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Removing adhesive from uniform


Katschen

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My son recently crossed over to Boy Scouts. When I removed the red pack numbers from his uniform sleeve, they left behind ugly red adhesive marks. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove this? I'd really hate to have to buy him another shirt right now.

 

Many thanks!

Katschen

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Adhesive? You glued them on? (uh-oh)

Do you mean they were ironed on using the slick non-fray plastic backing as stickum, or they were applied using some kind of sprayed-on or painted-on glue substance?

In either case, check with a dry cleaner to see if there's a method of removal. It might help if you could get information about what was used to adhere the patches.

If they don't have a method, see if the troop number sequence can be arranged so that it will cover up the marks. Otherwise, you could be stuck (no pun intended) with the stain or discoloration.

The no-fray backing on merit badges, numerals, other types of patches, and on some council strips is not meant to be used as iron-on adhesive. It's a type of plastic that will bond with the fibers and become impossible to remove. Some parents experience this problem when they remove Cub advancement patches from shirt pockets and find the material permantly stained brownish by the patch backing.

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No, I didn't glue them on. I think I know now what the problem is. You mentioned the non-fray backing and I must have assumed it was an iron-on patch. (Some of his older patches were iron-on and I was never advised about a non-fray backing on newer patches. Just ANOTHER tidbit of information that never got passed on to us. Sorry, I have some real issues with the pack he just crossed over from and could be a lengthy post in itself. I pray his new Boy Scout leader will be more organized and helpful. But I'm getting away from myself here...)

 

Many thanks for the reply...

 

Ka'

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Ka, You could try a product called Goof Off. They make a special kind for fabric.

 

We had the same problem. We did not glue or iron on our patches all though they were the iron on kind. I can only assume that the dryer melted the backing to the shirt.

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Rather than try different chemicals to remove what is probably unremoveable and then possibaly harming the shirt, why not just cover up the spots again?

 

Whatever the number of your son's new Troop, it is most likely has at least as many numerals as his Pack's had. Just put the new numbers directly over where the old ones were. This should work until he out grows his shirt.

 

 

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Katydid: Thanks for the suggestion! There's a place near me that sells "Goof Off". I'm going pick some up tonight!

 

ScoutNut: He's going from 4 digits to 3, so it won't work. But good thinking!

 

Eagle1973: You know, I just wait until he goes to sleep, then I slip his uniform off, wash it, iron it, and redress him so he never has a clue! :)

 

Thanks again everyone!

Ka'

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Katydid:

The Goof Off worked! Thanks so much for your suggestion! There is still a little discoloration on the fabric and you can see where the patches were, but it's a tiny fraction of what it was before. If I'm careful about placing his new numbers on the sleeve, they should cover most of what remains. Thanks again!

 

And thank you to all of the the responses I received throughout my very first post here. This seems like a nice community and I look forward to more "conversations" in the future.

 

Ka'

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