How To Remove Super Glue from Surfaces

Super glue is surely super. You can stick anything on anything with super glue. You are happy and satisfied with it. But now, you don’t want what you have stick on using the super glue. Okay, so you have removed the thing on. The problem is, there are super glue marks on the surface. What will you do?

Fortunately, there are ways to remove super glue from surfaces. These ways, however, differ depending on the surface the super glue is to be found on.

Plastic Surfaces

Super glue is created to eat up plastic. That’s why it’s most difficult to remove the glue from plastic surfaces. You can do the traditional way but it might damage the plastic. Still, there are safer ways—using soap and using alcohol.

1. Wet a clean and soft cloth with water-soap mixture or rubbing alcohol. You can use paper towels as alternative to cloth.
2. Lay that damp cloth over the super glue and let it there for at least four hours. The idea is to soften the super glue so you can remove it without damaging the plastic. To make sure the cloth won’t dry up fast, better cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap.
3. Start to remove the super glue when it is already soft. You can take off the soft layers for now. If there are hard layers left, repeat steps 1 to 3 until the glue is completely removed. It may take some time to completely remove the glue but at least, you can protect the plastic from being damaged.

You can try using acetone to remove super glue on plastic surfaces. This is a fast solution but can damage the surface. Try some acetone on a small portion of the plastic surface to see its effect. If nothing happens, then it’s safe to use acetone.

Vinyl Surfaces

Unlike plastic, it is easier to remove super glue from vinyl surfaces. The acetone power can be used for this. However, the acetone might affect the vinyl surface color. So it is better that you try to put the acetone on a small area of the surface to make sure that there will be no bad effect. Follow these steps:

1. Moisten paper towel or cotton ball with acetone. Blot that on the super glue until the glue softens.
2. Blot the glue using a clean cloth if it’s already soft. Never wipe off the super glue when it’s already soft. The glue might spread out on the surface when you do that. The glue should be easy to remove by now. Continue doing steps 1 to 2 until the super glue is completely gone.
3. Wipe the vinyl surface with clean cloth damped with clean water. This will remove any acetone residue on the surface. Dry the area completely.

Sand papers can also remove super glue from surfaces. It may take some time and lots of effort, though.

Also, try looking for super glue removers available at home improvement and hardware stores. This should do the trick if none of the techniques above works for you.