Sticker Removal

Removing stickers! It’s a problem right? It’s like getting a new toy as a kid. The toy is brand new, pristine. You’re all excited to start playing with it. But first you have to remove that pesky sticker. You scratch, you scrape. Only for the sticker to peel away, leaving a layer of adhesive that gets all sticky, gunky, and tarnishes the perfect appearance of your toy.

We get it. You buy a beautiful Red Oak board from us that looks perfect in every way...except when you flip the board over and find a sticker.

We promise we didn’t intentionally set out to ruin your board or experience with us. There is a legitimate purpose for the stickers. While some wood species have a very distinctive wood pattern and color, like walnut, others can be harder to tell apart. We sell 25 different wood species, so correctly labeling the boards is important for us and the customer.  

In order to reduce some of the hassle, we shifted from large stickers that cover too much surface area, to smaller stickers in the corner of the board.

If you have a board with a sticker that interferes with cutting, we apologize. We are trying to do better.

So, how do you remove the sticker without leaving behind a mess on your new Red Oak board?

Solution: There are a few solutions depending on what you have available. A hair dryer on high heat will release the sticker well, although some residual adhesive may remain. This is not a problem if painting, but staining can result in uneven absorption of the finish.

Mineral spirits or acetone nail polish remover works brilliantly.

Rubbing alcohol is next and vinegar is right behind that in removing stickers.

If you don’t have a hair dryer, just put a napkin or paper towel over the sticker and soak it with the mineral spirits or nail polish remover for 5 minutes. It will take it right off.

Water does fine for removing the paper, but not so much with the adhesive.

A gentle sanding (avoid going through the veneer layer) is great too, just to remove any residual adhesive.

If you can’t avoid cutting around the sticker, we hope the above tips help with removing those pesky stickers. So, good luck and happy crafting.