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How To Remove a Sticky Label or Stubborn Price Sticker

Have you ever wondered how to remove a sticky label from an item you’d like to give as a gift, or otherwise enjoy?

If you’ve ever struggled with removing a stubborn price sticker without damage, we’ve got solutions!

Close up of a hand trying to remove a sticky price tag from a box of tea.

Pity the poor security people who work at places like Ross, Marshall’s and T.J. Maxx. They must have had to deal with a crazy number of people switching price stickers on already-discounted stuff.

Why else would they affix such impossible-to-remove price stickers to their merchandise? The adhesive sticks fast on even the slipperiest nonstick surfaces, and to further deter easy removal the stickers are perforated in about sixteen places!!

This is all fine and well as a security measure, but what about us honest citizens who purchase something and do not care to enjoy said item with its price sticker forever affixed?

I’ve wrecked fingernails trying to remove price tags! I’ve tried razor blades, soaking in hot water, and solvents like Goo Gone and rubbing alcohol to remove stubborn stickers.

These methods all have the unfortunate side effect of sometimes ruining the very thing you’re trying to preserve. When I finally discovered the magic trick to remove the stickers, I knew I had to share it with you.

Removing Price Stickers from Flat Items

If your stubborn price tag is stuck to an item with a flat surface, heat your iron to its lowest setting. You’ll also need a little piece of fabric or a thin cotton dishtowel to protect the item while you get the sticker off.

I used a small scrap of paper towel. Very gently and being careful not to touch the item with your iron, run the pointed part of the iron over the fabric or paper towel covering the sticker.

Remove a stubborn sticky price sticker with this trick from Happy Simple Living.

Test the sticker and see if it will cooperate now. If it doesn’t peel right off, hit it a couple more times with the iron. You may need to raise the temperature a notch or experiment a little bit.

Just go slowly and err on the side of caution so you don’t melt anything except the stubborn glue on the sticker.

How to easily remove a price sticker, from Happy Simple Living.

As you can see, after about ten seconds with the tip of the iron this sticker came right off of a cellophane-covered package.

Remove stubborn price stickers with this tip from Happy Simple Living.

Removing Price Tags from Curved Items

If you need to remove a sticky price sticker from an item that’s not flat, pull out your blow dryer.

Start the process by using the Low setting and running the nozzle of the blow dryer back and forth over the sticker a few times.

You can always increase the heat gradually, but start low and slow so you don’t damage the item. Once the sticker has warmed up a bit, you should be able to peel it off the item.

You readers are so smart you’ve probably been happily ironing and blow drying your price stickers for decades, but for me this discovery was life changing.

How about you? Have you ever tried this tip, and do you have any other tag removal secrets? Drop a comment below!

About Eliza Cross

Eliza Cross is the author of 17 books, including Small Bites and 101 Things To Do With Bacon. She shares ideas to simplify cooking, gardening, time and money. She is also the owner of Cross Media, Inc. and founder of the BENSA Bacon Lovers Society.

16 thoughts on “How To Remove a Sticky Label or Stubborn Price Sticker”

  1. Such a great idea! I’ve never heard of this and will most definitely try it! I too have been through knives, razor blades, or my nails trying to eliminate these price stickers especially from intended gifts. Thank you Eliza!

    Reply
    • I’m so glad you can use the idea, Karissa. I’ve gotten so frustrated in the past trying to remove these tags from gifts. Hope it works for you. xo

      Reply
  2. I’ve gotten those stickers off well by just using a blow dryer on them for a few seconds. I would think that is easier than an iron.

    Reply
  3. Another option is anything that has oil/fat in it … mayonnaise, peanut butter, butter, cooking oils. Let the oil sit for a minute or so, and the adhesive is broken down. It will wipe right off. This even works on most books.

    Reply
  4. I don’t have a dryer or an iron. But I did buy about 100 items from Marshall’s when I was buying my house. I’ve spent countless hours trying to remove Marshall’s stickers. Nail polish remover seems to help most since I don’t have an iron.

    Reply
  5. Thanks for the tip. What’s especially annoying is when they stick the tags on the front of something. Picture frames, books, framed paintings or pictures. I have never understood why they would do that.

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  6. OOOOMG, I can’t believ how easy and fast that was. THANK YOU for sharing. Thise Ross price tags are the reason I sometimes pass on buying gifts there.

    Reply
  7. I’ll have to try this heat approach. I usually rely on Goo Gone®, which works great on hard surfaces, but the heat would be a much better solution on anything that would soak up the Goo Gone fluid. Thanks for the tip!

    Reply
    • Ray, I hope this method works well for you! And thanks for the reminder about Goo Gone, too. We used it to remove really sticky labels from the bottoms of a quantity of china plates, and it worked great.

      Reply

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