Sticky residue from duct tape?

Question

I had my power mirror break off my car and I used duct tape to temporarily hold it in place, but now I have a lot of hard crusty tape residue on my car that looks ridiculous and I cant get it off. I have used goo gone and other basic soap cleaners and nothing works. What can I use that will be safe for my paint on my car?

Answer 1

When I bought a vacation home in Florida the vinyl floors in the kitchen were disgusting; they had grease build up and God knows what else.  I was on my hands and knees scrubbing with Comet and Barkeeper's Friend to no avail.  I went to the Dollar Store in Okeechobee and bought something (sorry I cannot remember the name of it and just threw out the bottle recently here at my primary residence) but it's in the cleaning supplies section of the DS and it's something that is tough on grease and other things like that.  I just sprayed the floor and let it set for an hour and most of it lifted right off whereas some areas had to be resprayed.  I, embarrassingly, too have duct tape on my truck mirror - the doing of my son when the mirror got broken whilst on vacation in Colorado last year and I've yet to get it fixed.  

Since it's not on a flat surface where you can spray and let it sit you'll most likely have to drench a paper towel or cloth and let that set for a while.  The stuff is great and cheap.  In addition I know there are general adhesive remover's that tile guys use when cleaning up.  M1 Adhesive Remover is an adhesive remover I found online and the website is the second listed below.  The first site is a general purpose adhesive remover tips page.  

The afflicted area is on the plastic and not the actual metal of the car, correct?  Just to be safe I'd drape plastic sheeting over the car's side before attempting any remover;-)

Answer 2

I took some duct tape residue off just yesterday and it was pretty easy.

I smeared it heavily with some plain old liquid car wax. Let it sit for a few minutes and then started rubbing with a clean cloth. You will need to turn the cloth often and you may need to reapply the wax a few times, but it does work and it sure won't harm the finish on the car. Problem is you may just have to wax the whole car.

Answer 3

try rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits. I was going to say try acetone but I think that may be too strong of a solvent

Answer 4

Try Goo Gone.  Works wonders on duct tape residue!

Answer 5

Try heating the residu with a hair dryer then when it softens put duct on top of residu and it should peel off when the tape is removed. Good luck.

Answer 6

Try acetone (what some nail polish removers are), but test it in an inconspicuous spot first. Wax it when you're done.

Good luck.

Answer 7

If you like the smell, rub it with plenty of eucalyptus oil. The glue will soften and you should be able to gently scrape it off with a plastic edge of something. It may take a few hours to soften, depending on how much is there.

Answer 8

I took adhesive tape residue off my bathroom mirrors using plain generic window cleaner from Wal-Mart. I could not believe it worked but it did. Plus I did not have to clean off the goo gone.

Answer 9

Go to an auto detail shop and ask for acrisol.  This is a very strong chemical that will definitely remove the residue (along with any road tar, etc).   Oh, another thought before you make a special trip. . . spray it with some WD-40 or carb cleaner.  That might do it too.

Good luck