Duct Tape Residue

[jerseyguy123]

I put some duct tape on my car. When I removed it there was quite a bit of the sticky part left. I tried Goof off and
alcohol and even scraping with a plastic blade. Nothing helps. Please give me some good advice. Thank you

 

[dishdude]

Duct tape is the absolute worst, I cringe whenever I see people using it on a nice car. How long was it on for?

 

[Owen Lucas]

Take some more duct tape and wrap it around your hand or into a ball and pat it over the old residue. The adhesive from the new tape should lift off the old adhesive. Might take a while but I've had luck with this method for lifting off various tape residues. I presume the residue is there because the tape was on pretty long and bonded strongly to the paint, the new tape shouldn't leave any adhesive behind. Maybe doing this is the sun will help. Good luck.

 

[MParr]

Try WD40

 

[RDMgr]

There's a guy on Youtube that says a little gasoline on a rag will easily remove old duct tape residue. Another said rubbing alcohol. However, rubbing alcohol can be isopropyl or ethanol. I've always found ethanol to be a better solvent. Sometimes ethanol will remove stuff that IPA won't touch.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Did you let the goof off sit for a while. Might take 2 or 3 cycles with leaving it sit for quite a while. But ya, duct tape is awful stuff to remove.

 

[odie]

Rubbing alcohol . 70 or 72 % . Use it to get tar off , tree sap and other grime . Rinse with water after . Be gentle , so not to scuff the clearcoat .

 

[kschachn]

A hydrocarbon solvent is better here, the suggestion for WD-40 is a good one. Yes gasoline is a hydrocarbon but the mix of short chain molecules and aromatics may not always be safe for paint. I’ve seen paint with marks where people have let gas dribble down from the filler hole.

 

[wings&wheels]

I'd try WD40 or GooGone, no alcohols or fuel. That said, I used this stuff to remove an old boat name from a project and it is now my go to for this type of problem. Not that easy to find, but very effective and safe on auto paint, fibreglass...

de-solv-it

 

[zzyzzx]

Try gasoline.

 

[Tdbo]

Try some Denatured Alcohol.

 

[t1snwrbrdr12]

3M adhesive remover.

I haven’t used it on duct tape residue in particular, but it hasn’t let me down yet on anything I’ve needed it on for the last 15 years.

 

[Bud_One]

We used to use this to remove any emblem / trim adhesive left on paint .

 

[xspeedy]

I used gaffers tape to cover the nose of my truck for a road trip and the adhesive melted in the heat and made a mess. I soaked the stuff in WD40 to soften the adhesive to a goo, and then used a plastic scraper / putty knife to scrape most of it off. I sprayed what was left and used blue shop towels to get the rest. The important thing is to let it soak for five or so minutes. It takes time for the WD40 to break down and soften the adhesive. You may need to spray again as you work to keep it wet and soft. The scraper is better because using a cloth straight away tends to smear the goo.

 

[law3500]

We have used WD40 and Gasoline on a rag at different times and had decent results..

 

[CharBaby]

You‘ll need a product that can stay on the adhesive long enough to soften it. Most of what others have mentioned has worked for me

 

[SuperSalad]

 

[Wheel]

If the WD40 doesn't do it, baby oil or clear mineral oil.

 

[cknight49090]

Charcoal lighter fluid. Saturate it a few times and a bug scrubber pad.