Child Item

How do I remove 40 year old masking tape?

40 years ago when I moved into my new house, I painted the whole place myself and used masking tape around the bronze finish aluminium windows. I ran out of time (or patience) to finish a few minor things. One of these was to remove the masking tape around one window and so, for forty years, it has sat there still with remnants of the old masking tape and adhesive on the bronze finish aluminium frame. I have tried over the years to peel it off but alas, it came off in bits and pieces leaving much of it still there.

Today, I have just tried using acetone without success. I also received a tip that eucalyptus oil can help in removing the remnants of the old adhesive and that seems to have made a very slight but noticeable effect in removing some of the adhesive. Not great but at least some progress was made.

Has anyone got any good advice on how to remove the old masking tape and its adhesive, please?

The tape was not the modern blue or similar copies of that tape that peels off easily but the old cream coloured paper type tape.

All advice very welcome.

Find more posts tagged with

Cleaning

Comments

EricL

Hello @Claudeduck

I suggest trying De-Solv-it 125ml Sticky Spot and Stain Remover, this is a citrus based cleaner and should not harm your aluminium windows. I recommend starting with a small area making sure to spray on the top and inside the sides of the tape. Your objective is to soften the old adhesive first. I then recommend using Pro Renovator 38mm Plastic Scraper to prevent damaging the finish.

If it does not work, I propose using WD-40 325g Multi-Use Classic Spray, again try to get the spray into the top and sides of the tape. If it still proves to be tough my only other suggestion is to use Diggers 125ml Isopropyl Cleaning Alcohol spray it in the same pattern and wait for it to take effect before scraping it. Keep in mind that it might take several applications to get the surface clean.

Please make sure to wear personal protection such as gloves, goggles and a facemask when using the products on your window.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your window free of masking tape.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

Claudeduck

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/25776#Comment_25776

Thanks, Eric. I shall try all that you suggest.

Claudeduck

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/25776#Comment_25776

SUCCESS!!! It works, Grommit! It works!

Thanks to Eric’s great advice, the eyesore on the fixed pane window beside my front door that has irritated me for 40 years, every time that I walked past it, has gone. Eric’s solution to my problem of long set hard masking tape on they window frame has worked an absolute treat.

After receiving Eric’s advice, I went to my local Bunnings store and bought all of the stuff that he recommended, procrastinated for a couple of weeks but decided to have a go at it today because it was too hot to go outside to do gardening in Brisvegas, today.

A couple of before and after photos are shown below but I apologise for the quality as the area in which the window sits is not well lit and I took the photos with just the iPod that was hanging around my neck and with which I was listening to podcasts as I was doing the job. Nonetheless, you will see that the results are pretty spectacular. That wood stain stained ancient masking tape was on all sides of the window frame but I have just shown a portion of one side.

The only cleaning fluid that I needed to use was the De-Solv-it Sticky Spot and Stain Remover. That comes in a small spray bottle and I initially wondered if one little 125ml bottle would be enough as I anticipated (correctly) that multiple sprays might be needed. However, on the frame of the 1500 mm x 600 mm window, I used only about a quarter of the bottle.

Yes - Eric was right in that the product did not affect the bronzed aluminium windows.

However, I was not sure if it might do harm to the adjacent Estapol coated stained timber. So, in my initial test of the product’s effectiveness, I used some modern masking tape on the Estapol coated stained timber. That proved to be a mistake. The window sits on the western side of the house and although being a frosted fixed pane window that only gets sunlight that is filtered by some plants outside, over 40 years there have been obviously enough UV rays coming in to weaken the Estapol coating to the extent that when I removed the masking tape. a light layer of the Estapol came with it. So I abandoned using masking tape to protect the old Estapol coated timber.

Instead, I masked the timber using a 600 mm stainless steel trim guide. ie this sort of thing… https://www.bunnings.com.au/uni-pro-600mm-steel-edged-trim-guide_p1670266. However, as `I progressed through the job, I found that I did not need to use that because the De-Solv-it fluid did no damage to the old Estapol coating on the timber.

In terms of scraping tools, I did get the 38 mm plastic scraper as Eric suggested. In fact I bought two of them but I should have bought maybe a half dozen. They cost only $1.10 each. However, the edge on these plastic scrapers will dull after some use. I tried to fix that by trying to resharpen them on a sanding block but sanding a plastic scraping edge is not the same as sanding a steel chisel edge and so that was not especially successful. Accordingly, I recommend buying a few of those scrapers and just discarding them as their edges dull.

I also used a scourer pad very successfully. ie the sort of dark green plastic scourer pad that come in packs of 6 from the supermarkets for 70 cents a packet. Using one of these was essential as although the plastic scrapers were effective in removing the paper part of the old masking tape, it was the scourer, with repeated application of the De-Solv-it spray that removed all of the remaining old hard stuck on adhesive that was under the paper tape itself.

After removing all of the old masking tape and its baked-on adhesive, I sprayed on some domestic surface cleaner to clean off any residues from the job and wiped it down with paper towels to reveal a wonderfully clean window frame.

A multiplicity of thanks, Eric! I did not think that such a good outcome was possible! I hasten to add that the job requires a little patience and persistence but removing 40 year old stuck-on masking tape is 100% doable.

MASKING TAPE REMOVAL.jpg

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/75691#Comment_75691

That absolutely looks splendid @Claudeduck, and the best part is the aluminium did not get damaged. Thank you very much for sharing the details of your cleaning project. I'm sure our members will find this information very useful.

We look forward to seeing your next project.

Eric

"I'll have some Wensleydale on my crackers."

Child Item