15 Easy DIY Tricks on How to Get Stickers Off Glass Rapidly

So, what can you do to remove that gunk on the glass in the smoothest way possible, without all that hassle? I am sure that there have been many ways you can find out there, claiming to come to your rescue, but they might not all be as effective. Worry not, I am here to put down a list of easy DIY tricks using household items, with which you can easily remove the stickers and sticker residues. Just read along and find out for yourself.

Easy DIY Tricks on How to Get Stickers Off Glass Rapidly

What are the principles of Sticker Removal?

Before we go into the details, I’d like to let you in on a little secret about the simple principle that goes into effective sticker removal. It consists of three words – Oil, scrubbing and Time. Yes, you read that right!

The process involves applying any oil or greasy fat to the sticker to ensure the dissolution of adhesive, after which you can scrub it off with sponges or other abrasive items to get rid of those stubborn stickers. Then comes the most important thing, time. As they say, good things come to those who wait. So, be patient with the process. Don’t expect it all to be done in a jiffy.

Now, let’s get to that list of tricks I mentioned earlier. Shall we?

Image via Tomoe Steineck@dusk_cicada

How to get a sticker off glass

1. Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter jars are the most common ones that are often re-used in the households. And ironically, you can use the same ingredient to get the sticker off its own jar. The fat content present in the peanut butter can effectively dissolve all the adhesive content in the sticker.

All you have to do is just take a spoonful of peanut butter and spread across a thick layer of it over the sticker. Then just leave it for an hour or so, after which you can simply wipe the sticker clean with a sponge or a piece of cloth.

2. Hair Dryer

Using the hair dryer for sticker removal is one of the easiest and quickest ways on the list today. Unlike the basic principle, this one involves the heating of adhesive to make it un-sticky so that it could be peeled right off.

So, if you happen to have a hair dryer at home, just turn it on and place it near the sticker for about thirty seconds. Then you can just use your hands to peel away the sticker. No fuss, there! But, should the sticker give you any more trouble, apply the heat for another thirty more seconds, and you’re good to go!

3. Washing Soda

Ask any DIY hack enthusiast about the one trick they turn to for removing their stickers; this would be the answer you’re likely to get the most. It’s simple, clean and you can remove stickers from multiple jars at once. Just fill in your sink or a bucket with water, add in a cup of washing soda to it and leave your glass bottles out there to soak. After about a good half an hour or so, you should be able to peel the sticker right off without any hassle.

Image via Diana Feil@diana_f

4. Pencil Eraser

I know, I know, this sounds strange. But if you’ve managed to pull off the sticker and find the adhesive still stuck in there to bother you, then a common eraser could be all you need to finish the job and ger rid of the sticker residue.

The abrasiveness of rubber material in the eraser will help you scrape the adhesive content right off the glass surface when you apply some friction.

5. Baking Soda and Coconut Oil

Now, there’s a perfect mixture which could help you with the trouble of sticker removal. The paste made from baking soda and coconut oil can be so powerful that it can even remove the most stubborn of stickers.

The oil in the paste saturates the adhesive while the baking soda acts as the scrub. So, you can smear some paste on the sticker, let sit for half an hour or so, before scrubbing it off.

6. Alcohol

Yes, Ethyl alcohol is another effective way to remove stubborn stickers from the glass jars. For this, you can use any liquid with an alcohol base. Be it rubbing alcohol, nail polish, or even some cheap vodka.

Just take some alcohol, soak a paper towel in it and wrap it around the sticker for half an hour or so. Then use an abrasive cloth to scrub it clean and remove all the sticker residue.

Image via Jon Tyson@jontyson

7. Mayonnaise

Another condiment that is useful for more than just eating is Mayonnaise. Believe it or not, but the oil content in the Mayo is surprisingly effective on the adhesives of the sticker.

Like the rest of the pasty ingredients here, smear over some Mayo over the sticker and wipe the sticker away after letting it sit for half an hour or so, just note that this way to remove stickers might make you hungry in the process.

8. White Vinegar

White Vinegar is another liquid that can help you remove stickers. Soak a dish-wash cloth in some vinegar and wrap it around the sticker for about thirty minutes. You should then be able to remove the sticker easily.

Image via Igor Ovsyannykov@igorovsyannykov

9. Razor Blade

Now, don’t forget the effectiveness of a good old razor blade that’s usually available at homes. You can hold the blade at an angle where you can push it under the sticker, and then peel it off carefully to remove stickers.

You might be having some sticker residue left from the adhesive there, but that could be taken care of with an eraser or any other method mentioned in the article.

10. WD-40 Lubricant Spray

Although the lubricant aerosol spray might not be readily available at all homes, it can get you out of some sticky situations.

When it comes to the messy labels, you can just spray some WD-40 over the sticker, leave it for a while and boom, the sticker slides right off, with some help. So, it’d be a good bet if you can keep some WD-40 handy at home if you remove stickers of cookie jars often.

11. Baby Oil

If you happen to have some baby oil at home, then you don’t have to worry about working hard on the gooey labels. This is because a little bit of baby oil is nothing short of a magic ingredient on stubborn stickers.

Take some baby oil and apply it on the adhesive for a while, and scrub it off with an abrasive cloth. And voila! You’re done. However, if you want the trick to be much more effective, you might want to remove the upper sticker by soaking it in some warm water first.

12. Petroleum Jelly

The grease in the petroleum jelly is perfect to remove stickers and the adhesive content in the sticker labels. So, apply a thick layer of Vaseline over the sticker, let sit for about half an hour before scrubbing the sticker off with a sponge or a cloth. And that should be able to do the trick.

Image via ARTP@artp

13. Windex

Yes, the window cleaners are also a proven way of getting those annoying stickers off the glass surface. Just spray some good amount of Windex on your glass jar, wait for a while and scrub the sticker off and there you go!

14. Cooking Spray

Using some cooking spray onto the labels can also help you remove stickers with ease. The fatty oils in the cooking spray loosen the adhesive in the sticker, making it easier to peel off the whole thing without any trouble.

15. Hair Spray

Another kind of spray that is effective for the stubborn sticker removal is the one you use to style your hair. You read that right. Working with some hairspray could help you pull off the stickers with ease. All you have to do is use some spray, and let sit for a while before scraping it off for good.

So, these are a few tried and tested ways to remove the stickers from the glass surface, all by yourself. That too, from the convenience of your own home, at your leisure. Now, you don’t have to spend on the commercial goo-removal substances for the job that needs a few simple ingredients available in the kitchen. Just try these methods, see what works for you, and you’re good to go!

But hey, don’t forget to clean the whole bottle with warm water and dish-washing soap later. I mean, no one would want to reuse the bottle with all that grease and gooey mess on, right?

Now that the glass is clean of stickers you can proceed with various glass bottle projects, some of which might require actually cutting the glass. If that is the case here you will find the step by step DIY approach on how to cut glass yet if the project bigger and you have cleaned all those stickers for it, it would make sense to use something faster for the cutting and finishing of the glass. The best stained glass ring saws have been featured on Homesthetics and also list of the best stained glass grinders is present to help you finish the cut smoothly. We highly encourage you to use tools with safety gear at all times and read the instructions manual thoroughly before proceeding.