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How To Remove Sticker Residue Naturally

March 18, 2021

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It's not always easy to remove sticker residue from glass, wood or plastic.

However, you can do it easily with something you probably already have in your pantry. It's quick, doesn't involve scrubbing or scraping and it's safe enough to eat.

Small Glass Milk Bottles

Peanut butter has never been my favorite food.

As a kid, I tolerated it. As a teenager, I ate it in desperation. Sitting on the kitchen counter when my mom wasn't home, out of the jar, alternating it with spoonfuls of jelly.

However, as an adult, nothing about the taste or smell is even remotely enticing.

I have no interest in that brown paste anymore.

Unless, I'm using it to craft.

Then I'm all in.

But crafting, you say?

With peanut butter?

Why yes indeed, especially if I'm working on an upcycle or a thrifted DIY.

Peanut butter is oily and a tiny bit gritty and I think it's that combination that sinks into those nasty price labels that many second hand shops stick to everything and works them away.

Then I can get to the pretty part of the DIY quickly.

I can't tell you how many treasures I've brought home to upcycle over the years that required hours to remove all the paper and glue reside.

It's amazing to me that they still use stickers on items that can be so valuable.

I'd sit there with razors and wet sponges, vinegar, baking soda, olive oil and clear tape, wrestling. It was not fun.

The water took too much scrubbing, the vinegar smelled terrible and soaked into the wood, the baking soda left a white film behind that need to be cleaned off and the olive oil just didn't have any muscle on its own.

Then one day, my friend Ann shared her tip and everything changed.

Since then, peanut butter has become my go to sticky mess removal trick and it works like a charm.

Most recently, I shared how well it works on wood, when I needed to remove a sticker from a vintage tray. It took it off in a jiffy and there wasn't any damage to my valuable find.

Today, I'm going to show you how effortlessly it removes decorative stickers from glass.

This was a task I was not looking forward to tackling.

My great niece was christened many years ago and at each place setting were these darling little glass milk bottle favors filled with personalized M&M's.

Mini Milk Bottle Party Favor with sticker

At the end of the event, my sister told me to grab all the leftover ones, they were going to be tossed and she thought I might be able to use them for a craft.

So I did. I gave them a sweet makeover and I've used a few of them to decorate my Thanksgiving table over the years.

However, in order to get the labels off, I had to soak them in hot water for hours and then scrub. And scrub. And scrub.

So the majority of those bottles sat in my craft closet, untouched for a few more years.

Then a few weeks ago, when I dumped out all my spring project supplies onto the kitchen table and spotted them, I remembered the peanut butter trick and decided to give it a go.

How To Remove Labels or Stickers With Peanut Butter


Ok, so first things first. What kind of peanut butter do you use?

Well, the obvious answer here is creamy and the cheapest you can find. Of course, I don't like peanut butter, as I said earlier, so I had to defer to whatever was in the cabinet...and that was the chunky kind.

That's fine, it worked just the same, but given the choice, I'd go with creamy.


I started by rinsing my bottles off so the label was a little wet. Then I slathered some peanut butter over the label.

You really don't need that much, just make sure it covers your sticky spot well.

Spreading Peanut Butter On Glass with knife

A little while later, I came back to my bottles, grabbed a paper towel and wiped the mess away.

The peanut butter and part of the label came right off with the first swipe of the rag.

Removing Sticky Labels From Glass

I ran the bottle under warm water for the second swipe and the rest of it wiped clean away.

When I was done, I gave it a quick wash with soap to make sure all the oily reside from the peanut butter was gone, so my mini milk bottles would be ready for whatever I wanted to stick on next.

Clean Glass Jar

Or not.

Their new clean faces were so sweet, I decided to leave a few unadorned.

I have a cute way to use them for spring that I'll be sharing in a few days.

I also have another craft in mind that's a little more involved, but still super simple.

UPDATE!! 



Mini Glass Milk Bottles on a wooden table

That one also features food, but trust me, it's not peanut butter.

I'm done with that now.

Well, at least until I get back to the thrift store.

Remove Sticker Residue Easily

Are you a peanut butter fan?

MORE GLASS CRAFTS

FAUX MILK GLASS MAKEOVER
Kim Signature


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  1. Great trick to know about! I LOVE peanut butter, but don't eat it very often as peanuts are really not that good for a person. They are really a "bean" and can cause gut problems. But I do love the taste and love it on a piece of toast with butter and jelly. Or sometimes would just take a spoonful and eat it, to satisfy my sweet tooth! I'll try your hack when I get another jar or something where that pesky sticker won't come off! Marilyn

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    1. I didn't know that about peanuts, Marilyn! Maybe that's why I don't like them. I have a terrible stomach. They work well on stickers though...and that's as close as I'm willing to get to them. Thanks for sharing that info.

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    2. Peanuts are fairly healthy, containing protein, minerals and vitamins. They are also high in fat which is likely the reason you get a tummy ache from them. Also, many commercial brands of peanut butter add oils, sugar and additional fats making these very unhealthy choices.

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  2. I found a new way recently to remove those labels too. Air a hair dryer at the label for a few minutes. The heat softens the glue and the sticker lifts off easily. Works when you don't have peanut butter lol.

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    1. That’s awesome, Penny! Even better than messy peanut butter. I’m going to start with that first next time! Thanks!

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  3. Oh my gosh how genius is this!!! I always get so aggravated with Home Goods and TJ Maxx's stickers they are all in little individual pieces that make up the tag. I am sure that is some security thing but it is annoying to try and get the tags off of things in one piece. The peanut butter trick sounds great. I will try that next time I buy something with an annoying price tag on it. Thanks for the tip. Have a great rest of the day. xoxo

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    1. Thanks Kris! Omigosh…I hate those stickers. I know exactly what you’re talking about. This trick really makes easy work of removing them and frankly the gooey the sticker, the better it works. Mine were paper and old and dried out and it still worked, but the paper slows down the action a bit.

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  4. I remember reading about this tip on Ann's blog. Thanks Kim, for reminding me of this useful tip for removing labels on bottles and other items.

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    1. Ann is super creative and has some great tips. I always recommend her blog to friends. ☺️

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  5. GENIUS, I thought I heard about this at one time. Buying anything from Home Goods requires getting those stickers off.

    They always seem to put those stickers in the worst spots too.

    Can't wait to see your plan for these.

    Cindy

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    1. Those stickers are the worst. They wreck your nails and come off in tiny pieces. And I agree…they’re always in the absolute worst spots. People - put then on the back!!! Hoping it’s a good day!

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  6. Thanks. I've seen this trick before over the years. Totally forgot about it. I don't like the smell of peanut butter, but it washes away. I might try that hairdryer method first though.

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    1. I think I'm going to try Penny's trick first next time, too. I don't think it would work as well as the peanut butter did on the dried up paper labels I had on my bottles, but I bet it's great on tacky stuff. I've used it to remove contact paper with success. Thanks for the comment today!

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    2. Great tip, Kim. Thanks! I've tried something similar with olive oil, but it did not work very well. Next time I'll try peanut butter!

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    3. I’ve tried that, too! I think there’s something about the pasty consistency of the peanut butter that takes the power of the oil up a notch. Just my hunch!

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  7. Well!
    This is certainly a good trick to know about ... thank you.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thanks Jan! I bet you could make something really yummy with peanut butter.

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  8. When I was a kid I hated peanut butter, but can you believe that I really like it now?
    Thanks for this tip! I just bought an old bottle yesterday and was soaking it to get the label off. Next time I'll try the peanut butter.

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    1. It’s funny how are tastes change over the years, isn’t it? When I was a kid, I hated broccoli. Now it’s one of the only veggies I enjoy…but it’s not as fun as peanut butter!

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  9. Aww, Kim. Thanks for the shout-out...and then the sweet comments! Just what I needed this week.

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    1. My pleasure, Ann! Always happy to share you blog, you are super crafty my friend. ❤️

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  10. That's clever! It's all that oil from the peanuts! I usually use an orange oil product, but I'll keep your trick in mind if I'm ever out of said product!

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    1. Orange oil, you say? My mom used to have some around the house, but I haven’t thought about it in years. I’ll have to keep that in mind myself. Thanks!

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  11. Thank you! I had no idea! We are creating a new look in the boys old play room. This tip will come in handy. Thank you!

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    1. I hope so, Carla!! Can't wait to see the new look.

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  12. Peanut butter who wouldn't known! I will definitely be giving this a try. I normally use orange oil but it pricey. I have a couple of bottles and a can just waiting to have the sticky labels removed. Thanks for this tip! Pinning! 💖

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    1. You're the second person that recommended orange oil! I haven't tried it, but I can imagine it smells much better than the peanut butter...at least to me. 😉

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  13. YES!!!! This going to be a game changer for me. Not sure hubby would approve though. He guards his peanut butter like gold, but I can't bear the stuff either. Thanks so much, Kim. I'm definitely going to give it a try

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    1. Ha!! My husband is the peanut butter lover here, too. When he read my post he was not thrilled!! Oh well, a girl's gotta craft, right?

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  14. Thank you so much! Peanut Butter!!! I'm going to clean off all those tags tomorrow. Years ago we used peanut butter to get gum out of my niece's hair when she fell asleep chewing gum. It took it right out of her hair, but I didn't realize it would clear tags away.

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    1. I hope it made easy work of that for you!! And I had a chewing gum babysitting incident once...oh boy. I didn't know about peanut butter as a 13 year old middle schooler. I wish I had!!

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  15. That is PDC (pretty darn clever). I don't like the smell of the orange label remover which still doesn't work on everything. Anxious to try it out.
    Happy Easter
    Myrna

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    1. Thanks Myrna! I've never tried the orange oil. I might have to check that out!

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  16. Skin so soft by Avon is my go to label removal. My son when younger climed line trees, yup skin so soft tool off pine tar. Save the peanut butter to eat.

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    1. You're the second person to mention that Rosalie! My lungs don't do well with that smell, but I'm sure others will find it very helpful! Thanks for the tip.

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