removing that mean icky gaffa goo left on cables

[rgsw]

does anybody know any good tricks of how to get cables feeling as good as new by removing the goo left by gaffa tape?

[Mayhem]

I use isopropyl alcohol and it works just fine. Be careful of what you buy however, as I found out that in the US this is known as rubbing alcohol. The difference is however, that rubbing alcohol has oils and scents etc in it and the strength is lower as well. As such, don't use rubbing alcohol.

The alcohol that I use is 95% isorpopyl and is the same as used in the little medical wipes. It evaporates very quickly after application and I have had no issues with it damaging cables.

I think the guys in the US use denatured alcohol, but I do not know any more about it.

I don't know what is used in the UK but I am sure that if you gave a local production company a call they could tell you. You will probably have to try a local D.I.Y. store or similar to find either of these.

You can probably buy other solvents that would do the trick as well but if you do use something other than the two product I have mentioned, or a production company has suggested, I would test it on an old cable first.

[digitaltec]

Goo Gone or isopropyl alcohol

[bdesmond]

I call it 97% isoproph here. If you have a chem lab, the teacher there will have the stuff by the gallon. Otherwise any pharmacy would have it (wlagreens, CVS, Osco, Savon, Walmart, etc).

[3D]

use rubbing alcohol or goo be gone, but if it was gaffer's tape it shouldn't leave resadue. are you sure you didn't use duct tape?

3D (Derek D. Deiterman)

[Mayhem]

Unfortunately, Gaffers Tape can leave a residue, especially if it is left on for a period of time or if there is sufficient humidity.

As for rubbing alcohol - just have a look at the label before using it. See my previous post:

I use isopropyl alcohol and it works just fine. Be careful of what you buy however, as I found out that in the US this is known as rubbing alcohol. The difference is however, that rubbing alcohol has oils and scents etc in it and the strength is lower as well. As such, don't use rubbing alcohol.

Cheers,

[3D]

ive never known gaff tape to leave resadue. its a nonresadue tape thats why you use it.

[The_Guest]

It's actually a goo (glue) that it leaves, not peices of the tape like you might notice with duct tape or masking tape. Mayhem is right, depending on the climate the gaff tape can do some funky things. When heated up enough the adhesive glue sort of melts off and will leave a residue. It's not too hard to clear it off flat surfaces, but cables however are a bit trickier.

This past winter I was involved in a competitive theater production which toured to several different venues, so of course you had to spike and strike the equipment in 25 minutes max. Since it was a new venue each time cables needed to be taped down to prevent tripping and breaks. At strike, everything must be cleared out and unloaded immediately. So of course there really isn't time to properly wrap cables at all or completely clear off any tape or residue from the cables. To give you an idea how long this equipment/cables sit in truck...We normally load this equipment into the truck a day or two before the performance. Performances are typically on a Saturday, so the unload isn't til Monday morning. This truck will experience all kinds of temperatures everything from baking in the sun to the Michigan winters. At the unload we'll wrap cables and organize our gear for the next show. The cables come back quite tangled and residue from tape gaff tap comes back, so we'll try our best to whipe them down. We've never tried any anti-goo substances, I'd like to try it.

[3D]

it maybe that we're locatec in texas and like to keep our auditorium nice and cold. this may be why we don't have any trouble.

[SuperCow]

I find Elmer's Stick-Off is very useful, just as an alternate product to use.