Goo Gone thread

fulloflead

fulloflead

Joined
May 3, 2002
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Goo Gone is a great product for us all since a lot of us open packages with our knives. It's the best product for removing adhesive goo from knife blades. I use it a lot.

I've always wondered if it's harmful or helpful to blades.

Does anyone happen to know if it promotes or hinders rust?
Is it an oil? Does it lubricate?

I haven't quite figured the stuff out yet, completely. Has anyone else?

.
 
I thought it was basically acetone or something. Maybe I'm wrong. Whatever it is, it works. I wouldn't think it could possibly hurt the blade, but it would certainly remove any oils or other rust protectants you may have applied. I'd definitely recoat a carbon blade after using goo-be-gone on it.
 
Its some combination of organic solvents, mostly xylene I think. Don't think it would be great for lubricating.
 
I use straight Citra-Solv for the same purpose. I would expect both Citra-Solv and Goo-Gone to leave a blade pretty much naked, so I always rinse it off and apply whatever normal lube/protectant I use (FP10 or Ballistol depending on whether it'll be near food).
 
Why not just use WD-40 it works just as well on tape and other sticky stuff.
 
s0rce said:
Its some combination of organic solvents, mostly xylene I think. Don't think it would be great for lubricating.
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If it's xylene (or acetone for that matter) I'd be real careful around coatings, markings, painted surfaces and such. And certain, if not most plastics too. Careful with them nylon washers. And of course, it's pretty toxic.

If I have some tough stains on my blades, usually even ethanol or dishwashing liquid clears most of them effectively. Some are cleared well with gun oil or silicon spray and a rag, depending on the type of gunk.
 
Scott Ridgeway said:
I thought it was basically acetone or something. Maybe I'm wrong. Whatever it is, it works. I wouldn't think it could possibly hurt the blade, but it would certainly remove any oils or other rust protectants you may have applied. I'd definitely recoat a carbon blade after using goo-be-gone on it.
Click to expand...

A mix of acetone and scented oil is used as nail polish remover. Acetone disllolves laquer and polystyrene (eats up styrofoam), and attacks some plastic based paints and varnishes, but it doesn't do much to the glue used on packing or duct tape (the oil in nail polish remover will have more effect on it than the acetone).

The best thing I've found for sticky glues used on labels, duct and packing tapes are naptha/old fahsioned Ronsonol cigarette lighter fluid (you Zippo collectors should have a supply of that around) and goo-gone type solvents. These will easily dissolve these glues as well as waxes (but won't attack styrofoam or many laquers... I've even used it to get candle wax off vinyl records without damaging them). It, like goo-gone and some citrus oil solvents are also effective on asphalt. While naptha/lighter fluid or goo-gone won't hurt many surfaces, it is best to test it first.

Alcohol, xylene, toluene, acetone and naptha are all different and each dissolve different things better... alcohol dissolves oils (as does carbon tetracholride and 1,1,1 trichlorethane) and shellac, terpentine dissolves wax, tars and some types of varnish, toluene dissolves some types of paint and plexiglass type plastics (was used in model cement 'til too many kids tried sniffing it), xylene attacks latex type finishes. The trick is finding something that dissolves what you want to dissolve that won't also damage the surface you are cleaning (and won't eat off your fingers or make you grow 3 heads... come to think of it, I should have 3 heads by now, considering all the benzene and carbon tet. I messed with as a kid!)

As a side note, here is a list of various types of protective gloves and what types of solvents and chemicals they are good for http://www.aps.anl.gov/Safety_and_Training/User_Safety/gloveselection.html
 
Oh yeah, that's true about the lighter fluid. I've used that sometimes too. It's more pure and less "oily" compared to turpentine and the likes.
 
Lighter fluid is naptha. You can buy a gallon at the hardware store for about $7.00.

It removes oils and adhesives, does not attack paints like acetone does, and evaporates very quickly. BUT, it's very flammable, so be careful!

Mikey
 
Goo Gone is citrus based. I don't think it's anything like acetone or lighter fluid. It feels oily and leaves a residue behind. It doesn't evaporate all the moisture from the surface like harsh cleaners like carb cleaner does.

It's the best thing I've ever found for removing adhesive gunk. It's fairly mild to. I've used it for removing price tags from 1st edition books without it effecting the ink or the paper at all, so I don't think it's a solvent in the way we're used to.

.
 
dniice87 said:
Would rubbing alcohol work / be safe to use?
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Should be, unless you inadvertently drink it. :)
As said, I've had success on some stains with ethanol, and they have very similar properties. Removes price tags too.
 
All,

I used Goo Gone with a soft white cotton towel ONLY ONCE on my Spyderco Military which as a black finish blade. I was cleaning packaging tape residue on the sides of the blade. Not a good idea. It made the black finish fade. I don't think I will use Goo Gone on any black finished blade anymore. I'd use Goo Gone on satin, but not black.

You can see the Spyderco Military in the left side of this photo. Note the black faded to a grayish color.

EDC04.jpg


r
 
Just to correct my earlier post Goo Gone is cirtrus based while Goof Off another product with similiar purpose is 95% Xylene, hence my confusion.
 
icon1.gif

citrus based....

The current Goo-Gone is "citrus solvent"
which has a fairly specific content
I use it 1st try for almost all solvent efforts
Search 'citrus solvent' & 'goo*gone' & d*limonene in these forums for a few threads
Google 'citrus-solvent' & 'd-limonene' for more info than you need.
Some call citrus solvent the safest solvent;
few others say very hazardous.
Msds falls on the very safe side.
Anything claiming to be citrus based,
then includes a 'warning'
is likely mostly other ingredients
Citrus solvent (googone) has only a 'caution' notice.

Take fresh orange or lemon with thick rind
scrape off the outer layer
most of the liquid is the aromatic & oily components of citrus solvent

here's one particularly concise summary:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2262181&postcount=6


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WD40 for labels and tape residue.
In the art studio, for removing the same stuff we use Bestine Rubber Cement Thinner. Works great and is real bad for you :D
 
At the office, I always have Purell hand sanitizer at my desk. I always try it first. It usually needs a bit of wiping with a paper towel to coax the gunk off.
If that fails I try ethanol alcohol. If that fails then I try nail polish remover, then Ronsonal, then WD-40, and then freon last. Then to remove the solvent residue I use Windex.
 
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