Kathy asked: How do I remove adhesive residue from a Champion, Under Armour type shirt? My son put a sticker on his shirt. The adhesive does not come off in the regular wash. I tried alcohol with no luck. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.
Children love to display their prized stickers on their shirts and other articles of clothing. Unfortunately, if they are not removed prior to washing, the paper part of the sticker washes away and leaves an outline of sticky residue. This is a problem that has ruined many pieces of children’s clothing. Fortunately, there is a way to remove the sticker residue.
You Will Need:
- Removal Product: (pick one)
- Dish soap
- WD-40
- Peanut butter
- Vegetable oil
- Avon Skin-So-Soft
- Rubbing alcohol
- Goo Gone
- Soft brush (old toothbrushes work well)
- Laundry detergent
Steps to Remove the Sticker Residue:
- Select one of the removal products above.
- Apply the product to the adhesive.
- Massage the area with your fingers to work the product into the adhesive. This may take several minutes. Most of the above products are lubricants. Once the lubricant gets into the adhesive, it will loosen it so it can be removed.
- Another step to remove the adhesive further is to scrub the area gently with a soft toothbrush. Do this after the product has been well-worked into the adhesive.
- Next, launder the garment as usual. If desired, apply some laundry detergent directly to the area as a pre-treatment. This is especially helpful when using products such as peanut butter or vegetable oil. Do not place the garment into the dryer until the stain is gone, as this will set it.
- Wash the garment as normal and allow it to dry.
- Repeat as necessary until the adhesive is removed.
Additional Tips and Advice
- Most clothing will not be affected, but some delicate/sensitive fabrics can become stained from the use of the removal products. If you are unsure, test a small, inconspicuous area first to ensure there is no discoloration.
- Lighter fluid is another product that can be used to remove adhesive. This requires more caution as lighter fluid is obviously flammable. Use only in a well-ventilated area and ensure the product is completely removed from the clothing prior to placing it in the dryer.
- These removal products should only be used on washable for fabrics. For dry clean only clothing, have the adhesive removed by a professional dry cleaner.
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Peanut butter works as a stain remover!?! WOW! I would of never thought of that. Have you ever tried cleaning clothing with peanut butter? Not me. But I will. Since I really need to get the sticker residue of my daughter’s dress and shirt. So, thanks for making this!
My daughter left a large sticker on her work shirt. When it came out of the wash, there was the sticky residue. Soaked the shirt sleeve in Goo Gone. Then used a toothbrush to remove it. You are right on target – Thanks!!!
That was the best advice! I used WD-40 to take the sticker adhesive off the package on my tights/leggings! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for this advice; the vegetable oil got the washed sticker residue off her shirt beautifully and without much work at all. I just put some on there, rubbed it in and then used a nail brush and it came off so easy. Thanks for helping save the day.
Hey,
I did a Google search (in lieu of calling the cleaners) first to see if I could find some help. At our (very large) church, the kids are labeled with stickers and a number to keep track of names and to connect parents with the kids. Someone stuck my daughter’s sticker to the back of her furry Gymboree “Sunday coat” – a complete disaster when we tried to take the sticker off. The coat, which is WHITE and very furry, is ruined if I can’t get the sticky stuff off. I worked on removing the sticker for at least 25 minutes (no lie!), and there’s sticky goo in the square area of the sticker. I don’t want to put peanut butter or anything oily on the coat, and I can’t exactly “scrub” the furry coat with a toothbrush. Is anything safe for this type of fabric/material? Help! I’m scared to try any “home remedies” without being sure it won’t make a bigger mess. At the same time, I’m afraid the cleaner won’t handle the coat with as much care as I would, though, you know?
OMG, Peanut butter really works!
My son forgot to pull off his number sticker from his uniform shorts after his race, and it left a chuck of sticky adhesive after the wash. I tried the dish soap first, but it didn’t work. Since I have peanut butter in my cupboard, I said, “Why not? Let’s try it.” I used a toothbrush to scrub in the peanut butter and pour more dish soap onto the peanut butter. I hand washed the shorts and the stains came off instantly. Amazing! Thank you!
I used Dawn dish soap on a shirt that I have had forever that I never wear, but really liked. I left a sticker on it from a relay and washed it. The sticker residue WOULD NOT come off. Finally, I read this and I had Dawn dish detergent and peanut butter. I figured I would try the dish soap first, and if that didn’t work I would resort to the peanut butter. I put some soap on it and scrub scrub scrubbed it. It came out and looks great!!
Sweet Mama of Minnie Pearl…PEANUT BUTTER WORKS!! I had a Cub Scout uniform that I was removing the iron-on patches from, which left a gooey mess. Smeared on the peanut butter, some laundry detergent, and viola!
Dawn plus a plastic pot scrubber worked for my son’s Under Armor shirt – thanks!
Yup, the old peanut butter did the trick! My wife almost always handles the laundry, but this load was mine and I didn’t notice the white sticker (from the dentist) on my son’s favorite BLACK Darth Vader tee. I found it when I pulled it out of the dryer! After three minutes of lightly scrubbing a peanut butter/dish soap mixture into the “disaster area,” the residue was gone! Thanks for the advice, now back to my yard work and I’ll leave the laundry to our pro.
Yup, the peanut butter worked, even on an Under Armor/athletic type shirt. I just smeared it on and rubbed a tiny bit with a toothbrush and could see it was already gone. Easy!
After my daughter was clubbing in Zante green labels were stuck and left on a dress which I then washed. I couldn’t get the green sticky residue off at all. I sprayed Skin-so-Soft onto the area and scraped gently with a knife, and it came off in 10 seconds. Thanks, and now the dress can be worn again!
I forgot to remove the price stickers from fabric that I bought and ended up putting them through the wash and dry. It was extremely fuzzy, medium/short pile fabric. I used rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush and it got nearly all of it off in one go. Thanks for posting this!
I used vegetable oil just like you said and it left a huge oil stain on my pants even after washing. My pants are pretty much ruined now.
I bought a new shirt and forgot to take the long sticker that says the size and washed and dried it. I went to go try it on and it looked like a barf stain! I washed and dried it 5 times, still there, just tried this… GONE!! So awesome! BTW I used Dawn. <3 U thx!
Peanut butter worked! I tried rubbing alcohol and dish soap, and finally resorted to the peanut butter. Thank you!
I forgot to take off the name tag sticker that I had to wear during a party and after washing, I saw what it did to my shirt. Luckily, using alcohol solved my problem. Thanks for sharing this; it saved me a lot of trouble.