• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
go to homepage

Search by
Category
  • Cleaning Blog
  • Automotive
  • Bathroom Appliances and Fixtures
  • Carpets and Rugs
  • Cats
  • Closets and Organization
  • Dogs
  • Electronics
  • Fabrics
  • Floor & Carpet
  • Floors
  • Food
  • Furniture
  • General Housecleaning
  • House
  • Household Appliances and Fixtures
  • Jewelry
  • Kitchen Appliances and Fixtures
  • Kitchen and Bathroom Surfaces
  • Kitchenware
  • Metals
  • Outdoors
  • Other Pets, Animals and Pests
  • People
  • Stain Removal
  • Stuff
  • Surfaces
  • Things You Own
  • Tools and Techniques
  • Walls and Ceilings
  • Windows
  • Everything Else
  • Ask us your cleaning question

go to homepage

How To Clean Stuff.net

Search by
Category
  • Cleaning Blog
  • Automotive
  • Bathroom Appliances and Fixtures
  • Carpets and Rugs
  • Cats
  • Closets and Organization
  • Dogs
  • Electronics
  • Fabrics
  • Floor & Carpet
  • Floors
  • Food
  • Furniture
  • General Housecleaning
  • House
  • Household Appliances and Fixtures
  • Jewelry
  • Kitchen Appliances and Fixtures
  • Kitchen and Bathroom Surfaces
  • Kitchenware
  • Metals
  • Outdoors
  • Other Pets, Animals and Pests
  • People
  • Stain Removal
  • Stuff
  • Surfaces
  • Things You Own
  • Tools and Techniques
  • Walls and Ceilings
  • Windows
  • Everything Else
  • Ask us your cleaning question

Home / Cleaning Guides / Clothing & Fabrics / Fabrics / How To Remove Masking Tape From Clothes

How To Remove Masking Tape From Clothes

Sharon asks: I found a sweat suit with masking wrap around the outfit that had been taped together for organizing a garage sale. It has been in a storage tub for several years. When I took the tape off, it left white marks where the tape had been. How do I remove the marks?

Table of Contents:
  1. Removing the Tape
  2. Removing the Residue
  3. Additional Tips and Advice

Removing tape residue from a table or other hard surface can be difficult enough, let alone an article of clothing. Since you can’t safely scrape off the residue on a piece of clothing with a razor, other options are required. Hopefully, with these tips, you will be able to get that sticky mess off of your clothing easily and without damaging your clothes.

Removing the Tape

You Will Need:

  • Cooking oil
  • Isopropyl alcohol
  • A dull knife
  • Tweezers

Steps to Remove the Tape:

  1. Rub some cooking oil over the tape. Let the oil sit on the tape for a few minutes to freshen the adhesive.
  2. If you don’t want to use oil, you can use isopropyl alcohol instead but be sure to test it on a small hidden area of the fabric first as it can have a bleaching effect on some dyes. Wipe the alcohol over the tape so it is thoroughly wet and let it sit for a few minutes to freshen the adhesive.
  3. Use a dull knife to carefully scrape up a corner of the tape and use the corner to peel off the rest of the tape. If you can only get a tiny piece of the corner up, use tweezers to grip it so you can pull off the tape.
  4. Once the tape is removed, follow the instructions below to remove any remaining tape adhesive if needed or wash the item as usual to remove the oil residue.

Removing the Residue

You Will Need:

  1. A cloth
  2. Paper towels
  3. An iron

Steps to Remove the Residue

  1. If you just used the method above to remove the tape, blot the area several times to remove the oil or alcohol.
  2. Place a paper towel over the remaining tape residue on the fabric.
  3. Warm an iron on the lowest temperature setting with no steam.
  4. Run the heated iron over the fabric and paper towel with the paper towel side up. This will cause the residue to melt and stick to the paper towel, freeing your clothing from it.
  5. With another clean paper towel or cleaning cloth, wipe the area to be sure all residue is removed.
  6. Wash as usual.

Additional Tips and Advice

  • Be sure to not scrub the fabric, but just gently wipe it. Scrubbing could cause the residue to go deeper into the fabric, making it harder or even impossible to get out. When cleaning, make sure to use gentle, circular motions to remove the residue most effectively.
  • If the residue is stubborn, there are commercial adhesive removers you can try, such as Goo Gone or Un-Due. Be sure to test them in a small hidden area on the fabric first to look for any adverse reaction.

Cleaning Guides, Clothing & Fabrics, Fabrics

Was This Guide Helpful?

+11
-5
Rating: 69%. From 16 votes.
Please wait...

Related Posts

  • How to Remove Tape Residue from Cloth
  • How to Wash Clothes By Hand
  • How to Remove Tape Stains from Cardboard
  • How to Remove Oil Stains from Clothes
  • How to Remove Double-Sided Tape from Flooring
  • How to Remove Micropore Tape from a Fleece Blanket

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, conse ctetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit sed diam.


Thank you for subscribing!

Reader Interactions

About the Author

Avatar photo

Mark

Mark is the founder and lead content planner here at HowToCleanStuff.net. He spent 4 years as a professional carpet cleaner followed by a career providing professional cleaning services to businesses and residential homes.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Helpful comments include feedback on the recipe or changes you made.

show comments +

Comments

  1. Lisa G. says

    April 9, 2018 at 1:29 pm

    OMG! I has a towel wrapped over a TV screen for years and years; couldn’t get the tape off so I tried this and voila! It really worked. AMAZING! Thanks so much. Sincerely, Lisa G.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Featured Guides

How to Clean a Hairbrush

How to Clean a Microwave Oven With ZERO Chemicals

How to Clean Every Dental Retainer

How to Clean your Macbook’s Screen

Join our mailing list.
Be the first to know about new arrivals, sales, and special events.
Thank you for subscribing!

Footer

Browse by Category

  • Automotive
  • Clothing & Fabrics
  • Floors & Carpets
  • Housecleaning
  • Kitchen & Bath
  • Outdoors
  • People & Pets
  • Household Stuff

Contact

  • Ask Us Your Cleaning Questions
  • Contact Form

Follow us on Social Media

Site Information

  • Cookie Policy
  • Guest Post Policy
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • XML Sitemap

Copyright © 2023 · HowToCleanStuff.net · All Rights Reserved · Website by Anchored Design