Removing Carpet tape residue???

[dubliner]

I cut some soft plastic held down by DS carpet tape, but it left some residue and its a visual part so it needs to be clear. What type of cleaner is safe on soft plastic? TIA Nev

[thewoodcrafter]

Try paint thinner or naptha.
It will not hurt the plastic.

[steve_g]

Neville

You can actually use Acetone on acrylics; it dries quickly and leaves no lingering odor. I use orange oil on ABS; it leaves a lovely shine on a difficult to polish material.

Steve

[gundog]

3M adhesive remover it is what it is made for.

[knight_toolworks]

acetone evaporates too fast. paint thinner is cheap and lasts long enough.

[myxpykalix]

what about mineral spirits?

[steve_g]

The bottom line is that "soft plastic" isn't enough of a description; any one of these products may be inappropriate depending on the actual plastic.

Steve

[rb99]

Acetone is great for growing cancer. I recommend 99% isopropyl alcohol.

Test first.

RIB

[steve_g]

Acetone has been studied extensively and is generally recognized to have low acute and chronic toxicity if ingested and/or breathed. Breathing high concentrations (around 9200 ppm) in the air caused irritation of the throat in humans in as little as 5 minutes. Breathing concentrations of 1000 ppm caused irritation of the eye and throat in less than 1 hour; however, breathing 500 ppm of acetone in the air caused no symptoms of irritation in humans even after 2 hours of exposure. Acetone is not currently regarded as a carcinogen, a mutagenic chemical or a concern for chronic neurotoxicity effects

The above was copied from Wikipedia. However, the most common hazard associated with acetone is its flammability, as is any solvent other than soapy water! I am not championing the use of Acetone to the exclusion of other solutions, but it appears to be a safe way to remove tape residue, magic marker, silkscreen inks, Etc. from Acrylics.

[bleeth]

BEWARE: There are many plastic compounds that Acetone will eat!
One needs to know exactly what kind of plastic it is to know what chemical to use. Mineral Spirits are safe but don't always clean the tape very quickly. Toluene does a quick job but is a "rubber gloce" chemical. 3-m mentioned below is a good product and the "organics" such as "Simple Orange" also work.

[ckurak]

I agree that "soft plastic" is not enough of a description. So, take some of the ideas you have heard here and ...

Do the same thing we must/should do with testing finishing products (e.g., shellac, stains, lacquer, polyurethane, paint, etc., etc.). Yes, I know many of us "hate" finishing. :mad:

Samples, samples, samples. :D

[dubliner]

Thats the funny part, I was using a Diamond Drag bit from WidgetWorks, they are excellent by the way, if youre thinking of getting one Do It. As for the type of plastic, that is unknown, its luminous and quite soft relatively speaking. Its a clipboard. So it was "finished" in the actual sense, all I needed to do was get some residue off. I'll try some of the other suggestions, but oil seemed to break it down so that seems to be a prospect. I appreciate all the suggestions. Just to clarify, my trash can is full of "tests", thats why I'm asking.

[bill.young]

I was a boat carpenter for many years and acetone is the boatbuilder's holy water...no matter what sort of nasty stuff you got on your hands, you just had to wash it off in the 5-gal bucket of acetone that was always around and it was gone.

I was working on a doctor's boat one day and needed to wash some resin off my hands. I asked him if he had any acetone and he told me that acetone is too good of a solvent and carried a percentage of whatever it dissolved through your skin, into your bloodstream, and deposited it in your kidneys.

I've been cautious of acetone ever since.

[dubliner]

What about Scrumpy :-)

[bill.young]

I think that may be cause problems for your liver, rather than your kidneys!

:^)

[cnc_works]

I've found that Goof-Off and its class of cleaners works great on adhesive remains. You may need an additional wash of acetone or even 409 to clean off the slightly oily residue from the Goof-Off, depending on your needs of a clean surface.

And I have found that acetone is definitely a solvent for some plastics. I would not use it without extensive testing on the plastic involved.

[steve_g]

Based on Neville’s description of what the plastic in question was used to make (clip board), my best guess is that it’s a styrene. Although the discussion has been interesting, the only thing I can find on cleaning styrene is ...” only use soapy water”.

Regarding Acetones safety, I remember being told, in my high school photo lab, that carbon tetrachloride was perfectly safe for cleaning negatives. That story has changed! It’s always best to prevent breathing or allowing chemicals to absorb into our skin. We are after all a semi-permeable membrane.

Steve

[myxpykalix]

"We are after all a semi-permeable membrane"

Ihave been called worse things then that......

[bryson]

Neville, I have found that the best solvent for removing glue and not harming plastic is DuPont 3812 enamel reducer. I cut very small text and when I'm done, I flood the cut with 3812 and they lift right out. Wipe them off and they are good to go.
Bryson

[jerry_stanek]

I've used WD40 and goo gone on some plastics with good results.

[hh_woodworking]

I use simply green hasn't failed me yet

[Big-Tex]

This in my favorite, rubbing alcohol. Super for clean up of adhesive as long it is not on varnished surface.
Quick to dry and no problems with coatings. Here is trick of the trade if you ever get latex paint on any fabric, soak with alcohol and rub with your fingers, what that does it makes latex brittl and will crack and brake away from fibers with out any discoloration.