Here is How To Remove an Adhesive Magnet & Clean the Surface

After using a DIY adhesive magnet board on my stainless steel refrigerator for years, I felt that it was finally time to remove it. It was during the process of pulling it off unsuccessfully and noticing a very sticky imprint that I decided to consult the internet for a good tutorial on how to remove this type of magnet and clean the surface.

How can you remove an adhesive magnet and clean the surface? To remove an adhesive magnet and clean the surface, you will need to use a plastic scraper and adhesive remover. To wash off the surface, a slippery substance like hot soapy water will work the best.

If you have ever used any kind of adhesive magnet for a craft or home DIY project, you might have been left with the annoying sticky residue that was sitting on the surface for who knows how long. For the easiest possible clean-up, read through this helpful guide on how to remove an adhesive magnet and clean the surface underneath it.

How To Remove An Adhesive Magnet

When it comes to removing adhesive magnets, you can find yourself in a very sticky situation. Whether you used your own strong glue or peeled off the sticky part that comes with most magnet sheets, you most likely did everything you could to make sure that it stayed on tight when you applied it.

While this might have been great throughout the duration of using your adhesive magnet board, there will most likely come a time where you would like to replace it with a fresh sheet or you get sick of it and would like to move onto something else.

If you had the same problem that I did while trying to pull an adhesive magnet off with all of your strength with no budge, this simple tutorial will help you out tremendously in getting that thing off of your fridge or wall.

What You Will Need:

• Plastic Scraper
• Adhesive Remover
• Hair Dryer

The things that you will need to remove an adhesive magnet with the least amount of damage to the surface are a plastic scraper that you can find at a hardware store, most likely in the drywall or painting section, some kind of adhesive remover, and a regular hair dryer.

How To Remove an Adhesive Magnet:

1. Try to loosen the edges and corners using your plastic scraper
2. Apply adhesive remover all around the open areas and let it sit
3. Slowly begin to wedge the plastic scraper further under the magnet, applying more adhesive remover to newly exposed areas
4. Use your hair dryer to apply heat to the areas where the adhesive remover is working to speed up the process
5. Repeat all of these steps until you have successfully removed the adhesive magnet

To begin the safest possible removal of your adhesive magnet, you will need to use your plastic scraper to try and loosen the edges and corners as much as you possibly can.

It is important that you find a plastic scraper instead of a metal one, because you do not want to scratch up the surface that is underneath the magnet.

Next, you will need to take your adhesive remover and apply it all around the open areas that you have just exposed using your plastic scraper. Allowing it to sit on the adhesive for several minutes at a time, continue to pry the magnet off of the surface using your scraper.

During this entire process, you can use your hair dryer to put direct heat all around the magnet, helping the adhesive remover to work faster than it normally would.

You should be aware that the task of removing an adhesive magnet from any surface will be a long and tedious one, especially if it is covering a wider area than usual. Before the magnet is completely removed, you will most likely need to repeat all of these steps multiple times until you can get it off in one piece.

How To Clean The Surface Under An Adhesive Magnet

Now that you have successfully removed your adhesive magnet, which probably took hours, you have now come to the conclusion that there is a giant sticky imprint on the surface that you have just peeled it away from.

The process of removing your adhesive magnet will not stop here, unfortunately. To preserve the surface as much as possible, you will need to carefully clean it to get the adhesive off and restore it to its original form.

With the help of the tips and tricks outlined in this section, you should be able to get the sticky mess off of your wall or refrigerator faster and easier than the adhesive magnet itself, to make you feel a little better about the situation.

What You Will Need:

• Plastic scraper
• Hair dryer
• Adhesive remover
• Slippery substance (ie vegetable oil or liquid dish soap and hot water)
• Cleaning cloth or brush

How To Clean The Surface Under An Adhesive Magnet:

1. Start by removing everything you can with the plastic scraper (gently)
2. Try to soften the adhesive with an adhesive remover during this process
3. Use your hair dryer to apply heat to the surface, softening the adhesive further
4. Continue to scrape off everything you can get without damaging the surface
5. Apply vegetable oil or a mixture of hot soapy water to soak the adhesive off of the surface
6. Come back with your plastic scraper to peel off the rest of the residue
7. Use a clean cloth or cleaning brush to wash the surface with more hot soapy water
8. Dry the surface and complete any needed repairs

To begin, you will want to try to remove everything that you can using the plastic scraper in very gentle strokes. Try to soften the adhesive with an adhesive remover of nay kind during this process.

In addition to the scraping, you can use your hair dryer to apply heat to the surface, softening the adhesive even further. However, if you find that this is not working, you might want to try an alternative method.

After scraping off everything you can get, you can apply something slippey like vegetable oil or hot soapy water. This substance should sit on the surface for some time, allowing it to loosen the adhesive.

Come back with your plastic scraper again to peel off the rest of the residue, repeating this step as needed. Use a cleaning cloth or brush to wash off the surface with more hot soapy water, and dry the surface to inspect the damages.

At this point, you will compete any needed repairs such as repainting a wall or sanding off a wood surface if any harm was done to it.

In conclusion, the long process that goes into removing and cleaning up after adhesive magnets can leave you full of regret that you tried that DIY project in the first place. However, with the right materials and some trial and error, you will find a method of removal and cleaning that will work the best in your situation for a quicker solution.

Related Questions

Why is a plastic scraper needed for adhesive removal instead of metal?

Due to the fact that a metal scraper will most likely leave scratches or nicks on the surface you are trying to remove the glue from, you will want to be safe by using a softer plastic scraper instead.

How can I prevent adhesive from sticking too much onto a surface?

Instead of applying adhesive, you can try to apply your magnet by nailing or stapling it, which is more temporary.