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Cleaning Electronics with Sugar
legoburner writes "Instructables.com has an article on removing logos from your PDAs or Cell Phones using sugar. Basically, the sugar crystals are strong enough to remove the logo (sticker), but are too soft to scratch the casing leaving it unscathed. The article has many pictures of the process as well as a thorough walkthrough. Let the rebranding of all your electronics begin!"
Isn't sugar also small enough to slip through any holes on the product though? I wouldn't want bits in my electronics rattling about.
I suppose this is why he uses tape to cover other parts than the ones he's cleaning
I've used this to strip logos before, as long as the plastic can take it, this will wipe them off with only one or two "swipes".
Toothpaste has a very mild abrasive that's great for removing things, but it's a great way to remove small scratches.
I use baking soda to scrub when I want to reduce the chance of scratching.
I think the stickers mentioned are actually the screen printed logos you get on a lot of kit these days. You're not supposed to use solvents like lighter fluid on plastics, although I have done it a few times and only ruined one Jornada 430. Incidentally, I fixed that by sanding down the whole front casing with fine emery paper, then I buffed it up with metal polish. It didn't look too bad, better than a half melted case anyway.
I was conned by an old man in a cloak. It turns out those *were* the droids I was looking for.
Be careful with the orange or citrus spray. On the one hand, it cleans most paper-based labels and most adhesive off with no damage at all. Spray on, wait five minutes, peel off - plus it leaves a nice scent.
However - some older Compaq cases and some monitor housings are extremely reactive to the citrus. It bubbles away like something from the Alien movies - you have about enough time to utter a choice profanity before the plastic is completely burned away.
I'm really good at this. The best way to remove the adhesive residue is to use the residue that stuck to the sticker when you pulled it off. Take the sticker, find an area that has adhesive on it, and stick that part on the residue on your computer. Push, twist, and pull straight out and the residue will roll off. It takes about 30 seconds, and you end up with a totally clean computer.
It's especially useful for notebooks due to the sheer number of the things that they put on them.
WD40 takes off the gunk left over by sticky labels. Don't spray it on there, use a cloth, then rub it until there is no trace of the gunk. All traces of the WD-40 itself can be removed using a dry cloth or some windex. I've heard this works well for bugs on your bumper too.
Now if there was something that could get rid of that logo on my tv that stays in the bottom right corner when I'm on certain channels. That one is really anoyying.
And once you got it all off you can replace it with a free ubuntu sticker.
My sweet cell phone now has sweet scratches and the logo's still there.
So use only the most fragile sugar you can find.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Saccharin (Sweet'N Low)
Aspartame (Nutrasweet)
Sucralose (Splenda)
Honey (Bees)
Maple Sugar (Trees)
Sodium Chloride (Salt)
Bitter Sarcasm (CmdrTaco)
I'd go for the CmdrTaco option. But only after applying a sweet sugar coating on the device, letting him lick the tasty sticker off it.
And yes, I realise I will be branded a pervert after this post.
Pick up some Ronson lighter fluid (accept no substitutes! It has to contain naphtha) at your local drug store and put some on a paper towel and just rub the remaining adhesive off. It works well on any non-porous surface. I used to work at a used book shop and we used this stuff to get off just about any sticker imaginable, even those crazy big stickers some universities slap on their used books. http://www.ronsoncorp.com/accessories.cfm (big yellow container) Good luck!
Please MOD up the parent...this guy is the first person who knows what he's talking about. The logo on the PDA from the article is not a sticker. It is in fact a screen printing or silk printing, which is just a layer of paint that has been applied to the surface and allowed to cool. We do this all the time at my factory facility.
Unless 3M is selling a different glue under the Super 77 label in CA, it's not banned here. You can buy it pretty much anywhere (Home Depot, Staples, art and craft stores, etc). I have several cans, as it's an important structural component in my Zagi.
Okay, did a little googling and found there is a different version sold in CA and about 8 other states. Seems to be the same glue but a different "ozone friendly" propelant.