Trying to peel a price sticker off a book you bought at a rummage sale usually results in a scarred book cover. When it doesn’t, you often have adhesive left behind.
What can you put on the sticker to remove it & the stickum, but not mar the book?
Goo-Gone.
Yep, Goo Gone. I like the gel versus the liquid version since it’s a little easier to avoid it getting where I don’t want it.
In a pinch peanut butter works too, as does making a loop of tape sticky side out, if the surface won’t respond well to the oils in Goo Gone or peanut butter (say, a sticker on a porous surface like leather, versus plastic or glass). Packing tape has the best stickiness that I’ve found. If you use peanut butter or Goo Gone, you need to wait a few minutes for the oil to penetrate the sticker or residue before wiping it off.
No to the liquids.
Most stickers will come off if you heat it up with a hair dryer on the hot setting. Just blast it for about 10 or 15 seconds, and you should be able to carefully peel the label off. If it is still offering resistance, heat it some more.
I’ve used this system for decades, pulling stickers off books, tapes, board games, record covers, CD covers, etc.
Also, the old sticker works best for pulling up remaining stickum. Just dab dab dab dab until it is gone. You can also use clear scotch tape for this purpose.
Dampen a paper towel with WD-40 and wipe it across the label.
Slowly… Gently… It does the trick.
Afterwards, use a dry paper towel to absorb any last hints of WD-40.
There are also products specifically made for the purpose, like Goo-Gone, etc.
GooGone is awesome stuff.
If you’re working on a book jacket, remove the jacket from the actual book, and apply liquid GooGone to the sticker until it transparentizes slightly. Then scrape the sticker off with a fingernail or with a razor blade (carefully on that last one). Follow the removal with another few swipes of GooGone to get the last bits of sticky off.
If stickers are on actual book covers, I’d use the gel instead of the liquid, but the liquid will still work, it just takes ages (like days) for the “wet” spot to dry out again.
I’ve heard that freezing will reduce the adhesiveness of some glues.
Dab at it repeatedly with a fresh sticker, or piece of adhesive tape (NB: this works really well for adhesive residue on most surfaces, but needs caution for book covers, lest you end up tearing away portions of the glaze coat)
I saw a bookshop keeper (book shopkeeper?) use lighter fluid.
People who sell on Amazon/eBay (and buy a lot of second-hand stock) tend to swear by eucalyptus oil.
i was going to say eucalyptus oil. theres a fabric softener here with it in, removes grease like anything