Make Used DVDs & VHSs Like New with Goo Gone!

For years I've used Goo Gone Extreme, a harsh solvent, to remove super glue, bugs and surface scratches on vehicles, mild dew stains, permanent Sharpie ink, dried enamel paint and many other very stubborn, unwanted stuff on materials I've owned. Then, around 6 months ago, I couldn't find it to buy anymore. Every shelf in every store had replaced the solvent in a metal can with citric Goo Gone in a plastic spray bottle. Desperate for my usual quick fix for so many types of jobs, I bought the only stocked new form of Goo Gone without expecting as much from it.

You might notice I've reviewed around half of my library collection of films, so far. I buy them to own and never sell them. The antique collectibles were released on VHSs. Buying them brand new can be quite expensive. Buying the same films in DVD format means they are not collectible as antiques since they weren't originally released on DVDs. Thus, I've gotten into the long term habit of searching for mint condition, gently used, privately owned or even library lent or video store rented VHSs.

In order to get the best prices possible for the best quality of VHS tapes and artwork sleeves, I wait patiently until I find the films I want in collectible condition. However, all of the stickers, labels, security bars, price tags, library markers, and even the sellers' own additional stickers had previously limited what VHS tapes I would consider buying. It was too risky trying to get all of that junk off of the cassettes and their sleeves without damaging them to buy them.

Once I got this citric Goo Gone home, I started to try it out to see what it was worth, what it worked on, what it removed.

Lo and behold the main items that this much milder version of Goo Gone (which is citric and oily instead of a very strong solvent) works on is ALL OF THOSE STICKERS, LABELS, TAGS, etc., that are most unwanted on cassettes and their paper sleeves. Being a collector who has thousands and thousands of VHSs and DVDs, I went to work on the most choice tapes and cases among the antiques. Many were overloaded with numerous stickers of every imaginable type.

What I am very glad to report is that this newer form of Goo Gone (citric) works like magic to make used VHSs and DVDs, loaded with sticky labels of every sort, look like new. In short, within moments after spraying the Goo Gone either directly on the more stubborn rental store labels or indirectly on a paper towel that I lay on a less stubborn type of sticker, then slide right off!

Be careful when applying Goo Gone citric to the outer thin plastic covering of VHS and DVD artwork. It will make it soften and ripple. So, instead of spraying the Goo Gone onto a hard shell VHS case or DVD case, simply spray the Goo gone onto a small area of a folded paper towel and apply it only on the sticker you want to remove.

I waited to write this guide until I had gone through my whole film collection to remove every sticker or label so that I could know if there were any adverse effects over time. Months have past since I began liberating all of my VHSs and DVDs of unsightly stickers and such. Now my collection looks privately owned. There isn't a single sign left on any of them of having been rented, lent from a library or otherwise sold as used to me.

While I wouldn't recommend to seller's to misrepresent any media items that have been used quite a bit as hardly used, it is much more inviting to a buyer who collects films when they are advertised as sticker-free. Goo Gone (citric) enables a seller to clean up all of the parts of VHSs' and DVDs' cases or paper sleeves and artwork nearly like magic. Just don't get sloppy with the spray.

Don't let the spray make any contact with either a DVD disk or the VHS's tape itself. The oily subtance would likely ruin both rendering them unplayable.

One last word: patience. Try not to be in a rush. Let the Goo Gone soften the most stubborn sticker substance before attempting to remove it. It works far better to use Goo Gone sparingly, only adding more as needed.

I believe you'll be surprised how most stickers slide right off. Once they do so, clean up the area where they were by using a paper towel to remove the last remnants of sticky substance and the Goo Gone oily substance.

(There are countless other uses for Goo Gone (citric). One that I'll mention is making oak kitchen cabinets gleam like new, removing all signs of hand prints, food accidentally fallen into crevices, and water spots too).

Fell free to write to me about your experiences with this form of Goo Gone. I'll add them to this guide, if you'd like~Goo Gone on eBay