How to Clean Tape Adhesive from Wooden Furniture

Prepping the Adhesive

Spray the WD-40 onto the tape without trying to remove the tape first. After a year or so of storage, the tape will not just pull off easily and "preconditioning" with WD-40 will loosen it right up.

Spray it and let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes. If you are careful, it may go faster if you use a single-edged razor blade as a scraper before spraying the adhesive reside with WD-40.

Try it both ways and decide for yourself. For the single-edged razor you need to have a blade holder so you have a grip of some kind to ensure that you can control the angle of the blade. That will cost you less than $2 if you have to buy one.

Getting the Adhesive Off

Understand that if you sprayed the tape with WD-40 first, this will probably go a bit easier. However, it will work if you don't "precondition" the tape with WD-40.

Use your razor scrapper at a very shallow angle to the wood, and gently peel the tape off. Work with the grain of the wood, rather than working across the grain.

Go slowly. Keep the razor at about a 2 to 4 degree angle to the wood. You don't need to get obsessive and measure the angle; just don't dig into the wood. If the blade starts to carve wood, you will feel the resistance to motion instantly.

Stop and work from the other direction, always with the grain of the wood.

Understand that the first pass at removing the tape, with or without WD-40, will leave tape adhesive on the wood. It may be very soft and ready to wipe off, or you may need to shoot it with WD-40 again. If you cannot wipe it off with a cloth, shoot it again and wait another 10 minutes.

Keep in mind that the razor scrapper can be used on the softened adhesive residue very effectively. Use the same method: work with the shallow angle slowly, and with gentle motion. You will be amazed at how easy this is. The WD-40 softens the tape goop and lubricates the blade, so it is less likely to dig into the wood. It is smooth as silk, but it will still leave a very thin layer of tape goop behind.

Use a soft cloth, like a terry washcloth. Wipe the remaining very thin, almost invisible, and with the layer of adhesive off.