Sticky disaster hopefully avoided - Limonene

[Dave2002]

A few months ago I was in LIDL, and I noticed a kind of pen sold for removing sticky labels off shoes, CD cases etc. This contains Limonene, which I became aware of a few years ago. Limonene is very effective at removing gunge and sticky stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limonene

Today I went to put on a CD, and I found one which had an Oxfam label on the outside plastic cover - 49p it cost me. Unfortunately, when I took the CD out I noticed that there was also a rather disintegrated label stuck to the CD surface. Retrieving my limonene pen I started to work on the CD - the results were almost immediate, and the fragmented label bits came straight off without applying any significant pressure. I then wiped the CD with a microfibre cloth (fine one, also from LIDL) and the CD is now playing. There are virtually no residual marks on the CD. The process took less than 30 seconds.

[The CD has just finished - played right through - no problems.]

I suspect that if I'd tried to use other solvents - water, detergent, alcohol (gin, maybe?) it would have taken considerably longer and possibly damaged the CD. The pen thing, which has a reasonably wide felt tip, sold for about £3 I recall. Recommended as something "to have in". I've never seen anything like that anywhere else.

[Bryn]

Interesting. I note that limonene may be purchased online for around £11 a litre (plus carriage).

[Beef Oven!]

Very useful. I'll see if I can get one when I'm next in Lidl.

[jean]

Sounds amazing.

I use white spirit for nearly everything, which is brilliant but might not suit a CD surface.

And I believe it's environmentally unfriendly.

[Bryn]

Why not try the third suggestion on the page liked to below? Cheap and cheerful source of limonene.

http://cccfurnishings.com/clean-sticky-residue/

[Flosshilde]

I like the warning under razor blades - "Be careful and graceful"

Lakeland sell a liquid that removes sticky residue. I can't remember what it's called & the bottle is in my studio so I can't check the name or the ingredients.

[Dave2002]

Why not try the third suggestion on the page liked to below? Cheap and cheerful source of limonene.

http://cccfurnishings.com/clean-sticky-residue/

Maybe, but I think that will requre water or another solvent afterwards to remove the sticky sugars from the orange residue. I checked my CD after it had played. Absolutely no sign of any stickiness or treatment at all. Very clear shiny surface, much better than the surface after Brasso, toothpaste, Brillo pads or razor blades!

Re buying from LIDL - yes - that's a good idea, though they probably won't have it every week. If you have one nearby, then keep looking regularly. I don't know if it is a big enough item to appear in their magazines - perhaps not. In that case if I see it again (or anyone else does) I'll put up a flag here.

Re buying it in bulk - msg 2 - that would probably be overkill for most of us. It's not absolutely clear that it is absolutely safe (i.e. not poisonous, carcinogenic etc.) so I can see merits in only have small quantities around, and the LIDL pen seems ideal. It's not big, but so little limonene is required to remove gungy things that it's probably going to last a few years.

PS: I noticed that I hadn't put my pen away - which I'm about to do. It's called a 3M Label Remover Pen, but attemtps to find that product on Amazon or similar sites are hard. There is one item - at a very high price - nothing as low as the £3 or so I had mine for. So definitely worth watching out for, at LIDL or elsewhere if it's cheap.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Some solvents work -white spirit - dry cleaning fluid etc. If you've got the Lidl pen that must be convenient.

I previously posted another possibility (probably OK to post here as its on topic) - per Bob Flowerdew of GQT. Some adhesives are oil based. Work cooking oil into it, to bulk it up - say 2 or three times original volume. (Carefully -of course) remove the bulk - then use washing up liquid or detergent to remove the residue. I suppose that can be tested on a small part to see if the oil gets incorporated.

Personally, I dislike labels left on CD cases, etc etc intensely. If they weren't removed on purchase (as in the rare Charity shop acquisitions) , I have to get them off....

[Dave2002]

Some solvents work -white spirit - dry cleaning fluid etc. If you've got the Lidl pen that must be convenient.

That limonene pen was orders of magnitude easier than other methods, and seemingly does not damage the products the labels are attached to.
Virtually every other method I've tried either damages the book, LP, CD or leaves a residue or smell. This did not - highly recommended - and very quick.

[Lordgeous]

I've always used "Sticky Stuff" remover spray gel (De-Solvit). Works very well on labels and adhesive residue but never had to try it on a CD surface. Smells nice too!! (I think this came from Lidls too).

[oddoneout]

Limonene is useful and effective stuff(and widespread with the increasing demand for renewable and 'natural' alternatives) but I must confess to being somewhat wary about it ever since seeing what lemons can do to plastics... Way back when, there was a discussion in New Scientist magazine about the effect of lemon tea on polystyrene cups(tended to dissolve them), and more recently I found that cut lemon stored at the top of a fridge door made the clear polycarbonate shelf cover milky(permanently). I now make sure that any such item/substance is very thoroughly cleaned off surfaces, especially plastics. On the plus side spare bits of lemon(from G&T, salad dressing etc) can do a good job of bleaching a wooden chopping board after cutting red peppers etc.

[jean]

I've always used "Sticky Stuff" remover spray gel (De-Solvit). Works very well on labels and adhesive residue but never had to try it on a CD surface. Smells nice too!! (I think this came from Lidls too).

Lakeland sell it, don't they?

[MrGongGong]

"white spirit" is an oil
Very good for some things
BUT leaves lots of reside and doesn't evaporate
Isopropyl alchohol, on the other hand is the wonderful stuff that folks use to clean the heads of their Revox tape machines
and gets rid of many things (including your brain if you were daft enough to drink it!)

[Ferretfancy]

I've never tried it on the CD surface, but for removing label gunge from the cases a small squirt of Mr Sheen Multi Surface Polish does the trick with a paper tissue and a gentle rub. I see that it includes limonene in its list of ingredients.

[Flay]

I find Duraglit useful for removing the residue left by sticky labels.