Surgical Tape Residue

Schniapereli

Active Member
I know you can use goo gone, and isopropyl alcohol to clean the tape residue left on cables, but what is the best way to clean the black residue left on actors' necks and faces?

Is the alcohol good for that, or is there a better kind of soap?
 
we use rubbing alcohol but we use fairly light tape, what tape are you using
 
Rubbing alcohol should work. Depending on who it is, you may want to consider a wire brush :twisted:
 
Baby oil, Cold cream, and Yes WD-40.

Again depending who it's on you could tell them to use M.E.K.
< tongue planted tightly in cheek>
:twisted:
 
M.E.K., Van????

Jeezus, I was "only" going to joke about using 40 grit sandpaper and gasoline.

DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE COMMENT IS ONLY A JOKE AND NOT TO BE USED AS A REAL SOLUTION TO ANYTHING! EVER!
 
M.E.K., Van????

Jeezus, I was "only" going to joke about using 40 grit sandpaper and gasoline.

DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE COMMENT IS ONLY A JOKE AND NOT TO BE USED AS A REAL SOLUTION TO ANYTHING! EVER!


I thought I had made that clear but in case I hadn't......
Methyl Ethyl Ketone is a Highly carcinogenic compound, It is extremely volatile, and can kill you dead. It's also extremely Flamable, Extremely noxious, and the fumes hang around forever. It should only be used in situations where it is specifically called for < such as the dilution , and clean up of certain Poly-urethane compounds> and only with the utmost eye on Safety precautions, such as but not limited to the use of an organic compound filtration device, or self contained breathing aparatus. It can be absorbed through skin contact, the fumes can be absorbed through the eyes, causeing irratation and ultimately Blindness.
MEK should never be used unless all safety/health issues are being observed.

'Course 60 grit sandpaper would work............
 
I have used lighter fluid to remove gum from carpets on occasion(can't these dummies read the signs?)
 
I have used lighter fluid to remove gum from carpets on occasion(can't these dummies read the signs?)

A luthier told me a great seceret on cleaning guitar fretboards: use Zippo lighter fluid, it cleans the gunk right off. THen use a fretboard conditioner to but the moisture back in the wood. Works like a charm. And now back to your regularly schedualed program.
 
Lighter fluid is Napatha. It's toxicity is so-so, I beleive the State of California has it declared as a known Carcinogen. An advantage of using Naptha on fingerboards or other areas of a musical instrument is that it wont disolve the casien < animal> glue use in higher end instruments, but it goes right through a lot of common stains. It is, however, Extremely Flamable, as it's use as lighter fluid will atest to. WD-40 is the fluid of choice for removeing sticker residue, gum, etc., off of most plastics, fabrics, carpets, surfaces
Believe it or not, another great way to get gum out of carpet is to slather the area with peanut butter. The peanut oil is an excellent penetrant.
 
Believe it or not, another great way to get gum out of carpet is to slather the area with peanut butter. The peanut oil is an excellent penetrant.
Then the carpet smells like peanuts until you break out the toxic foaming carpet cleaner.
 
Better than some of the alternative smells that can usually be found in carpets. That coming from a dog owner of course...


Random pondering: Wonder if peanut butter will get the crap off my mic cables...
 
yes, ok we all want to kill actors but i think we should move back to the topic that was first presented, maybe all options have been stated though

any other thoughts on getting residue off an actors neck?
 
I thought I had made that clear but in case I hadn't......
Methyl Ethyl Ketone is a Highly carcinogenic compound, It is extremely volatile, and can kill you dead. It's also extremely Flamable, Extremely noxious, and the fumes hang around forever. It should only be used in situations where it is specifically called for < such as the dilution , and clean up of certain Poly-urethane compounds> and only with the utmost eye on Safety precautions, such as but not limited to the use of an organic compound filtration device, or self contained breathing aparatus. It can be absorbed through skin contact, the fumes can be absorbed through the eyes, causeing irratation and ultimately Blindness.
MEK should never be used unless all safety/health issues are being observed.
'Course 60 grit sandpaper would work............


Hey Van, I was only using the enormo-tron sized font to cover my ***. Never know whut kinda idjits are on here. Just you mentioning M.E.K. (tongue in cheek) makes me laugh, 'cause I know that you know how gnarly that stuff is.
 
I would say the first thing to do is buy some better tape to avoid the problem in the first place as much as possible. After that, just some soapy water and maybe a little sponge scrubbing should do the trick. If you can find them baby wipes WITH ALCOHOL are fabulous... but hard to find these days. Baby wipes in general are the magic tool for removing all types of makeup by the way.

I also want to point out the Mercury won't just make the goo slide right off, it will kill you and the EPA will probably have to tear down your theater afterward. So don't try that.

Belt Sander anyone?
 
I would say the first thing to do is buy some better tape to avoid the problem in the first place as much as possible.

You'd think so, but Transpore and Blenderm are top of the line tapes, and they do at times leave residue. Anything stuck to the body and mixed in with the body's normal oils and dirt is going to end up leaving something occasionally.
 
yes, ok we all want to kill actors but i think we should move back to the topic that was first presented, maybe all options have been stated though

any other thoughts on getting residue off an actors neck?
Well, as I stated earlier, Baby Oil is bar far the best I know of for removing tape residue from skin. That stuff from Avon, "Skin So Soft" works well too.


Hey Van, I was only using the enormo-tron sized font to cover my ***. Never know whut kinda idjits are on here. Just you mentioning M.E.K. (tongue in cheek) makes me laugh, 'cause I know that you know how gnarly that stuff is.

No Prob. I picked up on that, and I think I should have put a bigger disclaimer on that post anyway. Sometimes I get carried away with the sarcasm and forget the fact that there might be some well meaning, yet unknowledgeable, young buck out there who might just see that can of MEK in the paint closet and say, " Oh Yeah the stuff Van talked about..." I sometimes forget the inexpirience of some on here.
 
No Prob. I picked up on that, and I think I should have put a bigger disclaimer on that post anyway. Sometimes I get carried away with the sarcasm and forget the fact that there might be some well meaning, yet unknowledgeable, young buck out there who might just see that can of MEK in the paint closet and say, " Oh Yeah the stuff Van talked about..." I sometimes forget the inexpirience of some on here.

And the difference between using MEK and acetone is? We used MEK to get some nasty gunk off someone's hands the other week, but as has been mentioned, be VERY VERY careful with it. Get whatever it is off and then flush the area ASAP with water.

But in general, if service have been using MEK to clean soldering iron tips or anything else, I will know about it fro the other end of the building...

WD40 also comes in liquid form for those of us who do use it for cleaning in bulk... works wonders on cable... but so does turps & elbow grease. That also gets whoever pulled the short straw of cleaning the years old gaff tape residue off a cable high as a kite...
 
And the difference between using MEK and acetone is? We used MEK to get some nasty gunk off someone's hands the other week, but as has been mentioned, be VERY VERY careful with it. Get whatever it is off and then flush the area ASAP with water.

But in general, if service have been using MEK to clean soldering iron tips or anything else, I will know about it fro the other end of the building...

WD40 also comes in liquid form for those of us who do use it for cleaning in bulk... works wonders on cable... but so does turps & elbow grease. That also gets whoever pulled the short straw of cleaning the years old gaff tape residue off a cable high as a kite...


"Danger Will Robinson! Danger!"
MEK Should never Repeat that, NEVER be used on bare skin. It is most toxic/irratating on the skin, even more so than through inhalation.
All the Ketones are nasty chemicals which tend to "eat" the fat from your skin.
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/methylet.html
http://www.bu.edu/es/labsafety/ESMSDSs/MSAcetone.html

Beyond that;
Acetone is DiMethylKetone
MEK is MethylEthylKetone
So that difference is is one Ethyl.
There is also a Peroxide version of MEK which is MEKP, it is also a nasty, icky chemical that should never be used on the skin, being a peroxide, it has an even more aggresive approach to human skin.

I'd tell the soldering guys to go get some good old dip flux for those soldering irons.
 

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