Items stuck on dash

I recently purchased a used vehicle. The previous owner had a cell phone holder and a cartoon ornament stuck to the vinyl (plastic) dash with sticky tape. Is there a special way to remove items like this stuck to the dash so no damage is done? Or, is it OK to just pull them off gently? What solvent would you recommend to remove the glue remaining after the item is removed?

Appreciate any advice. Just don't want to damage the dash or make a mess. Thanks!

Reply to
Novice
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These things are never easy.

You might try to heat the area GENTLY with your wife's hair dryer and see if you can remove it without a catastrophe.

When you are ready to try to remove the glue, you should use a solvent that will soften the glue but not crack or dissolve the dash...Be careful...I would suggest starting with an alcohol like isopropanol or butanol if you can get them. They are more oil soluble than methanol but less so than the severe solvents like the ones mentioned below.

Sometimes WD-40 will remove things like this. Other times I have seen the orange oil (d-limonene) based solvents work pretty well.

Don't go with benzene, toluene, xylene, acetone, methylethylketone or the like as they are likely to dissolve everything, your lungs included.

Be patient, try a noncritical part of the dash before sloshing on the solvent, and you can usually remove this goop.

Reply to
Larry Smith

wd-40 or pb blaster both work very well to remove adhesives. start first by rubbing with your DRY finger to get most of the stuff off. then spray wd or pb on a rag and rub into the adhesive spot. you may have to do it a couple times. then clean with something like armorall cleaner and then finish off with a nice rubbing of armorall protectant.

you may want to test in an inconspicuous spot to make sure the dash won't be ruined. the spot where the adhesive was may appear discolored because of it's non-exposure to sunlight though.

Reply to
MudPuppy

Approximately 9/16/03 16:41, Novice uttered for posterity:

Be careful when physically removing the items so you don't damage the surface. After that, I've had pretty good luck removing stickum type gunk with GooGone or pretty much any of the other orange peel based removers. You can ident them by smell. If the stuff has been there a while, you might see a difference in color where the dash has faded everywhere *but* the covered area.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

I agree on everything except the armorall. I have seen that stuff destroy more dashes....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

MudPuppy wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Thanks for all the ideas. Will try them on the weekend.

Reply to
Novice

Heat from a hair dryer helps a lot, but as for solvents, do NOT use PB Blaster because it not only dissolves glue but also dashboards. And while WD-40 isn't going to cause noticeable damage to vinyl, it's a good idea to keep most oils away from it. 3M makes some adhesive removers that don't harm plastics or paints, but for a lot less money you can use waterless hand cleaner, like Goop. Goo Gone is also good.

Reply to
do_not_spam_me

Lighter fluid ( naptha ) is a very effective adhesive remover. I have used it on all sorts of plastics, dash boards included. Most recently on the console on my Monte where someone had put a stick on cup holder. I squirted a little on the edge and lifted it with a credit card, another little squirt and work it in with the card.repeat as needed (mop up as you go) The leftover smudge can bee cleaned with a rag over your finger wet with a little fluid. To be on the safe side. put some on a rag and test in a hidden area. If you see color coming off, stop. I doubt you will. It evaporates too fast to cause any harm.

Reply to
Akacguy6161

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