A (Crazy!) Easy Way to Remove Stubborn Labels from Containers
I’ve been knee-deep in organizing our newest pantry, and have been using the most brilliant hack to remove glue from labels and stickers on our 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 soaking and 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 years ago, our two young boys had doctor’s appointments. Upon leaving, one was given a handful of stickers as a reward for doing so well. We then went out to lunch in a restaurant, where he proceeded to stick all the stickers right 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 shreds and glue.
Greg came back from the bathroom to see me vigorously scratching up layer after layer 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 adhesives left behind. I was eventually able to wipe down the table, as if our sticker fiasco never happened!
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 over-the-moon to have a much easier way to remove pesky labels, stickers, and glues from surfaces, jars, and other containers.
I have spent many a minute scraping residue off a variety of things and usually resort to a combination of soaking in a sink of warm soapy water, plastic scrapers, and GuGone (my least favorite because it leaves everything so oily). I have since used this trick over and over with great success and want you to know about it too!
How to Remove Sticker Residue 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 upcoming pantry makeover since they have so many different labels stuck to them (from years and years of demo-ing various labeling techniques here on the blog!) 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 paper 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 super glue residue really stuck on, you’ll need to repeat the process or use a straight edge like a plastic scraper, credit card, or razor blade to get off the remaining residue. But most times, it cleans up perfectly on the first try!
Why It Works
The general consensus is that this particular “hack” works because of the rubbing alcohol in the hand sanitizer. That said, I find hand sanitizer tends to work better than just straight rubbing alcohol, so I suspect the gel helps saturate and ultimately loosen the sticker paper too.
What Kind of Labels Can You Use Hand Sanitizer On?
In general, I find that hand sanitizer works best on paper labels and stickers. And you don’t even need to remove them before dealing with the adhesive. Just dump the hand sanitizer directly on the paper label and scratch away.
If you have a thick plastic label (like the white one shown on the middle of the container above), I recommend removing the label first (see how below), and then use hand sanitizer to get rid of the residual glue.
What Kind of Containers Can You Use Hand Sanitizer On?
In my personal experience, you can use hand sanitizer to remove stickers and labels on anything plastic (including laminate countertops) and glass (including candle jars, condiment jars, glass cleaning bottles, windows, etc). That said, I suspect it will also work on other hard, non-porous surfaces such as metal, granite, marble, porcelain, tile, painted walls/doors, etc.
My OTHER Favorite Way to Remove Sticky Labels (& Their Glue)
If you have thick, plastic laminated labels, the hand sanitizer may not penetrate the surface in order to loosen the adhesive.
In this situation, I recommend using my other favorite trick to remove stubborn labels: a hair dryer!
Simply apply direct heat with a hair dryer to the label for a full 1-2 minutes. This will soften the adhesive so that you can easily peel up the label.
Most often, the entire label will come right up (without even tearing) and leave zero residue behind. If necessary, follow-up with hand sanitizer to get rid of any remaining adhesive!
BONUS TIP!
Did you stick something to your walls, doors, or tile using “permanent” adhesive stickers (such as hooks, hangers, latches, a stubborn Command strip, etc?) This hair dryer trick works on those things too!
Do not just pull off the hook…because the permanent sticker will peel up the paint. Instead, heat the adhesive…significantly…with a hot hair dryer.
Then gently pry your hook away from the surface as the adhesive softens.
In most instances, you will get your hook off without peeling the paint, but you will likely be left with some permanent residue behind.
Continue to heat the glue area, scrape off what you can and then finish with the hand sanitizer to completely remove the “permanent” sticker glue!
Other Effective Methods to Remove Glue From Surfaces
If you search for ways to remove adhesive, you’ll find all sorts of similar hacks. Although I haven’t personally tried any of the ones listed below, if the hand sanitizer doesn’t work on your sticky residue, perhaps give one of these a try next. Simply soak a cotton ball, paper towel, or clean cloth in one of the following and then rub all over your sticker or glue:
- Acetone (nail polish remover)
- Peanut Butter
- Essential Oils
- Mayonnaise
- Vegetable Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Windex
- Wd-40
- White Vinegar
- Dish Soap
- Baking Soda
- Adhesive Remover such as Goo Gone
- Rubber Eraser
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, curtain rods, shelf brackets, and more!) And when it appears like it won’t get the job done, I reach for my hair dryer too!
Next time you have a label or sticker gunk left on a plastic surface, be sure to give these handy tricks a try!
Megan
61 Comments on “A (Crazy!) Easy Way to Remove Stubborn Labels from Containers”
I can’t wait to give this a try!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Obrigada por esta dica Megan.
antes eu tirava com álcool, mas agora experimentar com desinfetante .
Obrigada. Abraços
Using straight rubbing alcohol works too. I have also had amazing results with peanut butter. (on those really hard stuck on labels). Just spread it on and leave it for a few hours or overnight and it wipes right off.
Can’t wait to try this with my leftover sanitizers! Recently I have received some essential oils that I do not like the scent of (so i do not want to put in a diffuser) and they work great as sticker removal for me so far, but have only tested on a few materials like glass and metal
I’ve not tried hand sanitizer yet but I also hate the smell of Goo Gone. Yuck! My favorite so far is a few drops of lemon oil. Works like a charm on the tougher paper sticker-type labels I’ve tried to remove. Gotta let it soak in. Any residue can be removed with a second pass if need be. Not sure how it would work on plastic labels, like the ones on candle jars.
Command strips are the worst! We pulled some off the wood look vinyl foil in our RV and that was a bad idea. I think there are places where they are just not advisable. And hand sanitizer or any alcohol is not idea on real wood either. But for labels on plastic it’s great.
Many years ago, when hand sanitizer did not exist except in those tiny 1×1 squares in packets in first aid kits, and Goo Gone wasn’t around yet either my go-to was WD40. I hate the smell so it’s my last choice now if all else fails. My pantry is full of OXO pop tops with TJ Maxx labels also. Goo Gone residue comes off with hot water and liquid dish washing stuff like Dawn. Emphasis on hot.
Love it! Will share with my sisters and hopefully save a lot of frustration and cursing for all of us. Another thing that works to remove the stickers/residue is lighter fluid. Probably not as handy as most of the other things on your list, but it might help someone. Thanks, Megan!
OMG! I can’t wait to tell my friends! I mean, who knew? Obviously the Marines! I am going in search of labels to be removed now! Thanks so much
Oooooooh raaaahhhhh!
Love this sticker removal trick. I just hate stickers and this solve the problem of removing them.
Thanks for the great hint.
Hello, I have tried goo-gone , WD-40, vinegar and men’s shaving cream. Most will work but have to add——-time, elbow grease, wash off the residue. NEXT time I will try hand sanitizer. Which I do have plenty on hand.
I loved this information on command strips. I am now going to use the strips that I have😊
Hi Megan,
Removing labels and price stickers is also one of my pet peeves. For removing a large quantity of them at once soak them in a sink full of hot water with a scoop of oxyclean for about 30 minutes. I had over a hundred wine glasses to remove the stickers from for an event and this worked perfectly—-just slid right off, no scraping! Then just washed the glasses as normally would.
Thanks for all the tips you share……and for your husbands service to our country!
Thanks like these ideas,
Great tips. We are moving soon and I need to remove all our simplisafe and ecobee sensors. We found that not everyone will have WiFi or want a WiFi based thermostat or alarm system so I’ve been asked by buyer’s agent to un-smartify my house. I had no clue! Though these were assets. She even wanted us to take our 4 Hunter fans remotes off the walls and to remove our very prices remote blinds. I have concluded that removing stuff is worse than installing it. I also found that command strips are a no-no on foiled fake wood grain surfaces like inside cabinets with solid wood doors but not real wood inside. I found patience, WD40 and a hairdryer worked.Gel type hand sanitizer did not work plus it removed the actual fake wood design.
Love this hack! What about sticky residue left on fabric from stickers or name tags?