Young House Love

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My Secret: It’s Goo Related

Raise your hand if you think I’m anal.

(I’ll pause while you do that).

Well, I probably am. I’m definitely type A. But I think there might be a misconception that our house gleams and the faucets are always shined and there aren’t any toothpaste splatters on the mirrors. Yeah right, I wish. We tried to disprove the whole perfect thing with this video (yes, we leave clothes on the floor and mail in a pile like the rest of the population- haha) and it seemed like the masses were relieved.

We’re human I promise (although I’m pretty sure if I weren’t human I’d pretend that I was for assimilation purposes), and my dirty goo-related secret might just prove that once and for all (prove that I’m human, not prove that I’m an assimilating robot). Check out this lamp – from Linens N Things back in the day – that I’ve had for over four years. That’s more than 1,460 days. Yup, that’s the sticky rectangle left by the clearance tag that was on there when I got it. Yes, the goo is practically an antique. I’ve just never scrubbed it off.

Goo Lamp

Same with the back of the ceramic container (from Target) from at least two years ago that we use to hold our serving and cooking utensils. I just turn the container sticky-side-back so it faces the wall and go on my merry way.

Goo Canister

Of course outing myself makes me feel like I should remedy these two sticky situations (my mom does occasionally skim the blog- hi ma!), so with a little bit of soap (Dr. Bronners if you’re wondering, the almond kind) and some water I’m off to get my scrub on. Let’s hope in ten minutes I’ll be singing “ding dong, the goo is gone.” I have to admit that I’m worried that it might be a bit rough to remove thanks to years of dormancy. So that’s what I’m up to this afternoon (along with continued console bid-ness and some post writing). Whew, outing my sticky secret feels kind of good. I can’t be alone in this can I? Please tell me someone else out there just rotates things so the “flaws” face the wall.

Comments

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Wow- that is a fascinating idea! Too bad we don’t have dryer sheets (haha). I’ll have to call my BFF and have her try it on something sticky at her house for research purposes!

      xo,
      s

    • Donita says

      On glass you can use nail polish remover and a cotton ball. On other surfaces *and glass* rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball. Both work great!!!

  2. lisa says

    i looooove dr. bronner’s soaps and satrted buying it/using it because of you guys…
    i clean our counters with it…the smell is soooo ncie and clean and makes the counters sparkle.:)

    Reply

    • Elisa says

      Is it the Sal Suds that you use to clean the counters? I thought there was only hand/body soap until I looked at the website…

  3. Julie says

    I totally just ignore things like that until they magically go away (or I forget about them). However, that goo gone stuff is pretty awesome for sticker leftovers. =)

    Reply

    • Ayelet says

      I was sure I wouldn’t be the first one to suggest it, but truly, invest in some goo gone, and save yourself some trouble. I’m pretty sure it’s a fairly natural product (I think the main ingredient is citrus oil). Also, it will last you forever–I’ve had the same bottle for years and have barely made a dent.

  5. Samm says

    I just laughed out loud at the first line of this post… Sounds like something I would totally say…hahaha but on another not, Love y’all ideas!

    Reply

  6. Nicole says

    I have a pre-arranged flower arrangement I got at Homegoods for 75% off b/c it had some flowers missing – so I just turned it around so that it was hiding! I love it and people never ever notice…no harm in that right? :)

    Reply

  7. rosie-b says

    I do that all the time :) BTW put a little oil (veggie, wd40, or whatever) on the sticky parts and leave it for a few minutes. A lot of glues are oil-based so it dissolves a bit and should wipe right off. Wash with soap and water and you’re done!

    Reply

  8. kim b says

    Not just goo. But I’ll buy something really cheep on sale because it has a flaw/ imperfection or chip and will hide it “wall side”. I feel like I’ve just confessed all my dirty little secrets, you guys won’t tell right!

    Reply

  9. Mrs. Flinger says

    Just had to say I love you. Ok, I don’t “KNOW” you but I love our site. We’re re-doing a ton in our old farm house we bough last year and I have GOOEY things EVERYWHERE.

    Plus we need a new couch, we’re painting our brick fireplace and starting a garden. All of which I know NOTHING about.

    So thank you. That is all. Just thank you. :-)

    Reply

  10. Samm says

    Oh… And goo-gone is the #1 way to get those sticky things off…. Seriously just spray it, wait for like 2-3 min, and wipe off with a paper towel. Easy as pie! And about $3 at Hobby Lobby. Well worth it and it will last you a good long while. Good luck!

    Reply

  11. Rachel says

    Have you ever tried Goo Gone? I always call goo-be-gone (it sounds so much better in my head). I discovered it through my hubby who uses it for car related stuff, but have found it works great around the house too. Plus, it’s made with all natural ingredients, won’t harm the environment and also can be used on fabrics, carpet, plastics, etc. (ok totally sound like a bad infomercial now) While I’m all about elbow grease, it makes my life easier.

    Reply

  12. Jae says

    At least you take time to remove the tag. Not only do I turn the sticky to the wall, in some instances, the tag is still attached. And occasionally not rotated to the wall. It’s one of the few “non-type a” allowances in my life. Drives my family nuts.

    Reply

  13. Tovah says

    I hate that goo stuff. Can’t they make tags that don’t do that? Seems like someone should be able to come up with something better. I have a razor that I go after things like that, to better success on some projects than others. And I would totally join you in just turning the items to the wall so no one sees them…

    Reply

    • Krys72599 says

      OMG, I bought an octagonal spaghetti jar and was trying to remove the sticker. Tried oil, peanut butter, soap and water – finally moved up and on to the razor. Put on my dishwashing gloves for a good grip and started scraping. Slipped a bit and noticed that the razor corner put a slit in the glove. Kept right on scraping and soon that goo was G-O-N-E for good! Pulled off my right glove and then my left. And (warning: grossness ahead!) blood spurted up and over my shoulder and hit the wall! Clamped down on it with the towel and went to the ER when it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Needed 2 stitches, but the ER guy wouldn’t put them in until I spoke with “another doctor.” He was sent in to see if it was a possible suicide attempt since the slit was right on my left wrist! Once I went through the whole story about the octagonal jar, the oil, the peanut butter, he was convinced. He said if I’d been trying to kill myself I probably would never have been able to tell him that story in such detail… All to remove some goo – now I just leave the goo there, rotate the jar, and hide the sticker residue. (Or I leave the paint spatter on the lamps I hate anyway… Or I cover the holes in the plaster with another picture…)

    • Trisha D. says

      If the sticker is on your car paint, you can use a hairdryer (may want to use an extension cord). It will heat up the sticker and its super easy to peel off then.

    • diana says

      When it’s really stuborn, I pass it in the dishwasher and when it’s finished and the jar is still very hot, I try again all the methods. Sometimes it goes away with just the washing programe.

      Krys, that’s halucinating! So sorry for you!

  16. Rebecca @ the lil house that could says

    I bought a new Mazda in July. It had a “Zoom Zoom” sticker on the rear window. I waited so long to take it off that when I did, I could only get small chunks off. So now it’s like Z_om-Zoo_. Now that it’s warmer maybe I’ll try again since I know it drives my husband insane. Stupid stickers…

    Reply

    • Andrea says

      The best thing to use to remove car stickers is a heat gun. It should come right off. A hair dryer could work too. . . but if you do it for too long you might fry it!

    • Rebecca @ the lil house that could says

      Andrea, I’m hoping my husband doesn’t read this! He’s been telling me since day one to hairdry it. I mean, I’ll do a lot of weird things in my driveway, but hairdrying my car seemed really bizarre to me :) I do own Goo Gone and I really should try one of the options. Maybe this weekend…

  17. liz says

    4 years ago when we installed our hardwood floors, my handyman (aka husband) got a glop of glue on the side of the fridge. i asked him, ever so sweetly, to please clean it up before it dried there permanently. just yesterday – yesterday! – i broke out the GooGone and a razor blade to clean it up myself after four years of thinking to myself, “gosh, i should really just clean that up.”

    Reply

  18. Jo says

    Goo, sometimes all it takes is applying a little oil-vegetable type- let it sit a bit and it will wipe right off. Then just clean the oil residue with dishwashing detergent.

    Reply

  19. Erin C. says

    lol I just bought a white box from Home Goods to hold remote controls, etc at our house.. when I saw it in the store, it had some sticky residue on it, probably from an old label.. but I was like, “meh, I’ll just scrub it off.” Yeah, you guessed it.. still there. Maybe I’ll get to it this afternoon. :P

    Reply

  20. Lee says

    Nope. Sorry. Can’t agree with you on this one. I’m not super anal about cleaning but I *hate* the goo. I have to scrape, scrub, claw that goo off.

    It’s my sickness. I’ve come to accept it. ;)

    PS My usually successful secret is to reapply the same sticker over and over again to the goo. It usually pulls it all off eventually. I pull it off, lay it on, pull it off, lay it on … each time I remove it a little more goo is picked up. See? A sickness!

    Reply

    • Jennifer L says

      I can’t stand the goo either. I keep a bottle of Goo Gone under the sink and de-stick gooey things immediately.

      I don’t normally have a problem with stickers because I try to remove them immediately. However, I did have an awful time with a sticker on some of my baking pans. The sticker was so stubborn that I struggled even with the miraculous Goo Gone. Quite unsettling, as this is something that is to be in contact with food.

    • Christa M says

      I used to do that with my bubblegum when I was a kid…if you blow a big bubble and it pops all over your face, just blot your face with your piece of gum. HAHA! It works!!!

    • Reenie says

      That’s what I was going to suggest Andie :) Put a lil on a q-tip….rub on the area and it comes right off.

    • Dana says

      yes! i agree! sometimes when it’s really stubborn glue, i mix sea-salt with rubbing alcohol to form a gritty paste and it works in seconds!

  22. Laura T says

    Yep. I do the same thing. Except I can’t get away with it because stickers on things makes my hubby absolutely bonkers. He is the one that will be scrubbing the stick off of things while I sit back and tell him to just turn it around, no one will notice. But he’ll lose sleep over it, I swear ;-)

    Reply

  23. Val says

    If the goo is stubborn, nail polish remover is an effective (albeit smelly and not very “natural”) remedy!

    Reply

  24. Kate says

    Goo is my worst enemy…especially after an unfortunate situation that involved goo on a new pair of sunglasses, my laziness, and my hair. It ended with scissors and tears. My recommendation: a handy bottle of “goo gone!” It works like a charm every time and there is no scrubbing or growling involved!

    Reply

  25. Kira says

    Nail polish remover. Not the least-smelly or family-friendly stuff out there, but it works and most people have it on hand. I use it on all the sticky residue from any glass or ceramic-type things we buy! :-)

    Reply

  28. Marnie says

    hahaha…we’ve lived in our house five years now and there still is some sort of sticky tag goo on our hall bath tub surround. Every time I clean the tub I think, “Hmmm, I really should get that stuff off.” Luckily it’s on the side that we never open the shower curtain. But I’m usually in a hurry to get the cleaning finished since by that point my 3-year old little guy has wandered off and I’m praying to G-O-D that he isn’t in the kitchen juggling knives! So, no, you are not alone in your goo secrets!

    Reply

  30. Michelle says

    That’s so funny! I’m the opposite- I hate the sticky residue that tags leave and I have to remove it right away! It’s a pet peeve of mine. And I always use goo gone (which I also call goo-be-gone :)

    Reply

  32. Kerry says

    I do for sure! I have a large, round, wicker basket that we put our living room blankets in and within the first week of purchasing it, my good-intending puppy chewed a little bit of one side. We just turn it around so that part is leaning against the couch and no one knows! My goodness, the thing was $30 dollars (I just can’t get over how expensive wicker baskets are :) ) so there was no way we were going to ditch it!

    Reply

  33. Erin says

    Wow! I have to say, being disorganized and not as clean and you guys, even I don’t do that! I soak and clean the stickers right away. Love to see the dirt(ier) side of your house!

    Reply

  35. Martha says

    Although you guys probably wouldn’t use this, my husband introduced me to the trick of using lighter fluid to get off stickers. It works PERFECTLY. You squirt a little on and then it pulls off in one piece – no tearing at all. It’s especially great if you have to remove a bunch of stickers off things right in a row.

    Reply

    • Melissa says

      Agreed, Martha!! I use lighter fluid to get the sticker goo off and to get grease stains out of clothes. A little dab will do you. I recently did this with 3 yr old goo (finally said, what am I waiting for and found my lighter fliud!) And there is lemon-scented lighter fluid out there if you hate the smell. Just use a little then wash well.

    • Kelly says

      Absolutely lighter fluid. You do not need to even attempt to peel off the sticker before saturating it. Let it sit for about 20 seconds, then the entire sticker and good slides off easily and rub once or twice with a paper towel and you’re good to go. SO EASY! I love this method.

      (I also love the idea of the dryer sheet method, but that sounds like I’d need to waste time and effort peeling the sticker off in the first place, likely getting little gooey bits stuck to my fingernails in the process.)

  36. Kayla says

    Sticky stickers are the most annoying thing. Sometimes when I can’t get them off, it seriously makes me regret the purchase. Some stickers are so easy to get off, and it makes me wonder why all manufacturers don’t use THAT kind!?

    Reply

    • Hayley says

      Also, I think T J Maxx make the stickers deliberately hard to remove, so people don’t go swapping the stickers around on different items in store, so as to get something for cheaper. They have a really basic category system on their receipts: ‘homewares’ ‘ladies fashion’ etc, so they are aware than an assistant couldn’t look at an item and know that the sticker was incorrect.

  37. Gepke says

    I used to do that to all the time. Until I discovered that a simple eraser will get sticker goo come of in a in a jiffy.

    Reply

  40. Darlene says

    Buy ‘Goo-Gone’ (Walmart, Target). You’re gonna be stuck on this stuff cause it peels goo off in no time (no pun intended, of course)

    Reply

  43. Krystal says

    I absolutely abhor those goo spots…I’ve been known to take SOS pads to my folders and notebook covers (the vinyl & plastic variety) just because I despise them so much. I can proudly say that you will NOT find a goo spot on a single one of my belongings. Though I’m not really proud of the time wasted while removing said goo spots. It is definitely a time consuming endeavor.

    Reply

  44. Shunta says

    I’m a goo hider too! Actually the silver tin we bought from BBB to hold our big spoons, etc… is turned to hide the paper left from pulling off the label. Much easier to turn than try to clean it off. ;-)

    Reply

  46. Diana says

    I get so excited when I buy something that has those plastic labels that easily come off instead of stickers. Know what I’m talking about? I’ve seen them on mirrors or frames sometimes. No sticky residue!

    Reply

    • Ruth says

      Me too! It’s ridiculous how much my mood changes based on whether the sticker comes off without residue.

      We have a huge bottle of that orange industrial hand cleaner, (like mechanics & machinists, etc use) and I guess our dirty little secret is that it’s normal storage place is on the counter right next to the kitchen sink. We only put it under the sink when we are trying to be fancy. Yes, fancy for us is a counter free of orange gallon bottles of super strength hand cleaner.
      Anyway, that works great in conjunction with a toothbrush for removing really stubborn stickies.

  47. Micha says

    Try “Goof off” – it works like a charm :o) even dried up latex paint splatters on hardwood floors come up no problemo without ruining the finish.

    Reply

    • megan e says

      Oh, Goof off is great for getting paint out of fabrics too (w/o bleaching the colors)!

  48. Laura says

    In one of my college apartments, part of the wall just….fell. off. It left a hole about the size of my hand. My roommate hung one of her scarves over it to cover the enormous blemish.

    Reply

  49. Barb says

    I use the GOO GONE stuff to get rid of my stickiness. I recommend it to all. Yes it has a funny smell that you might not like. BUT…. I like it so much I have lent it out to many to borrow. Guess what? Last time I lent it out …I never got it back. Can’t remember who I lent it to so now I have to go buy more. Oh well….I love it anyway. Sure does the trick.

    Glad you are having a de-sticking day and you will be a much better, organized, less sticky person in your new house.

    Bravo to you Sherry.

    John’s post was so detailed!! Sorry your wood pallets didn’t work out. You will figure something neat to do with them.

    B.

    Reply

  50. Risa says

    To get sticker leftovers off of stuff I use baby oil. Just rub it in with a paper towel (or rag) till it’s gone. the surface will be clean but a little oily ;) nothing a baby wipe won’t fix hehe.

    Oh, and for stuck-on messes, maybe you can try putting some baking soda on a baby wipe and scrub! This works wonders for crayon on walls too! hehe. Hope you’ve successfully taken off the stains!

    Reply

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