The only time it's disappointed me was when I was trying to use it -- among a variety of other substances -- to deal with something other than sticker goo.
A few years back, a bunch of electronic devices were sold in the US that used some sort of rubberized coating that gave them a nice grippy feeling. Unfortunately, it turns out that after a couple of years, the coating degraded and turned into an incredibly sticky mess. I had a Grundig G6 Aviator shortwave radio that was affected, as well as a few other devices. It felt a bit like sticker adhesive, but trying to clean the stuff off with Goo Gone didn't work well (ultimately, isopropyl alcohol and a lot of elbow grease wound up being my most-successful combination).
But for what it is actually billed for, adhesive residue, I've had good experiences.
Note that Goo Gone, or at least the variant I have, has a quite-strong citrus smell, which I assume is there to mask some less-pleasant smell that the active ingredients have. So when I use the stuff, everything nearby smells like oranges for a while. Haven't had a situation where that's a problem yet, but thought I'd mention it in case it would be an issue for anyone else using it.
If it's a rubberized coating on new devices, it may be a similar formula that doesn't have the degradation problem. I haven't personally had any devices do that in several years (not saying that there aren't products that do, mind).
And I remember that when the coating was new, before it broke down into a horrible sticky mess in a few years after purchase, it did feel pretty good to me. And it seemed pretty durable -- like, it didn't wear through or anything.
Just that when the Stickyocalypse did happen, it was awful.
I remember reading on Reddit once that people who bought a variety of dress shoes with a particular type of substance used in their soft soles had something similar happen. For a few years, many types of shoes from different manufacturers would break down and degrade in the closet. You take them out after a couple years, and they just crumbled apart. Wasn't a sticky mess, but I bet that people who rarely wore those shoes were pretty irked.
Anyway, point is, the industry moved away from that particular fiasco after a couple of years when the problem came to light, switched to similar substances without the problem. I wouldn't be surprised if the electronics industry has done the same.
Or any kind of oil. Even WD-40, if you have it. Put oil on the adhesive residue, then scrub it off with a cloth. You can then remove the oily residue with soap.
Or vegetable oil, Just wipe it on, let it sit for 30 minutes, and it should come off. No need for caustic chemicals. Worte case, do it again and use a scrubbie pad to scour it away.
Lots of good suggestions in this thread already, but long ago I used to work at a company that sold second-hand stuff where we often had to deal with stubborn labels and I haven't seen our "nuclear option" mentioned yet. Brake cleaner, which is basically an organic solvent in a spray can, should be great on glass. Be careful with it, though, it melts some kinds of plastics. And ensure it's used in a well-ventilated area.
Try that if the usual GooGone type stuff doesn't work.
We also used WD40, it tended to be gentler on plastics. Though it left a greasy residue that we'd need to clean off afterward and it was pretty slow.
I have had great luck removing labels by filling bottles / jars with boiling water and letting them sit a few minutes. I mostly do this to save wine labels I like or want to remember. When doing this it is also very easy to wipe off any residue.
This is my go-to method due to it being dirt cheap and simple
If I don’t need to keep the label sometimes I’ll just chuck it in the dishwasher and try to remember to peel the label right after the cycle ends, while the item is still hot
Soak it in hot water with on clean if you don't mind needing to rinse it well. Otherwise home brew shops sell stuff called 1 step which will require less rinsing.
i haven’t tried olive oil and other similar oils like others have suggested, but there’s a product in my country that’s specifically sticky stuff remover (like label residue) and it’s made of orange oil
It's in the peels and has lots of the fruits flavour. All citrus have it, that's why you grind a bit of lemon peel into your food: It tastes way more lemony than the juice.
soak in water for 24 hours. i'm a jar and container hoarder and this works for 90% of containers. for glass i prefer to scrape off with a hard plastic edge (eg food scraper, plastic knife, etc) but the other suggestions such as steel wool, paint scrapers, razor blades, etc work too
I like to use WD-40, I just lube it up and massage the adhesive until it dissolves into a goo that can be removed with dish soap. I find the goo-gone that I tried evaporates too quickly to soak into stiffer jar label adhesives.
An Oxyclean soak is the most common way I see homebrewers recommend for removing labels from bottles. Definitely a good choice if being food safe matters.
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