For what it is worth:
I thought I would pass along a tid bit that I learned the hard way today about duct tape.
Don’t leave it stuck to something for several months in the sun, unless you are going to leave it there permanently.
I covered a hole in the side of a structure several months ago and used about four strips overlapping each other (similar to clap boards)so that the water would shed off.
When I went to make my permanent repair today, the outer silver layer came off, but the inner fabric weave with the stickum sepaated and was left which took a lot of scraping and extra time to get off.
Cheers,
JackL
It’s obvious that you don’t do many
… half assed repairs!
Otherwise you’d have long ago realized this inherent limitation in an otherwise miraculous material.
But don’t worry about it JackL. It speaks well of your character.
matching
your bulding matches my beat up pick-up with no window. Duct tape fabric stuck all over the window
Liveoutside
Goo Gone
I’ve found that this stuff, together with some degree of elbow grease, can remove that ugly residue. YMMV…
Good thing?
The original black duct tape is still doing it’s job covering the split Royalex bubbles from my 2001 trip down the Spanish River. No it will not come off. It had better not! ;^)
You should have just painted the tape to match.
:^)
Mick
Ugh, duct tape
I’m convinced that the only tool that the previous owner of my house knew how to use was a roll of duct tape. I keep finding it, and now I’ve really grown to despise the stuff. 
-creek
Alcohol And Rag
or acetone (use latex gloves) would have taken it right off.
sing
I have also had luck with a hair dryer.
Goo Gone
Home Depot
Duct Tape Repairs
The best way to take care of the stickum left when you pull off old duct tape is to just stick on a layer of new duct tape. There, job done in 30 seconds and you can keep putting off the permanent repair job as long as there is tape left on your big roll.
I used to watch the “Red Green” show
occasionally, and he was always promoting duct tape creations beyond anyone’s imagination. I think he even did something with a canoe, although my memory eludes me on exactly what. Never saw the same thing more than once, so one week must have been the limit for his duct tape innovations.
Duct tape and Red Green
Click on this link to see a video of Red Green in action - puting a car engine into a small fishing boat with duct tape. He thinks about using a canoe paddle for a windshield wiper.
http://www.cbc.ca/redgreen/
ducttape
Jack, Isecondtheuseofacetoneandhairdryerstoremoveit
I USED TO HAVE SOME LUCK WITH
– Last Updated: Oct-01-06 11:16 AM EST –
a hair dryer too!
Back when I had hair...
Hum along with me, boyz'n'goilz:
"I am stuck on duck tape, 'cuz duck tape's stuck on me..."
Evidence, last syllable spelled "dense", of exactly what Jack's talking about is witnessed all over South Florida, where many folks tried regular old beige masking tape to hold windows together & keep them from shattering when hit by hurricane-hurled objects. Just for grins, try lobbing, oh, I dunno -say a rock or a golf ball, oh, I dunno, say at about 25-35 mph at a masking tape x'ed window...
Seems an awful lot of us were ardent, true blue red green Red Green fans, tho', and took to heart -well, at least to window, anyway -recent improvements in tape technology when 'duck tape', AKA 200-mph tape (because it can hold bites and pieces of a racing car going down the back straight at 200 mph together), supplanted masking tape as the pre-storm window decor of choice of the hurricane ignorant.
With even better rsults in sticking, as Jack relates, these latter-day improved tapes leave even better residuals and residues, beacuse the threads left behind as well as the dried adhesive leave such an interesting and artistic mark on the glass.
It works great as a decal on sliding glass doors, too, functioning as a warning not to walk through a clean one...
But for one reason or another, that stuff still ain't got what it takes to stick to my tupperware boats! I tried to cover the exteriors of the scupper holes on one of my SOTs a few years back in hopes of making it a tad sleeker and faster, but the stuff, as sticky and gunky as it may be, and with apologies to Jack & McWood, still came off mid-trip as I ended up still only being half-fast when I
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
Thanks for your very kind words !
Character speaking?
Cheers,
JackL
A word of caution
– Last Updated: Oct-01-06 5:47 PM EST –
When using any of the products described in this post, please, keep in mind, substances like paint and varnish thinners, turpentine, alcohols, acetone, some mineral spirits, are classified as solvents or drying agents and have the potential to dissolve/damage many kinds of plastics, resins, gelcoats, etc. The same is true for some adhesives. A "list of ingredients" of a product should reveal these substances.
In my opinion, detergents or cleaners are safer, although some of them can be very caustic. When in doubt, contacting a boat's manufacturer for advice is always a good idea.