Top Tip For Removing Residue and Even Biro From Cardbacks

Snaketibe

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I have read previous discussions here about tips for removing sticker residue from cardbacks, but I don't recall anyone recommending surgical spirit. My apologies if this is old news, but I have recently had astonishing success removing dried-on crusty Sellotape / Scotchtape residue, still tacky sticker residue and even blue biro ink from cardbacks using surgical spirit. I had bought myself some Goo-Gone and fully intended to use it, but knowing that surgical spirit does not seem to mark cardbacks or remove any of the litho, I gave that a try first. I simply dipped a cotton bud in surgical spirit and gently rubbed the affected area and rapidly found the unwanted residue lifting off very nicely. I changed the cotton bud for a new one as soon as it became dirty and managed to achieve terrific results. The tape and sticker residues were completely removed and the blue biro ink was about 95% removed (and I think that which remains is purely down to the scoring into the cardback by whoever felt the need to write on the card in the first place. If they hadn't pressed so firmly, I reckon I could have removed all of the ink).

It's worth saying that naturally I tried rubbing the surgical spirit onto a battered cardback first to make sure it did not damage the card (it didn't), and I would always recommend anyone attempting this to do likewise to reassure yourself of its safety before entrusting a MOC or nicer cardback to this treatment.

I hope this tip helps some of you :)
 

Mini99

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Thanks, since asking the question a few months ago I have not had the balls to try any of the suggestions, but this sounds very positive.
Are there different strengths of surgical spirit?
 

Snaketibe

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Mini99 said:
Thanks, since asking the question a few months ago I have not had the balls to try any of the suggestions, but this sounds very positive.
Are there different strengths of surgical spirit?

A good question that I didn't know the answer to off the top of my head, so I turned to good old Wikipedia :):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol

It seems there are several similar products, but the stuff I use is from Boots the Chemists here in the UK, and is simply called 'Surgical Spirit B.P.'. The bottle in question has been sitting in my bathroom cabinet not doing much literally for decades, until I discovered this use for it recently (my brother used to clean his tape recorder heads with it, THAT'S how old the bottle is!). The chemical composition is unlikely to have changed in that time period however, as these things tend to be standardised. I was surprised to read on the above Wikipedia page that the preparation 'Surgical Spirit B.P.' contains 2.5% castor oil, however it has never marked any of the cards that I have used it on (I do of course use as little as possible, just to be extra safe), but I can only repeat my advice about testing anything you intend to use on a battered old cardback first (buy a knackered one for a couple of quid off eBay if you don't already have one you don't mind risking a tiny area of).

I would imagine that the main active solvent in 'Surgical Spirit B.P.' is of course the alcohol, so if you have access to pure ethanol, that might be an even better thing to try (we used to have great vats of the stuff in my old chemistry lab back at uni! :lol:). However, steer well clear of acetone (aka propanone, aka nail polish remover), as that does lift the litho from a cardback.

Best of luck and do let me know how you get on!
 

Mini99

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Thanks, some really great information and advice there.
I'll have a look at Boots website and see what they have.
Again many thanks for letting me know.
 

Snaketibe

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I had a quick look at the Boots website myself last night, but it wasn't listed. I wouldn't be surprised if you have to visit a store and buy it in person, as due to the very high alcohol content it may be one of those products they keep behind the counter to make sure they don't sell it to someone who's going to drink it ;-)
 

Nick_IoW

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Snaketibe said:
I had a quick look at the Boots website myself last night, but it wasn't listed. I wouldn't be surprised if you have to visit a store and buy it in person, as due to the very high alcohol content it may be one of those products they keep behind the counter to make sure they don't sell it to someone who's going to drink it ;-)

Plenty of it on Amazon :)
 

Snaketibe

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Nick_IoW said:
Snaketibe said:
I had a quick look at the Boots website myself last night, but it wasn't listed. I wouldn't be surprised if you have to visit a store and buy it in person, as due to the very high alcohol content it may be one of those products they keep behind the counter to make sure they don't sell it to someone who's going to drink it ;-)

Plenty of it on Amazon :)
Good call! Thanks for that, as it may be useful to forum members :)

Because I've needed to use so very little of my ancient bottle's contents to achieve the desired results, I haven't ever had to buy any more myself, so I wasn't sure whether it might be a restricted product these days in some way, but clearly not! I inherited my brother's old bottle of the stuff back in 1994, so I can't claim up-to-date purchasing knowledge regarding it!
 
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