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This homemade residue remover is an all-natural, two-ingredient solution to removing sticky residue from hard surfaces. Label gunk is no longer a problem. This stuff really works. Say goodbye to sticker residue and harsh chemicals.

So here in our new house, we have the craziest thing on the front windows. While there are no window treatments of blinds on these windows, there is a ton of residue from what we assume was packing tape? It's kind of a mystery to us, still. See below how I removed the gunk (and funk) quickly and with only a two-ingredient homemade residue remover.

Homemade Residue Remover

Can you see it? The left window had old, crusty residue from (what we can only assume was) packing tape in a non-specific pattern on many of its panes. Y'all, for the life of me, I can not figure out why this is there. It's not just these windows, either...about eight other windows across the front of the house. The only thing I can figure is maybe it was from cardboard that covered the windows at some point in its vacancy (the house was vacant for over four years before we bought it). Whatever the case, the crusty, old residue from the tape (or whatever) is everywhere. And it's ugly. It's not even sticky anymore...it's kind of old and crunchy, which made me worry this cleaner would not work on it. But as you can see from the after picture, it totally did.

Where this Came From

I learned this little trick last year from my good friend, April. She helped us with some faux-tattoo removal issues. My kids were covered in those fake tattoos after a fun run...you'd have thought they'd never seen those things. I felt sort of silly when April's all..."use a little Lemon oil." Duh. April and I have both used essential oils for years now, y'all...amazed I didn't know that one. The Lemon Oil removed all of the tattoos on my people. I knew Lemon Oil would be perfect for a homemade residue remover, too. Since I didn't want to use that much straight Lemon Oil on the sheer magnitude of area I had to cover in the window cleaning, I added one more ingredient to stretch it a bit for my Homemade Residue Remover.

Residue Remover Recipe

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• lemon essential oil (can be any brand, I've listed a few from Amazon below)
• I've used this bottle of lemon essential oil with the same success as the pricier version. Plus, it's a larger bottle with a dropper.
• And this Plant Therapy Lemon Oil is also budget-friendly.
• microfiber cleaning cloths
• glass cleaner (I really love Mrs. Meyer's glass cleaner, found in a three-pack here on Amazon)

Directions

• I mix a tablespoon of olive oil and about eight drops of my lemon essential oil in a ramekin. 
• I went a bit heavier on the lemon due to the age of the residue I was attacking. 
• You could probably make this with just four or five drops of the lemon oil and be fine.  
• I prefer to make this in small batches...I don't use this as a daily cleaner or anything. It's just for special situations where I have tough, sticky issues.

• I dip my cleaning cloth into the solution and then lay it on pretty thick on the window. I know it's an oily mess, but I really wanted to loosen that tape so I gave it a very generous coverage. 
• I thought I'd have to wait a while, but I tested it out in about five minutes and the residue was ready to be removed. 
• UPDATE: I've been using this mixture for over six years now on a variety of things (stickers, price tags, etc.) and it always works great.

• Since this adhesive residue had been on here for who knows how long and had a great deal of residue build-up, I used a very dull paint scraper to gently scrape it off. 
• If you do this step, be very careful not to scratch your windows or surface. Your amount of residue may not require this step.

• Since the oils create a lot of mess, follow up with glass cleaner.
• For this particular project, it took two rounds of cleaning with glass cleaner and a paper towel or two to remove all of the oil, but on the second go, that window was absolutely clean, y'all. The first round is basically to remove all of the oil, the second to get the window nice and sparkly. 

No more weird tape streaks all over the windows. Just to be clear (pun intended), these windows are double paned and the outer one is a where you're seeing the dirt. That inner pane was squeaky clean. Now to figure out how to disassemble them to be able to clean the inside of that outer pane.

TA-DAH! Look...no tape, y'all! 

This adhesive remover is my new favorite.

Use Caution on the Following Surfaces:

The following acid-sensitive surfaces can respond negatively to the lemon oil, so test in an inconspicuous area before using on a large surface:

• granite
• natural stone
• marble
• porcelain tile
• grout
• concrete

More DIY Household Ideas

• And be sure to check out my recipe for DIY Stovetop Cleaner, as well. It is perfect for glass and ceramic cook tops.
• I also have a recipe for a great Homemade Tub and Tile Cleaner that is truly wonderful. I've now been using it for over 15 years and it's never let me down.
• If you're in organizing mode, make sure you check out my Free Printable Pantry Labels to get everything in order in your pantry.
• And my friend, Jessica, over at Mom4Real has a nifty recipe for oven cleaner that's completely natural. Check it out here.
• Clean Mama has an earth-friendly tutorial for Cleaning a Washing Machine Naturally. It looks very do-able.
• My French Lavender Linen Spray is a lovely refresher for your sheets, draperies, and other household fabrics.
• And I love to use this Lavender and Vinegar Multipurpose Spray in my bathrooms and kitchen. It's a recipe from Jennifer over at The Daily Connoisseur. 
• These Homemade Cleaning Wipes from Nature's Nurture take a non-chemical approach to a traditional cleaning wipe. They're really budget-friendly, too. 
• And Shannon, over at Homemade Lovely, has a clever recipe for Homemade Toilet Cleaning Tablets. They're really genius!