why when we are all encouraged to recycle as much as we can, why is it label manufacturers insist on using shit to a blanket type industrial strength glue?
Labels on jars, books, gifts packing of all sorts. You then have the job of peeling them off in order for the recipient of your gift to see that what they thought was a thoughtful gift was in fact a bargain bucket buy of humongous discounted proportions?
Glue to me I often thought had a nap like velvet, pull it one way and it clings to life with the tenacity of an oyster to its pearl, pull it the other and it gives up without a fight. Am I wrong?
I always reuse jam and pickle jars in order to make my own and at the same time save the planet!?! If only it was that easy?
The pussy cat ones I manage, the more aggressive species I give to himself who adopts a variety of lines of attack, from the water board treatment of soaking and then teasing off the offending article. More radical approaches are nail polish remover, moving swiftly on to wire wool and elbow grease. The limpet mine on the bottom of a submarine technique has been found sadly wanting due in no small part to the faff of having to stick the shards of glass back together after the explosion.
Flame throwers have also been discounted as not being very PC due to using the earth’s dwindling resources.
For the time being I am stuck (if you’ll pardon the expression) with
the very real problem in my narrow world in Ludlow.
If someone has any ideas or better still the email address of the man who invented post it notes I’d be very grateful...
Use bigger stickers to cover the original ones?
ReplyDeleteHmm... not sure about this? An ideal bodger approach which if there was a Masters in, I would glide through without a hint of swotting. I must be going weak in the head... troubling times to say the least! My standards are improving... help!
DeleteLX
Sorry, now I'm lost.... Maybe I'm not as fluent as I thought in the English language...
DeleteAdie, my wacky writing style is the problem not your English! Your suggestion is EXACTLY what I would do normally, however I am trying to behave in the way that suits an old lady... me! My quip was I am so skilled at doing all the quick and easy, not always correct ways of doing things that I could get a degree for it without studying.
DeleteLX
Aha, now I get it. And no, I couldn't possibly help you acquire and old lady style.... ;-)
DeleteAdie (59)
Eucalyptus Oil - tin6 amount on a tissue/corner of rag should do the trick. Done weeks before giving the gift, storing gift outside until all the tell tale smelt has disappeared. Or tell the receiver it came all the way from Oz
ReplyDeleteHaving been made horribly sick at the close proximity of a branch of eucalyptus in the back of a car as a child your idea sadly I am afraid Cathy has been given the thumbs down... sorry!
DeleteLX
WD40 works wonders on sticky glue residue on jam jars etc. If none is to hand I reach for the cooking oil, which also works well.
ReplyDeleteI think the vegetable oil idea appeals. I will set my KP (kitchen porter) on with the task... not allowing him near the extra virgin obv!?!
DeleteLX
I second the cooking oil! Some labels can be removed by filling the jar with hot water, peeling off the label if it will, brush veg oil on the glue and work it well in, then add a drop of two of washing up liquid to get both off. I have just sorted the jars into the shapes I want to keep as they fit the shelves best!
ReplyDeleteHimself is usually in hot water so a little more in the mix should see the job done. All my jars are full of jams and pickles, so the task now is to not stint on laying it on with a trowel at breakfast time. It will be hard but I’ll give it my best shot!?!
DeleteLX
Possibly not the easiest thing to track down in UK - gun cleaning oil works a treat. The mineral oil used on wooden kitchen surfaces might substitute. It you can stand the smell, white spirit works (and much better than acetone) -lots of hot water and detergent afterwards though.
ReplyDeleteGUN CLEANING OIL? Your telling me, not I imagine easy to locate here, so best I stick to vegetable oil... made me laugh anyway so a good comment.
DeleteLX
Neat washing up liquid + scourer works 9 times out of 10. The tenth goes in the bottle bank
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that Sue. I need speed not elbow grease, patience isn’t my strong point, sadly.
DeleteLX
Yes, some are worse than others. I'm annoyed that the ones that came to me with the little wax circles are the worst to get off! Hubby digs out the white spirit and it always does the trick-not sure if that will help or hinder the planet though but its needs must I'm afraid! x
ReplyDeleteit would appear MG your husband gets lumbered like mine?
DeleteLX
A saleswoman told me the trick of using a hair dryer to get price labels off; heat the label and it (usually) peels off easily. I've also used this for larger labels. The only downside is you have to heat and peel at the same time, and one's fingers can get uncomfortably hot. A reader in Pennsylvania
ReplyDeletei am definitely going to give that one a try, thank you reader from Pennsylvania. I will report back...
DeleteLX
Let me all all the useless extraneous packaging. On goods. On food. On every effing thing we need to purchase, and then throw plastic wrapping into the trash to choke a bird or a fish.
ReplyDeleteYup, totally agree with you on this. And still it goes on with added face-masks to choke the life out of other creatures in order to save us who have created this god awful mess.
DeleteLX
Try dipping a piece of clingfilm into water, then apply to sticker. Leave about 10 minutes, et voila! Sticker should peel off easily.
ReplyDeleteOoh I like the sound of this, I will definitely give it a go... thanks.
DeleteLX
The dishwasher takes care of it and any that dont clear first time just get left in the dishwasher until they do.
ReplyDeleteSo there! Himself says ‘I like that idea!’ then followed it with ‘Trouble is we do ours on the quick wash!’ Got a sneaky feeling the real sticky ones won’t play that game?
DeleteLX
I do quick wash. That's why some get left in for more than one go, like I said.
DeleteI have no advice on the removal of sticky labels, but would love to know why you had a branch of eucalyptus in the car with you.
ReplyDeleteOh no Frances, I was hoping no one would wonder! However just for you I will tell... when I was about seven we went on a cruise, in the days when cruising was the pinnacle of trave. Why we went I have no idea because most other holidays were to Deal on the Kent coast, not exactly a salubrious venue, especially in those days! Deal’s sleepiness, nothing ever happens, stuck in a forties rut, has recently picked up and it is now consider the ‘it’ place to visit/live, however i digress.
DeleteWe went up in the hills of Madeira to a restaurant, where the driver of the open topped car ‘kindly’ stopped and picked us a branch of eucalyptus, why? Who knows? Even in the back of the car with the top down the smell made me feel very, very sick, and there you have it!
LX
You need to find a bottle of Sticky Stuff Remover. Does exactly what it says and I'm never without it.
ReplyDeleteI think Lakeland sell it, as well as hardware stores. My last bottle I picked up in the middle of Lidl at half price, but I haven’t seen it there lately.