Life hack: How to remove sticky residue from any surface

Some stickers come straight off while others seem determined to hang on. We have done some research into how to get rid of those extra tricky stickers from a few different surfaces.

Metal

Wipe the sticker or remaining glue with clean water and dry with a cloth. Then use any kind of oil (for example olive oil or eucalyptus oil) to remove any residue. Saturate the sticker or residue with the oil and rub until it has been removed. For stainless steel, however, rubbing alcohol often works best.

Wood

Soak a cloth or paper towel in white vinegar and lay it on the sticker. Let the vinegar soak into the sticker for about five minutes. You should now be able to gently peal the sticker off the surface. If there is any remnants that are still difficult to remove than repeat this process again.

Glass

The simplest way to remove a sticker from glass is to soak it in hot soapy water for 10 to 30 minutes. After this time the sticker should be able to be removed easily. Another option for glass is to use equal parts of baking soda and cooking oil. Once you have created this paste rub it onto the sticker and let it sit (for stubborn stickers it may be best to leave over night). It should then be easy to wipe away the sticker using a cloth. Lastly, for those stickers on glass surfaces that cannot be soaked (like windows) try using a hairdryer. The heat from the dryer should melt the adhesive and allow you to remove the sticker.

Do you have any handy tricks to share?

Stories that matter
Emails delivered daily
Sign up