Glue residue on furniture? Here’s how to remove double-sided tape from wood
How should you remove double-sided tape from wood? How should you remove double-sided tape from furniture, frames, or other wooden surfaces without doing any damage?
When it comes to removing glue and adhesives from various surfaces, tools and techniques are many and varied. The main assumption is that, in any case, the complete removal of double-sided tape tends to be more complicated as time goes on.
Removing a double-sided tape or adhesive that has just been placed will be quite simple. This is because the glue hasn’t completely gripped to the surfaces, and because the adhesive side of the tape will still be perfectly glued to the “load-bearing” tape, so that it can be removed without leaving any residue.
Over time, and as the power of the double-sided adhesive tape used increases, it will be slightly more difficult to remove double-sided adhesive tape. And if on surfaces such as metal, plastic, and glass even the most aggressive techniques to remove glue can be used, to remove industrial double-sided adhesive from wood some extra measures should be taken; let’s have a look at why that is.
How to remove double-sided tape from wood: the peculiarities of this material
To understand how to effectively remove double-sided adhesive tape from wood, we must first consider that this is a material porous and delicate by nature.
It should also be stated that there are different types of wooden surfaces. There are, in fact, shelves made of raw wood, which could simply be planned and sanded, without any surface painting.
In general, furniture and furnishings in the house is be made with painted wood while, in other cases, there will be panels covered with plywood, or even with thin layers of fake wood.
Before deciding which technique to use, it is best you understand what type of wooden surface you are working on: raw wood could, for example, absorb oil, leaving a distinct stain, while some low-quality finishes could respond badly to a solvent treatment (to be on the safe side, this guide will consider all techniques which do not require solvents).
How to remove double-sided tape from wood
Let’s have a look, now, at different techniques to understand how to detach industrial double-sided adhesive from wood. Depending on the type of wooden surface to be cleaned, and according to the tools available, you can then decide how to proceed.
Heat jet: let’s start with a technique to remove the strong double-sided adhesive tape from wood that can be used safely on any type of surface or material.
It is in fact a technique that does not involve the use of any liquid substance whatsoever which could somehow ruin the surface itself: the focal point of this technique lies in the use of a hair dryer.
All you have to do is turn on the hair dryer, direct it towards the double-sided adhesive tape to be removed, raise the temperature to the maximum and place it about ten centimetres away from the wood.
This will help the glue soften, making it easier to remove. After a few seconds it will then be easier, using a scraper, to remove the residues of strong double-sided adhesive tape; the right tool in this case is the typical small plastic scraper used in winter to clean the windshield of cars from ice.
Small plastic spatulas can also work, such as those used in pastry, or old and now unused plastic cards. If used delicately, in fact, these small scrapers will allow you to remove any residue of double-sided adhesive tape without damaging neither the wood, nor any finishing.
Vinegar: another method to remove industrial double-sided adhesive tape from wood is white vinegar, a natural degreaser. Moisten a clean cloth or paper towel with white vinegar, and then lay it on the area affected by adhesive tape residue.
After a few minutes it is possible to remove the cloth and start wiping off the adhesive tape, rubbing with the same cloth or using one of the scrapers described above.
Oil: vegetable oil can also be used to peel adhesive tape off the wood. Olive oil, linseed oil, seed oil and so on, they are all excellent lubricants which will help make the residual glue “slip away”.
This technique, it should be noted, should not be used on raw wood, as it tends to leave a fairly obvious trace; however, you could decide to treat the entire wood surface – if it is small enough – with linseed oil, soaking the whole surface; this way, you will obtain wood with a healthier, more colourful appearance, and all the residues of glue from double-sided adhesive will be eliminated in a natural way!
Soapy water: even water mixed with simple soap can help to remove the residue from double-sided tape from wood; we recommend soaking the affected area for a few minutes in this case, too, then to proceed with a mechanical removal action (in the case of more stubborn pieces of glue, however, it is possible to use tweezers).
