Gentle removal of adhesive from bare wood?

[Legend83]

We bought a fantastic reclaimed pine chest to use as a coffee table. Found the top has a stain of sticky black stuff that I have been gently scraping at with a paint stripper but I end up just moving it around?

Any ideas on how to remove without damaging the wood, and most importantly not losing the old weathered look?

[Ferg]

I think you'll struggle to remove it without taking at least some of the wood away. I'd do it with a cabinet scraper, essentially a rectangle of steel with a square edge.

[m4ckg]

Ferg said:

I think you'll struggle to remove it without taking at least some of the wood away. I'd do it with a cabinet scraper, essentially a rectangle of steel with a square edge.

+ 1

[Astacus]

try a rag dipped in either turps/ white spirit or parafin. Not too wet, just damp. This often removes sticky stuff. You may need to repolish/wax afterwards

[MrV]

Is it the type of sticky black glue you get from the back of stickers ?

If it is try warming it a little with a hair drier then use a credit card to scrape the worse away from the surface .It takes time but will get rid of a lot of it.

[Legend83]

MrV said:

Is it the type of sticky black glue you get from the back of stickers ?

If it is try warming it a little with a hair drier then use a credit card to scrape the worse away from the surface .It takes time but will get rid of a lot of it.

Yeah, I think so. Will give that a shot, thanks all!

[m4ckg]

Astacus said:

try a rag dipped in either turps/ white spirit or parafin. Not too wet, just damp. This often removes sticky stuff. You may need to repolish/wax afterwards

Or nail varnish remover if thats your sort of thing

[SeeFive]

This is hard to say without seeing it. Does the wood have a hard finish on it? Varnish is hard, wax is softer.

ETA: may sound a dumb question, but ut's unusual to find a piece of furniture with no finish.

Also, I am not sure what you mean by glue. Araldite / PVA blob, sticky label glue? One thing is for sure, if you use a scraper, you will almost certainly remove the finish and potentially a little of the wood surface giving you a bit of a task to sort it out again. A cabinet scraper has a burr on the edge which will essentially act like a very fine plane.

I'd do that as a last resort. Firstly, if it is sticky label type glue, I'd try a rag with cigarette lighter fluid. If that doesn't work I would be surprised, so I'd suggest it may be something else. This could affect a wax finish but you should get away with it on Varnish provided you do not soak the surface. There is also stuff like goo-gone for this purpose.

If it is a commercial hard glue, or super glue there are releasing agents available that may get you out of trouble - but I do not know what effect they will have on the finish. Fine abrasive, such as a very soft green scourer can help the penetration of any product used but be careful no to go through the finish. Small, fine scratches will wax out, but if you go through, you may have a problem matching the finish with a local repair, and will lose the character you describe by potentially having to strip and re-finish the whole area.

Finally, as a last resort I'd get some king of scraper to it, but be ready to re-do the whole panel if you are over zealous. Most glues will not take finish, so you will need to get it out of the fibres of the wood or you will still have a light mark when you re-finish the area.

Edited by SeeFive on Sunday 22 August 13:20

[Simpo Two]

I find that sticky adhesive residue is usually easy to remove using either white spirit or meths. If one doesn't work, the other will. White spirit can leave an oily film which you can remove with soap and water; meths just evaporates away.

[Legend83]

SeeFive said:

This is hard to say without seeing it. Does the wood have a hard finish on it? Varnish is hard, wax is softer.

ETA: may sound a dumb question, but ut's unusual to find a piece of furniture with no finish.

Also, I am not sure what you mean by glue. Araldite / PVA blob, sticky label glue? One thing is for sure, if you use a scraper, you will almost certainly remove the finish and potentially a little of the wood surface giving you a bit of a task to sort it out again. A cabinet scraper has a burr on the edge which will essentially act like a very fine plane.

I'd do that as a last resort. Firstly, if it is sticky label type glue, I'd try a rag with cigarette lighter fluid. If that doesn't work I would be surprised, so I'd suggest it may be something else. This could affect a wax finish but you should get away with it on Varnish provided you do not soak the surface. There is also stuff like goo-gone for this purpose.

If it is a commercial hard glue, or super glue there are releasing agents available that may get you out of trouble - but I do not know what effect they will have on the finish. Fine abrasive, such as a very soft green scourer can help the penetration of any product used but be careful no to go through the finish. Small, fine scratches will wax out, but if you go through, you may have a problem matching the finish with a local repair, and will lose the character you describe by potentially having to strip and re-finish the whole area.

Finally, as a last resort I'd get some king of scraper to it, but be ready to re-do the whole panel if you are over zealous. Most glues will not take finish, so you will need to get it out of the fibres of the wood or you will still have a light mark when you re-finish the area.

Edited by SeeFive on Sunday 22 August 13:20

It's not a piece of furniture per-se, it is just an old wooden chest put together using pieces of pine and would appear to not have had a finish.

The sticky stuff looked like a dark stain at first glance. I have got the worst off with a scraper.

will try meths!