removing contact paper residue from shellaced wood

[Bill Dufour]

My wife bought a small table for me to refinish. It is maple with a shellac finish, probably from the 1950s. Problem is that they covered the top with contact paper which pulled off easy enough. But it left behind a sticky glue residue. I do not want to try alcohol since that may just mix with the glue and make it harder to get off. Would paint thinner be safe and leave the shellac more or less intact?
Or should I just use alcohol and keep flooding it with wet rags to soak up the glue.
I did try the alcohol in a small area and it seems to have removed the glue but maybe it spread the glue into the pores and shellac may or may not stick in that area.
Bill D.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Xylene is often used to remove adhesives as well as latex paint. Shellac is an excretion of the lac bug dissolved in alcohol so that cleaning method carries great risk to the finish.

[Bob Bouis]

Mineral spirits will remove adhesive but not shellac. Alcohol will dissolve shellac -- don't use it.

[Jim Becker]

What about GooGone? It's a citrus based produced designed specifically for removing these types of adhesives. Try a little in an inconspicuous place to insure it doesn't dissolve the shellac first, however... ;)

[Rich Engelhardt]

Cola - - yeah - the stuff you drink.

Root beer might work also, but, I know for sure generic Cola works. We did a wall in the kitchen of a rental & a few drawers.
Works on old flooring adhesive too!


Wash it off with water & don't let any of it -or the water - stand on the shellac or it can cause the shellac to bloom (turn white).

[Paul K. Johnson]

Another vote for mineral spirits. Also, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work pretty good on label goo on glass bottles. I used to use thinner to take off labels that weren't water-soluble but now I soak off the paper and use a magic eraser to take off the glue. Takes a minute - maybe two if all the glue stayed on the bottle and the label was big.

[Bill Dufour]

OP Here: Paint thinner seems to be working pretty well. Just needs multiple passes and wipe off with clean rag between each pass.
Bill

[Art Mann]

I'm with Jim. I have gotten really good results with it and i can't tell that it has any VOCs in it.


What about GooGone? It's a citrus based produced designed specifically for removing these types of adhesives. Try a little in an inconspicuous place to insure it doesn't dissolve the shellac first, however... ;)

[Edwin Santos]

Naptha might be your best solution. I know it will not harm the shellac finish because it can be used as a modern method for removing the abrasive slurry from mineral oil, pumice and rottenstone when french polishing in the traditional way. I think Naptha works a little better at dissolving glue residue than mineral spirits.