Someone should be held accountable

[LCHIEN]

Why do lumber merchants stick these godawful stickers on the wood?

I need to peel it off, it's in the middle of my project and it doesn't come off cleanly leaving not just rips but thin strips you can't scrape off with a fingernail or scraper.

You are left with damaged surface from the scraper, Glue marks and stains where finish won't adhere. Sometimes if the label is old it the glue hardens and never comes off.

why oh why can't they put easily removable stickers?

if we can make post it notes surely we can make removable stickers!

I was going to say somebody should be shot but suddenly that doesn't seem to be the right choice of words...

[sweensdv]

I very seldom have issues getting those stickers off when I use a handheld hair dryer to heat them up before I start peeling them off. There is a little glue residue left on the wood but a little mineral spirits takes care of that.

[Slik Geek]

I have had similar frustration with the labels, and frankly have had an identical reaction as you have had.

I suspect the retailers purposefully make the labels "frangible". I believe that the labels deliberately use permanent adhesive such that they are difficult to remove, and when the label is removed, it will tear into many pieces to prevent corrupt shoppers from switching price labels to get an illicit discount.

I hadn't tried the hair dryer approach. I use naphtha to dissolve the adhesive and get the label off.

[LCHIEN]

I have had similar frustration with the labels, and frankly have had an identical reaction as you have had.

I suspect the retailers purposefully make the labels "frangible". I believe that the labels deliberately use permanent adhesive such that they are difficult to remove, and when the label is removed, it will tear into many pieces to prevent corrupt shoppers from switching price labels to get an illicit discount.

I hadn't tried the hair dryer approach. I use naphtha to dissolve the adhesive and get the label off.

Frangible labels that come off in little pieces but easily with no residue is OK - I understand that people swap labels in the store. But the labels that the glue is much stronger than the paper and leaves thin strips like I showed is just ridiculous, basically they are damaging the product and rendering parts or all of it (when faced with a long board or sheet) unusable.

And even if you can eventually get the glue off, wasting 10 minutes doing so and distracting from your project time is untenable.

[leehljp]

LeeValley has a Flush Plane that I have had for years, and when I could find it - I used it for scraping labels off several times. But that is not why I bought it.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop...e?item=05P2001

Here is a better flush plane, but quite expensive for scraping labels.

I agree with you Loring, It would be nice if they came up with a way for labels to be more easily removed.

[d_meister]

I use Xylol/Xylene for any residue of pressure sensitive adhesive. It's one of the ingredients in many formulations of adhesive removers, and actually the main constituent that does all the work. Other ingredients like acetone and citrus oils don't contribute much besides a marketable formula. Working in boatyards, the common product seen was 3M Adhesive Remover and quite pricey, but one sniff and you know what the primary ingredient is. I've bought Xylol by the gallon for less than what 3M quarts cost.
Removal is most effective with dilution and rinsing effect, so having enough solvent to "wash" the area will permit better coating results. The 3M product has a squirt spout to facilitate flushing. Boatyards deal with very expensive catalyzed coatings, so prep is especially important.
Xylol has a slower evaporation rate than lacquer thinner or acetone, so makes a good coatings products thinner, too. It also doesn't damage most plastics.

[LCHIEN]

I use Goo Gone, its readily available and removes most labels including the one shown in my post, with a little work. I had to scrape of most of the label first with a fingernail, razor scraper, and then soak the exposed glue and it took a while and a fair amount of manual labor. Goo Gone is 95% light petroleum distillates according to the MSDS.

Xylol is the same thing as Xylene.

3M MSDS says 80-90% citrus extract and 10-20% propane (maybe the propellant)

MSDS safety data sheets attached.

[d_meister]

There are more than one formulations of goo gone and 3M adhesive remover. I have two bottles of GG, and one has no petro solvents, just citrus. Worthless.
The 3M product used in boatyards looks like this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/3M-08984-...1&gclsrc=3p.ds
Yes, Xylol and Xylene are the same thing, hence "/" instead of "or".
Here is the MSDS for the commercial product:

[LCHIEN]

They should be like this label that peels off easily, leaves no residue, and is scored so it breaks into several pieces - frangible - when you take it off. Obviously the technology exists.

[dbhost]

I was going to suggest Goo Gone and a card scraper.... and LOTS of patience. Especially if it has been on there a long time.

[twistsol]

I keep a can of low odor mineral spirits in the shop just for those pesky labels. I start with a paint scraper then wipe down with mineral spirits to get the rest. I usually cut up sheet goods first and somehow the sticker nearly always end up in a piece of Scrap.

Then again there is Menards that wrapped a stack of prefinished maple plywood with steel bands and ruined the top and bottom two sheets. They also used a hammer tacker to staple the waterproofing to the face of the sheet. on the top of the stack. The store manager was raging at the distibution center as he was approving a $320 credit for me for the four ruing sheets. That would be over $500 today.