How to remove custom stickers and labels

Custom stickers and labels can easily be removed by slowly lifting them up and peeling them away. Most of our products (except static cling and heavy duty) come with a medium-strength adhesive that won’t damage the surface they’re applied to. For more stubborn stickers, you might want to use a small blade or knife to carefully (!) remove them.

Sometimes printed stickers and labels can leave sticky residue. That’s just small bits of adhesive that stay stuck to your surface. If you're dealing with this after removing stickers and labels, this article is for you!

How can I remove sticker residue?

Removing stickers and labels isn’t complicated. In fact, in many cases, you can get rid of the residue left behind by your printed labels with basic household products and a cloth. Below are our top three options for tackling sticker residue!

1. Warm water

You probably know this one from removing custom labels from an empty jar or trying to scrape off the price tag of a gift. Warm water helps dissolve the adhesive.

Submerge your items in warm water with a little dish soap, or soak a wet cloth and apply it to the surface. After a few minutes, you can peel off the residue.

2. Cooking oil and baking soda

This combo can be more effective than water and dish soap and works well on glass food jars or containers used for refills, since baking soda is a non-toxic substance safe to use around food.

Mix equal parts cooking oil (like olive oil) and baking soda to form a paste. Apply it to the sticky residue and let it sit for a minute.

The baking soda will break down the adhesive so you can wipe off the remains easily. We recommend cleaning your bottles or jars with hot water and soap afterward to remove any oily film—especially if you plan to apply new clear labels to them.

3. Rubbing alcohol

If your stickers or labels are on electronics, it’s probably not a good idea to soak them in water. Instead, use rubbing alcohol. Simply dampen a cloth or paper towel and rub it over the sticker residue.

If you don’t have rubbing alcohol, a few drops of nail polish remover on a cotton ball will work just as well.

4. Brake cleaner

If the sticker residue is really stubborn, you might need a stronger solvent like brake cleaner.

Spray the brake cleaner directly on the sticky area and let it sit for a few minutes. The solvent will dissolve the adhesive, and the residue will come off with it. Be very careful using this cleaner, since it can be harmful to your skin and eyes. Always work in a well-ventilated space and wear gloves!

Want to reuse the sticker? Read how to make stickers sticky again.

We hope these tips helped and that you're ready to place another order. If so, you can reorder previous designs super quickly with our re-ordering function.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our customer service team.