The easiest way to remove price and other stickers, even from book covers and jackets, is lighter fluid. Just soak the label and let it sit a minute and most labels will lift right off. Because lighter fluid is very volatile, it dries quickly and doesn't leave a trace. If you have a particularly stubborn label, get as much off as you can after the first soak and repeat. I've never had to do this more than twice.
Editor's Note: Be very careful when using lighter fluid as it is VERY flammable.
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I don't have lighter fluid around. There are many other household items that will work--nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol are good. They leave a bit of haze behind when they evaporate, just wipe this off with a soapy rag. My Mom prefers not to use those as the smell aggravates her asthma. She uses vegetable oil or baby oil to remove sticky labels. Saturate the label and let it sit for a bit, then scrape off with an old credit card. GooGone works great, too.
It only takes a couple drops to remove the label from the floppy. If you don't let it run on the floppy, but just soak into the label, it won't do any damage, and once the wet look evaporates there is no residue left. Yes, I do put another label over the old one, but you can't repeat this too many times or it gets stuck due to the thickness of the label. Sometimes I just use white out to cover the old writing. Or write only in pencil so that I can erase.
Harlean from Arkansas
Safer and quicker way is furniture polish. The oil from the polish works great. If it is a tuff sticker let it set for about 15 minutes then rub off.
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When you reformat your floppy disks, and want to relabel with a clean label, a great way to get the old label off is to dampen it with lighter fluid, leave it for a minute and the label will peel off. This also works for magazine address labels in case you want to remove them before you donate the magazines or dispose of them. Anywhere Goo-gone or any similar products work, lighter fluid will do the job for lots less money.
By Harlean from Arkansas
Wouldn't it be easier just to put another label over the old one? I'd worry about the lighter fluid possibly damaging the floppy or, worse, my computer. (02/05/2005)
