Things You'll Need:
- Acetone Soap and water Paint thinner Commercial glue remover
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Step 1
Peel or pull off any excess glue that will come off. Be careful not to rip or otherwise damage the fabric as you do this. You may not be able to peel off anything but remove any that you can.
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Step 2
Soak the fabric in acetone. Acetone will loosen the bond between the glue and the fabric. As the fabric soaks, gently try to peel up the glue. If it doesn't come up, soak it a longer and try again. Repeat this process until you have removed all the glue, then wash the fabric with warm, soapy water. Be sure to test a small hidden section of the fabric before soaking it in acetone, as acetone can ruin some fabrics, especially vinyl.
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Step 3
Try paint thinner or turpentine if the acetone is ineffective. Follow the same method listed in Step 2, also being sure to test a small patch before beginning. Make sure to do this in a well-ventilated area to avoid breathing in fumes. Turpentine has a strong smell that is more difficult to remove than acetone, so take this into account if you are using it on household fabrics, such as a couch upholstery.
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Step 4
Purchase a commercial, industrial-strength glue remover from a hardware store. This will dissolve the glue and make it easy to remove, but may also damage your fabric. Test a section of the fabric to see how the glue remover will affect the treated area.
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Step 5
Wash your fabrics thoroughly, no matter what method you use, first with soap and warm water, then in the laundry if possible.
Comments
mzfixit said
on 10/24/2009 I tried to use Gorilla Glue to fix a seam on my canvas boat top. It did not seal and made a mess. So removed the top, scraped all the gorilla glue off with a sharp knife. I used acetone to loosen glue in the fibers and continued to scrape . In order to resew the seam, 95% of glue needed to be removed to not break the sewing machine needle. This worked!!!!