Anyway to safely remove paint from a label?

[austin532 | 470]

Is there anyway to safely remove paint from a paper/semi gloss label? I'm guessing no. Isopropyl alcohol will remove the ink from the label. Picking at it with a plastic razor blade will remove pieces of the label as well.

[PII | 2,094]

No idea for sure if it'll work but I've successfully removed ink and marker from a label using a white erasure and caused no further damage in the process...

[RH | 5,428]

If you're dealing with the semi-gloss labels, I highly recommend trying brake fluid first before anything else. That gloss is plastic, and iso make plastic hazy, so I would not use that,  If the ink is permanent marker, then the brake fluid should deteriorate it pretty well, just be sure you keep the fluid from the edge of the sticker, because it will definitely wick into the paper like water, dry and then damage the paper like water would.  But, if it's a gloss sticker and you keep it from the edge, or a nick, you should be fine.  I've cleaned several labels this way.

[PII | 2,094]

33 minutes ago, RH said:

just be sure you keep the fluid from the edge of the sticker, because it will definitely wick into the paper like water, dry and then damage the paper like water would.

This is also a potential thing when using goo-gone.  Works great but don't use too much and keep it away from the edge..

[Tanooki | 5,267]

Well yes, but you'll have to experiment to see if the label can handle it because that looks a bit beat.

Alcohol like most solvents will lift that ink like a kids watercolors tray, done and done.

I work in paint a bit in the last few months, and in there the boss is a retired chemist and he tipped me off to something actually making sense I had been doing the last few years when it comes to the stuff.

Windex (and derivatives)

Windex doesn't ruin inks and surfaces, but it decimates paints, many types but in particular acrylics.  You can even salvage cloth(clothes, etc) if you soak it in that stuff before it starts to set and scrub it out it comes right off.  But on paper, metal, plastic, wood, and other sorts it will rub off.

I've had luck taking sharpie off genesis stickers (last one was being ballsy with Streets of Rage 3 some twit put SVP right over the middle of it (large too) a couple months back.  I put the windex on a strip of clean, white, undyed, unscented paper towel to dampen but not soak it, and I got to carefully rubbing bit by bit, and it came off, 100% with no original ink loss.

I've done this for some years now with SuperGB/GBC, N64, Genesis, SMS and other weak stickers with no laminate.  The only time I've had it not go well, the sticker was already degraded in the first place so any contact with anything other than a dry finger was going to visibly worsen it.

[Nes Freak | 587]

simple alcohol might work as long as its a plastic coated label just dont touch the edges.  personally id just use my finger nail.  yeah it would take awile but it would come off

[CMR | 551]

Did you ever make any progress?

Edited January 15, 2024 by CMR