Proper chemical to dissolve adhesive tape

[cubicboy]

Hi everyone;

I use usual adhesive tape (like scotch tapes) in one of my project and I want to get rid off the tape and all its remains at latter steps of my work. I want to do it with chemical methods so I used dichloromethane. But it only dissolve the plastic part of the tape but sticky part of the tape remains.

Some of my friends told me that I must prepare proper bi solvent for my tape. I'm not sure about tape composition and that makes hard to prepare solvent for it.

Restrictions:My system is vulnerable for most of the acids and high temperatures (it's about 300^oC)

Maybe I can use a solvent or decomposer which is effective for most of the polymers if there is any.

So what's the proper chemical to dissolve/decompose adhesive tape?
Thanks for your help.

 

[chemisttree]

Goof Off or orange oil (limonene) should do it. If you have time, use Crisco grease. Apply and wait about 24 hrs.

 

[cubicboy]

Goof Off or orange oil (limonene) should do it. If you have time, use Crisco grease. Apply and wait about 24 hrs.

Thank you for the answer. I guess I can find limonene. I searched for Crisco grease but I must admit I'm a little bit confused.

Is it some sort of olive oil or special oil? Because, as far as I know crisco is a trademark and it is not sold in my country.

 

[cmb]

If it can take 300C then I'd recommend you warm it gently with a heat gun or hairdryer even, before attempting to remove it. The adhesive will then tend to stay more on the tape. After that, I'd agree d-limonene is reasonable to try, or another non-polar solvent like hexane might do the trick even better.

Depending on the purpose of this tape, you could pick a tape with less adhesive properties in the first place, or reduce its adhesiveness before you stick it on, by various means, if you don't need it that stick in the first place. Use a bit of dust (stick it to your shirt and peel it off before using it) or a bit of talc, or whatever works for you. Or use masking tape - good masking tape shouldn't leave sticky residues.

Sorry, just to add - whatever you will want to remove it from, it goes without saying that you'd want a solvent that is not incompatible with what it is stuck to...

 

[Mike H]

Crisco is a trademark for shortening made of vegetable oil (at least if my memory is correct). You should be able to substitute any comparable product sold in your country for it.

Good luck!

 

[cubicboy]

If it can take 300C then I'd recommend you warm it gently with a heat gun or hairdryer even, before attempting to remove it. The adhesive will then tend to stay more on the tape. After that, I'd agree d-limonene is reasonable to try, or another non-polar solvent like hexane might do the trick even better.

Depending on the purpose of this tape, you could pick a tape with less adhesive properties in the first place, or reduce its adhesiveness before you stick it on, by various means, if you don't need it that stick in the first place. Use a bit of dust (stick it to your shirt and peel it off before using it) or a bit of talc, or whatever works for you. Or use masking tape - good masking tape shouldn't leave sticky residues.

Sorry, just to add - whatever you will want to remove it from, it goes without saying that you'd want a solvent that is not incompatible with what it is stuck to...

Thank you for your answer. Decreasing adhesive properties of the tape makes it useless for the first part of the experiment. At the beginning of the experiment tape have to be adhesive then I must decompose the tape without damaging to my original sample. I really appreciate both your answer and advice, thanks again.

I also try to find limonene but so far no luck. I have got hexane and I will try to do that with it.

Crisco is a trademark for shortening made of vegetable oil (at least if my memory is correct). You should be able to substitute any comparable product sold in your country for it.

Good luck!

Thank you for your answer.
As far as I know there isn't vegetable oil in my country. We have olive oil, sunflower oil, nut oil, corn oil and soybean oil. If I fail at first method I'll look for it. Thanks.

 

[pantaz]

I find isopropyl alcohol -- the common, off the shelf "rubbing alcohol" -- works more often than not.
Oils work for some types of adhesive, but that leaves you with a residue to remove.

 

[gravenewworld]

This thread shouldn't be complicated. A simple squirt with hexane will take off the adhesive residue very well. I've done it literally hundreds of times.

 

[chemisttree]

If the hexane doesn't work, you could freeze it with some liquid nitrogen. When cold, almost all sticky adhesives will just shatter and can be easily brushed off!

 

[chemisttree]

As far as I know there isn't vegetable oil in my country. We have olive oil, sunflower oil, nut oil, corn oil and soybean oil. If I fail at first method I'll look for it.

All of those are vegetable oils. In the US, the term is used to describe mixtures of these as well and may include cottonseed oil. Market prices determine how much of the individual oils are used in the mixture. Crisco is a brand of partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil which renders it a soft solid. It was developed as a substitute for lard and butter. It still has a bit of unsaturation but some of that is trans which is currently believed to be a health risk. It isn't worth seeking out to remove a bit of tape and if you have access to solvents like hexane, try that first.