Sticky gunk removal

[Lisa H.]

There must have been a "For Sale" sign on the side of my trailer that has left a lot of dirt covered glue on the fiberglass. I tried removing it with 29 Mule Team Borax but it barely had any impact on it. Can I use acetone or paint thinner on it without damaging the trace gelcoat remaining on my Campster?

Thanks in advance!

[Donna D.]

Acetone won't hurt the gel coat. If you have some fingernail polish remover handy, give it a try. I removed a bunch of bumpersticker glue and decal glue from the front plexiglass window on my Scamp too... didn't hurt that either.

[Cam A]

There's a relatively benign glue remover, locally sold as "Goo-Gone". Works great. Smells like citrus.

[Lisa H.]

Thank you both! I'll try the nail polish remover first and then go out and buy the goo-gunk if it doesn't work.

[Bonnie]

anybody tried the goo gone on carpet adhesive? The front wall of the Play Pac was liberally coated. The stuff is still sticky.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Be careful using any of these solvents, esp acetone, inside the egg as they are definitely not good to breathe!

[Lisa H.]

Be careful using any of these solvents, esp acetone, inside the egg as they are definitely not good to breathe!

Since I'll be using a variety of products that are hazardous to breathe I'm headed out this morning to get the solvents and a full face breathing mask with filter. . . or I might just turn into a very happy camper!

[Bruce H]

There must have been a "For Sale" sign on the side of my trailer that has left a lot of dirt covered glue on the fiberglass. I tried removing it with 29 Mule Team Borax but it barely had any impact on it. Can I use acetone or paint thinner on it without damaging the trace gelcoat remaining on my Campster?

Thanks in advance!

The stuff everyone has suggested will work. You want to be carefull trying to rub off adhesive because abrasive dirt and grit will likely be stuck to it. Rubbing on the abrasive can damage the underlying surface. I recently cleaned some tape residue from my Bigfoot. I had the best results with 3-M Adhesive Remover. It seemed to soften and disolve dried adhesive faster than other things I tried. I used plastic razor blades to scrape the softened mess then sprayed again and wiped the surface clean with paper towels. I could not detect any adverse effect on the gelcoat. I got the adhesive remover and the plastic razor blades at an auto supply store.

[GeorgeR]

I would use kerosene, goo-gone, white gas, paint thinner for oil based paints, mineral spirit, turpentine because they tend to be benign on polyester polymers. Lacquer thinner or acetone will dissolve polyester or swell crosslinked polyester (gelcoat) under long exposure.

I have seen people using acetone to clean boats and with limited exposure the potential damage to gelcoat is likely invisible.

George.

[Lisa H.]

I used nail polish remover, which is basically acetone, and a little elbow grease. It worked just fine. Plus the Campster got an additional booster from the vitamin E that was added to the remover. It will now look 37 years old instead of 38. Woohoo!