How to remove stickers from your furniture – tips for every common surface

We often find stickers to be a common presence in our lives, sometimes however these sticky labels are more hindrance than help. 

Removing stickers can be a challenging task, especially when dealing with different surfaces like glass, wood, ceramic, and windows. You want to try your luck and peel it back, however you are often greeted with a seemingly impossible residue left behind.

Below is a step-by-step guide on how you can remove stickers, along with their residues from a variety of common surfaces. 

How to Remove Stickers from Common Surfaces 

Discover how to remove stickers by following these expert tips. 

1. Removing Stickers From Glass

Most stickers we encounter are either stuck on jars, bottles or mirrors that are made out of glass. Here is how one can remove them without leaving traces of the stickers.

Materials Needed:

- Warm soapy water

- A plastic scraper or credit card

- Rubbing alcohol

- Microfiber cloth

The Steps:

First, dip a piece of cloth in warm soapy water and put it on the sticker for a few minutes. This will help soften the adhesive. From one corner, gently peel off the sticker. You can use a plastic scraper from Amazon if needed or a debit or credit card.

If still sticky from the adhesive, wet a cloth with white vinegar or the rubbing alcohol from Walmart and rub gently until clean and wipe away any remaining adhesive residue. Give the glass a final wipe-down with Method glass cleaner from Amazon to leave it streak-free.

Alternative Method:

One alternative method for removing stickers from glass surfaces is with a hair dryer. With a hair dryer, such as the Dyson Supersonic™ hair dryer, warm up the sticker; this way, peeling it is going to be much more approachable. You can also use a baking Soda Paste: Directly apply the paste of baking soda and water onto the residue; using a cloth, scrub the surface. 

2. Removing Stickers From Wood

Wood can be a very sensitive surface, so it is all about removing any stickers using gentle methods so as not to harm them in any way or leave any internal marks or damage.

Materials Needed:

- Hairdryer

- Olive oil or cooking oil

- Soft cloth

- Mild dish soap

The Steps:

‘Step 1 is to use a hairdryer on a low setting to heat the sticker and loosen the adhesive,’ says professional cleaner Sara San Angelo, The Cleaning Lady. ‘Next, gently peel away the sticker, using your fingers or a plastic scraper. Once you have scraped away as much of the sticker as you can, apply olive oil or cooking oil to any remaining adhesive and let it sit for a few minutes.’

Finally, wipe off the oil and adhesive with a soft cloth and clean the area with mild dish soap and water.

Alternative Method:

Use a mixture of Arm & Hammer baking soda from Walmart and coconut oil. Apply to the adhesive, let it sit, and then wipe off. 

Sara San Angelo

Sara San Angelo a.k.a The Cleaning Lady is a professional house cleaner with 20 years of experience cleaning houses. She also runs a successful blog full of great cleaning tips, product reviews, and hilarious stories about her train wreck clients. She's been featured frequently on Homes & Gardens and its sister magazine, RealHomes.

3. Removing Stickers From Ceramic

Like the tiles and mugs, some ceramics also have stickers, which in fact do not stick to anything and instead stick on the surface, properly.

Materials Needed:

- Warm soapy water

- Plastic scraper or credit card

- White vinegar

- Sponge

The Steps:

When removing stickers from ceramic surfaces, wet the region where you intend to paste the sticker with the cloth soaked in warm water mixed with soap. Next, with the use of the plastic scraper or the credit card, card or scrape the edges of the sticker and lift it up.

After you have scraped the sticker off, add a couple of tones of rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover from Amazon to the affected area with a cloth and scrub off any remaining adhesive. Finally, clean the ceramic by washing it with water then using a clean cloth or sponge that will not trigger static electricity, wipe the surface of the ceramic and then wipe it with another cloth to dry.

Alternative Method:

One alternate method to remove stickers from ceramic surfaces is by soaking the area in a blend of tea and salt. Boil tea in water and add salt to soak the residual and wipe it using a sponge.

Similar to other surfaces you can remove stickers easier with the application of heat. By using a hair dryer, it warms the sticker allowing it to be peeled off with less difficulty. 

4. How to Remove Stickers From Windows

According to cleaning expert Prerna Jain, removing stickers from window surfaces can be a complicated task depending on the type of sticker and the material of the window. If the sticker has been placed on tinted or frosted glass then the process can be explained as follows.

Materials Needed:

- Razor blade scraper (for windows)

- Warm, soapy water

- Rubbing alcohol

- Microfiber cloth

The Steps:

The first step when trying to remove stickers from windows is to apply a warm soapy water solution to the sticker and let it sit for a few minutes. Next, use a razor blade scraper at a 45-degree angle to gently remove the sticker.

Wipe away any adhesive residue with rubbing alcohol and a microfiber cloth and then clean the window with a standard glass cleaner to finish.

Alternative Method:

Use a mixture of equal parts water and fabric softener from Walmart. Spray on the sticker, let it sit, and then scrape off.

FAQs

Does vaseline remove tape residue?

In short, yes. Products such as Vaseline are made out of petroleum jelly and work just the same as oils and lotions which are great at removing tape residue.

Does citrus oil remove stickers?

Another method for removing stickers is to use a citrus essential oil. Sweet orange oil from Naked & Thriving is the most inexpensive and the most environmentally friendly of the citrus oils since it's made from the byproducts of the orange juice industry. Citrus oils are high in d-limonene, a solvent that will dissolve the adhesive on stickers. 

If you can peel off the sticker first then the oil will clean up the residue. If you can't get the sticker off first, apply the oil as much behind it or on the edges as possible. Use a couple of drops for a small sticker, and leave the oil on for one minute. Then peel the sticker off as much as possible and reapply around the edges until it comes off completely. Finally clean the oil off with a damp cloth or baby wipe. 

This will work on all hard surfaces but don't use this on unfinished wood, as the oil will stain it. It could also stain wood finished with an oil finish.