How to get sticky marks and stickers off guitars?

[c_r_a_z_y]

A few years ago when I bought my Grassroots guitar I stuck a Metallica sticker in between the 2 humbuckers, but now I want to take it off an polish up my guitar!
How can I take this sticker off and get rid of the sticky marks any idea's!
I need to know what u suggest will work tho because this guitar is my pride and joy!
Cheers
c_r_a_z_y

 

[BrettB]

hehe, I did the same with I had my first epiphone strat when I was 15 years old. I covered the poor guitar with stickers from Jimi, Led Zep, Rage, Doors,...

How did I get them of? I didn't, and the ones I took off left marks. But now I look back with nostalgic pride at my old fucked up guitar, thinking about when I was fifteen and spend hours with that guitar at my room while parents thought I was studying.

 

[joro]

Someone had posted earlier that Lemon Oil was good for taking stickers off of things...It couldn't hurt the wood...it's cheap too.

I use it on my fretboards...
J.

 

[sonusman]

Generally, either Rubbing Alcohol, or lighter fluid will do the trick quite well, and neither harms your finish. Although, you don't want to leave either on their for too long.

Remove as much of the sticker as you can, apply some lighter fluid to a rag and dab it on the remaining stuff and soak it fairly well. It should just peel right off once the lighter fluid "heats up" the glue. Wipe clean with clean rag and apply your polish. Easy enough.

Yes, I have done this many times to remove stupid stickers from old guitars.

Ed

 

[Leeking]

one very effective trick is to use eraser (YES!) to rub off the sticky marks...

peel of the sticker, and just use the eraser to gently rub off whatever sticky marks that's left behind. Then give your guitar a nice wipe and voila!!

note: use those softer type of eraser for rubbing of pencil marks.... not those hard ones used for pen!

 

[VOXVENDOR]

Just throw it out... Your due for a new one anyways...

 

[gibs]

Ed is right about lighter fluid, which is actually naptha.....it won't even hurt the nitro finishes on Les Pauls, but it will leave a dull haze, which will disappear with guitar polish, or even lemon pledge......

the rubbing alcohol method takes more elbow grease; some sticker's glues don't seem to be affected by it, while others come right off......gibs

ps, it's not called "lighter fluid" for nothing....don't be smoking anything of any flavor or sit in front of a nice warm fire while you're doing the sticker removal............you and your guitar could both end up toast...........

 

[mixmkr]

Bosch, DeWalt, Milwaukee.....they all make excellent grinders if the above suggestions don't work fast enough....#100grit sandpaper, and a good sanding block, if you're afraid of the electric stuff....

 

[philboyd studge]

Automotive bug and tar remover, it's designed to clean sticky stuff off of fine finished surfaces.

 

[JameSz]

3M makes an excellent adhesive remover..then I have used Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Clear plastic cleaner and polish. This works wonders on fingernail or pick scratches too

 

[ausrock]

Remove as much of the sticker and adhesive as you can WITHOUT any solvents, then use either lemon or orange oil to gently remove the residue.....it might take a while but it usually works.

 

[MONTE]

Don't laugh. You must see it to believe it. WD40 and a soft toothbrush works better than anything I've seen and your in less danger of ruining soft plastic surfaces. Lighter fluid and similar "potent" chemicals will "eat" some plastics! Be careful if you use these! You'll have to use a standard cleaner to get the oily residue off later, but I've found it to work very well on adhesives.

 

[young_techy]

goo gone

i am a drummer my self but have something 2 add 2 this convertation...
i bought my first 4 piece set when i was 11 for $200
it had dumb stickers all over the basedrum so i mossied down to walmart and bought some GOO GONE after i pealed the stickers off (using a hair dryer to heat up the glue on the stickers) the once the sticker was off i spread the GOO GONE on and rubbed it around.. left it over night and whipped it off the next day and it was as it they were never there

i still have a shitty drumset (no cream could get rid of that)

 

[barefoot]

ausrock is right,

Lemon oil is the classic solvent for doing this sort of thing. It's what guitar builders and repairers use to remove masking tape glue and such - and it's good for your fretboard too.

barefoot

 

[windowman]

I own a commercial window cleaning business so this is kind of up my alley as I remove stickers almost everyday. Sometimes I use that stuff Young Techy was referring to called Goo Be Gone and sometimes I use a product that usually sits right next to it on the shelf at Walmart called Desolve It. I think they're both Citrus based and are pretty much the same thing. They're non-toxic and perfectly safe on wood but I would work fast and clean with a damp rag afterward, and then some lemon oil after it dries. You'll have to rub a bit to get it off and that guy who mentioned using an erasure is on track. A shamois is much better though and will work almost like a scratch pad on stickers without hurting anything.

You know, it just dawned on me that lemon oil is citrus-based to. I don't know how well it will work to remove stickers but it wouldn't hurt to try.