriously!
“Why don’t people know this!?!” I said.
With a sly grin, he said “Marines do.”
Greg was very proud that he knew something I didn’t…and I was just beyond to have a much easier way to remove labels, stickers, and glues from surfaces, jars and other containers. I have spent many a minute scraping stickers off a variety of things, and usually resort to a combination of soaking, dish soap, scrapers and GuGone (my least favorite because it leaves everthing so oily). I have since used this trick over and over and thought you should know about it too!
How to Remove Glue From Containers with Hand Sanitizer
Below is Exhibit A…one of my pantry containers with all sorts of labels stuck to it. You can even see where, years ago, I attempted to remove the price tag and gave up.
I really wanted to clean up my containers as part of my pantry makeover since they had so many different labels stuck to them. So I grabbed my bottle of hand sanitizer and got to work.
Literally, all you have to do is pour some hand sanitizer on the label, rub it around, and after just a few seconds, scrape the label clean off with your finger nail. Every now and then, if there’s some glue really stuck on, you’ll need to repeat the process or use a straight edge like a scraper. But most times, it cleans up perfectly on the first try!
In general, hand sanitizer will peel up paper labels without having to remove them first. If you have a thick plastic label, I recommend removing the label first (a hair dryer is usually the best method to loosen the adhesive), and then use hand sanitizer to get rid of the rest of the glue.
No soaking. No scrubbing. No oily, gross, expensive GuGone. Not only do I usually always have hand sanitizer around, but it’s pretty inexpensive and leaves your surfaces squeaky clean and smelling nice too. I’ve used hand sanitizer to remove stickers and labels on all sorts of surfaces (e.g., tables, laminated paper, candle jars, pantry containers, plastic boxes and more!). I can’t wait to hear if you give it a try and have success too!
My full pantry tour is now live…clean containers and all!
Megan
29 Comments on “A (Crazy!) Easy Way to Remove Glue from Containers”
That husband of yours is a real keeper!
Does it work on bumper stickers?
I’ve got some other antique labels that nothing has worked on. Going to give this a try. I have several bottles of (gifted) hand sanitizer sitting around, since I tend to prefer soap and water–sanitizers don’t work for C. diff., and I work in healthcare.
Wonder who that first commenter might be…
I can’t wait to try this! I usually use goo gone (which I don’t like the feel of on my fingers) followed by a soapy wash.
“What is this voodoo magic you speak of?” 😂😂😂
Thank you for this tip! Can’t wait to try it! Love that your husband commented, lol!
I never thought of using hand sanitizer to do the job.
I will try very soon.
Have a great week-end.
This timely post came right as I was trying to get a sticker off the windshield of my car. Stupid come get your tires rotated type sticker. Still need to find a minute when I am not driving to get the rest of it off….😁. But thank you for posting this!
I love that story about Greg! It actually made me laugh out loud, which was awkward because I was in the bathroom (#mumlife). I wonder what other chestnuts he’s got up his sleeve?
Thanks, I’ll have to try this. I’m a thrift store shopper and those stickers get the best of me.
Good luck, and I hope it works for you! (By the way, I wrote this post back when Hand Sanitizer wasn’t in super short supply!)
Thanks,Megan
this didnt work for me…..i’ve tried everything to get the glue off plastic containers.
I was so excited to try this coz I hate the left over residue of Goo Gone. Unfortunately, the hand sanitizer did nothing. I have a bulk store size empty plastic container of nuts that I wanted to repurpose. I first removed the label with a hair dryer then tried the hand sanitizer. I tried 2 different brands, wiped right away, tried again and let it sit and then scraped…nothing. I was so disappointed 🙁. I really wanted it to work. Did I miss a step somewhere? Maybe I did something wrong. Any suggestions would really be appreciated. Thanks!
Hi Angela!
Shucks! I am so sorry this didn’t work for you. I’ve only come across one label it didn’t work on, and it was a thick plastic label held on by some crazy strong adhesive. I can’t say for sure, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the amount of alcohol content in the sanitizer? Did you try soaking the container for a little while and then using the sanitizer? Otherwise, I am sure you did everything right!
So sorry to get your hopes up!Megan
I’m sold, I’ve spent the better part of the day scrubbing off labels on old prescription bottles. I finally took to Pinterest to find a better way. Your way is awesome, thank you so much.
Omg. I just wanted a super simple way of removing the home edit labels off of the container store product because they are EVIL and stuck so hard. I tried this trick and I literally am in heaven. Thank you!!!
Yay! I’m so glad it worked for you!!! Best trick ever!
Have a great day!Megan
Taking on new hobbies during shutdown and I have decided that wind chimes from the wine bottles was a good way to recycle. Used this on the labels and I giggled through the short process because it was so simple and so easy! Kuddos to your husband for sharing with you and kuddos for sharing on Pinterest!! Thank you!
You are most welcome! I am so glad it worked out for you – magic, isn’t it 😉
Have a great weekend!Megan
Thanks for the tip. I must say this worked but not as quickly as you suggested. It took4 applications of the sanitizer and I finally took my nylon scrubber to get off the final bits. Mine was a large label so that was part of the problem. This tip is a keeper!
Hand sanitizer isn’t so cheap anymore. What do you use now?
Hi Linda!
We still have huge bottles of it from stocking up earlier in the pandemic. I don’t take labels off of things all the time, but when I do, I still reach for it because it works quicker and easier than almost anything else! We just use the ones with scents we don’t like, lol!
Have a great Tuesday!Megan
It works because of the alcohol. You can just use rubbing alcohol or meths as a solvent on anything that you can disolve with hand sanitizer. E.g. oil based paint and stickers.
That’s what I figured…although these days I am much more likely to have hand sanitizer than alcohol on hand, lol!
Thanks for stopping by!Megan
This is exciting!! It might be because of the alcohol. I use alcohol to remove stickers, but this is even better because it stays in place! Thank you!
Yep, I think so too! And these days, I am much more likely to have hand sanitizer around 😂
Thanks for stopping by!Megan
Good ole rubbing alcohol removes most sticky left behind, too. It doesn’t stay in place as well as the hand sanitizer, however. This is a super hack. Also, window cleaner such as Windex will work on the glues that the alcohol won’t work on. Go figure 🤔.
Was so hoping this would work…. back to the drawing board
It worked! I removed a label from a food safe plastic bucket. I used my hair dryer to warm it then applied the hand sanitizer and let it sit for a few minutes. I then used my Cricut scraper to remove the residue. A bonus… it cleaned my scraper too! Thank you. And thank your hubby for his service.
Thank you for sharing this. I have done the soaking, scraping, cooking oil, more scraping, & then as a last resort reached for the chemicals just as you shared. This hack is a game changer!
Windex (has to be the brand) window cleaner works the same way