If you are a DIY crafter like me, it’s not unusual to be glued wearing clothes with fingers while doing projects. Once I glued the fabric to wood to make DIY upholstery, I attached the wrong wood parts with the fabric. So I had to learn how to get glue out of clothes to detach the wood.
As there are different types of glue and garments, learning one method won’t work for all cases. That’s why I learned around 9 methods including homemade solutions and commercial superglue remover to remove glue from fabric.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll share all of them with you one by one. So you can follow any methods that you find easy and effective for your fabric. Let’s start
Removing adhesive from clothing isn’t too tricky. But getting out adhesive and its stains altogether requires using the right solution in the right amount in the right fabric. Otherwise, you may get off the glue, but the stains will remain there, and unfortunately, that looks awkward.
However, I have said that I used both homemade solutions and commercial super glue remover. So, it’s better to learn homemade solutions first that require no investment.
Cold soapy water is the easiest way to take off glue from any fabric. So my first method is using cold water.
- You can decrease the strength of glue by soaking the glued area of your fabric in cold soapy water for 8-10 hours. (The time may vary depending on your fabric).
- After soaking, you just have to peel the loose glue with a nail filer and wash it with clean water.
Tips: Don’t use warm water, as the heat may change the chemical structure of the garment and glue stains will be permanent. If you use colorful glitter glue, you should use bleach to wash the cloth to avoid spreading the glue color.
Keeping the cloth in the freezer is an alternative to soaking it in cold water. This method works best for super glue, hot glue, and fabric glue.
- If your cloth is small, you can place it inside a ziplock bag by keeping the gluing area upside. Then, place it in the freezer overnight. But, for carpet and upholstery furniture, you can keep some pieces of ice cubes in a ziplock bag and place them on the gluing stains.
- In the morning, when you bring out the cloth from the freezer and open the ziplock bag, you’ll find the glue will be a solid chunk. So you can easily scrape away the glue with your nails or dull butter knife or spoon’s handle.
- After scraping all the glue, you have to throw the cloth in the washing machine for cleaning and then air dry it.
Tips: You have to use a stain remover to remove adhesive stains from the clothes while cleaning. Otherwise, your cloth remains the glue stain, which is unpleasant.
Vinegar and baking soda combination is an excellent solution to remove any sticky residue from clothes. White vinegar cleaning properties named acidic acid are a powerful ingredient that helps remove dirt, grime, and grease from any surface.
Baking soda’s high pH properties also offer a gentle abrasion to clean the surfaces without scratching. Once you combine two of these cooking ingredients, that will be a strong cleaner and stain remover.
- First, you have to spread the cloth on a flat surface by exposing the glue area.
- Then sprinkle ½ or 1 teaspoon of baking soda on that place, and pour 1 teaspoon of white vinegar on the baking soda.
- Now, grab an old toothbrush and gently scrub the cloth’s glued area to remove the glue and its stain.
- When there is no glue residue on the fabric, wash and dry it.
Tips: Do not overuse baking soda or vinegar over the glued area and rub because it’ll damage your fabric.
If you don’t have white vinegar at home and don’t want to buy it now, you can use coconut oil with baking soda. These combinations also work best like Goo-Gone, and it’ll mainly be adequate to remove clothes sticker residue as well as school or PVA glue.
- Mix two parts of baking soda and one part of coconut oil to make an oily paste.
- Now, wet the cloth and peel the dried glue as much as possible.
- After that, apply the paste to the fabric glued area with an old toothbrush and gently rub for 2-3 minutes to loosen the glue strength.
- If you find the glue will come off on its own, scrap the entire glue and its stain with a spoon handle.
- Finally, wash the cloth with detergent and air dry it.
Tip: Though baking soda is suitable for almost all types of fabric to remove stains. But it will damage some delicate fabrics for overuse. So you should check your fabric before using baking soda.
It sounds odd to use iron to remove glue from fabric, right? With proper skill or caution, you can use your iron to remove hot glue from the garment.
- To use the iron, you have to spread the cloth by exposing the solidified hot glue area and keep a paper cloth on it.
- Then heat your iron at a low temperature and disconnect the power socket.
- Next, press the iron on the excess cloth of the glued fabric for 10-20 seconds without steam. The heat will melt the hot glue when you press the iron, and the excess cloth will soak that.
- By repeating the process, you can remove all the hot glue and stains.
Tip: You should not follow this method if you can’t do it with proper care. Because for a few seconds delay or wrong temperature, you may damage your favorite cloth forever. You also don’t use iron to remove super glue or Elmer’s glue from your clothes.
If you don’t have the patience or time to follow all those homemade solutions, you can grab any glue remover from your nearest shop or online.
Isopropyl alcohol is also known as rubbing alcohol, and it performs incredibly to dissolve glue from fabric, especially Gorilla fabric glue, super glue, hot glue, and PVA glue. It is also effective to remove the fabric’s sticker or tape residue.
- Take a clean rug or cotton ball and saturate it with rubbing alcohol.
- Keep the saturated cotton ball on the glue stain for 20-30 seconds.
- Then scrap the softened glue and its residue with a dull knife or spoon’s handle.
- Repeat the process until removing all the glue and its stains.
- After removing the entire glue, rinse the cloth with cold clean water to get out the rubbing alcohol.
- Finally, wash the cloth with your washing machine and air dry.
Tip: Rubbing alcohol may damage some fabrics, including acrylic, acetate, modacrylic, and triacetate. So it’s better to test drops of rubbing alcohol on the same type of extra cloth or on an inconspicuous portion of the cloth to avoid damage.
Mainly you’ll find acetone in most nail polish removers as it works best to remove sticky nail polish from your original or artificial nails. As the glue is as sticky as nail polish, the acetone-based nail polish remover is excellent for getting the glue off from skin, fabric, or any materials.
- Grab a sponge or cotton ball and dab it with 1-2 drops of acetone.
- Now, press it on the clothing glue and gently scrub from the outside to the inside to remove the glue and its stain.
- If the glued part of the cloth is still visible and the cotton ball becomes dirt with glue, throw the cotton ball into the waste bin and repeat the process with a new one.
- In the last step, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of laundry detergent, gently rub the cloth, and keep it in the washing machine to wash. After washing, air-dry it and get a glue-free cloth.
Tip: Never overdose acetone when applying it on fabric, as it will fade some of the fabric’s color. To be sure not to damage your cloth, you can apply a few drops of acetone on an extra piece of cloth.
If you do your crafting projects with your kids, you should keep a multi-purpose glue remover like Goo Gone. You can apply it to fabric, glass, wood, floors, walls, and cars. Because when you have kids, there is no specific area that will be greasy with glue, chewing gum, ink, etc. Fortunately, it is non-toxic and safe for children.
- As Goo Gone comes with a spray bottle, it’s easier to apply than any other glue remover. First, you just need to spray some Goo Gone on your gluing cloth.
- Then wipe the cloth with a towel until the glue comes off with the towel. Wash the cloth and air dry it once the glue comes off.
Tip: Don’t use Goo Gone on silk fabric, as the company won’t recommend it. Let Goo Gone sit for 5-10 minutes before wiping the fabric with a towel for stubborn glue stains. And don’t use it on the cloth that you are wearing.
Do you own a crafting business and deal with superglue, school glue, fabric glue, or hot glue? Then there is a high chance you’ll need to remove glue from fabric frequently. In that case, using homemade solutions or nail polish remover isn’t a wise decision for you. Here, you should use Goof Off to get the best result.
- The usage process of this liquid super glue remover is so simple. Just apply as much goof off as you need on the affected area of your cloth.
- Now, take a microfiber cloth and gently rub it on where you apply Goof off.
- Then, wash the cloth and air dry.
Tip: As it is a commercial-grade glue remover, it contains many chemicals. So you should read the label before using it on the clothes and don’t overdose.
Though above I talk about 9 clothing glue-removing formulas, that is general. So you may be confused about what method is appropriate for which types of fabric and cloth, so there is a high chance of following the wrong method and damaging your expensive cloth vigorously. So in this part of my words, I’ll talk about specific fabric glue removing formulas.
For your kind information, first, I want to inform you that jeans are a garment that is made from denim or 100% cotton fabric. So that the glue removing procedure from jeans will be the same as cotton clothes, which means the process that I describe below will also answer your other inquiry; how to remove fabric glue from denim?
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- 2-3 drops of acetone-based nail polish remover
- 2-3 drops of stain remover (optional)
- An old toothbrush
- Clean water
Process
- First soak the specific area of your cloth in clean water and scrub it with the toothbrush to scrap as much glue as possible.
- Now, pour the nail polish remover on the area and again rub the cloth with the toothbrush until the glue completely dissolves or softens.
- Next, pour stain remover if there is still glue stain. If not, you can skip it.
- Then wash the garment and air dry it.
Tip: You should read your Jean’s label to learn its washing instructions. So you can easily avoid any harm to your jeans.
First, you have to read your cloth’s label to know how much polyester it has because there are many clothes made with polyester and other fabric. So, you can take action accordingly.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- 2-3 drops of acetone
- Mild detergent
- An old toothbrush
- A cotton ball
- Clean water
Process
- First, wipe the glue with a cotton ball to get off the excess liquid glue from the cloth to avoid spreading.
- Apply a few drops of acetone and gently scrub it for 2-3 minutes.
- Lastly, wash it with mild detergent and air dry.
Tip: Polyester isn’t a high heat-resistant fabric, so don’t clean it with hot water. You can use cold or warm water for cleaning. You can also use vinegar, coconut oil, or baking soda remedy as homemade solutions.
Nylon is a fabric with excellent strength and is comfortable to wear for sports. But, if you felt a blob of glue while doing your crafting work, you should carefully remove it from your clothing.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- 1 teaspoon warm white vinegar
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- An old toothbrush
- Soapy water
Process
- White vinegar and baking soda remedy is excellent to remove glue from nylon. Make a paste with vinegar and baking soda and apply it to the glued area.
- Wait 2-3 minutes and gently scrub the cloth with the toothbrush until the glue is removed.
- At the last step, wash the cloth with soapy water, and air dry.
Tip: If you want, you can use nail polish remover that doesn’t contain acetone. Because acetone will dissolve on nylon at 20°c temp, if you can’t maintain this temp, it may damage your cloth. So it’s better to avoid it and follow homemade solutions.
If you have little boys or girls at home, it’s predictable who is glued to your couch. But, nothing to worry about as only by investing 2-3 minutes, you can remove it. As it isn’t easy to wash the fabric couch, you should use Goof Off to remove the glue.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- 1 teaspoon Goof Off
- A microfiber cloth.
Process
- Spray the Goof Off on the glued area, and wipe the liquid with a microfiber cloth. The glue will come off with the cloth while wiping.
- Now, open all the doors and windows of the room for adequate air circulation, that helps to quickly dry the wet couch area.
Tip: You can also apply nail polish remover, Goo Gone, and other homemade solutions to dissolve the glue. But, it’s better to avoid homemade solutions, as it may keep the glue stain on the couch, which looks odd.
Many people love to use microfiber couches at home as they are durable and come in many colors. But, while it contacts the glue, the glue will appear awfully. So you have to take steps instantly to remove it.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- 1 teaspoon alcohol/Goo Gone/Goof Off/W-D 40 (What you have or manage)
- A toothbrush
Process
- Dab a toothbrush bristle part into rubbing alcohol.
- Gently scrub the couch with the brush and remove the glue.
- Finally, ensure enough air circulation onto the room to air dry the surface and get out the remover’s odor.
Tip: You can keep an extra rug or white paper on the glued area to prevent the glue from spreading.
Sometimes the kids play with super glue and leave some of it on your lovely-looking fabric sofa to see how it bonds. But, when you notice it, at this time, the super glue is dried. So you don’t have the chance to prevent its spreading.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- 2-3 drops of acetone
- A dull knife
- A toothbrush
Process
- To remove the dried super glue from the fabric sofa, first, you have to scrape the dried glue with a dull knife as much as possible.
- Then apply acetone, and wait 30-60 seconds.
- Now, rub it with a toothbrush, and peel the glue. Do it until removing the entire glue from the sofa.
Tip: If the glue stain is still visible, apply a few drops of stain remover to remove its stain. If you don’t have acetone, you can also use vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice to penetrate and remove the dried super glue.
Spreading a designable carpet on your floor will rejuvenate your home’s interior beauty. But, if there is visible rubber cement on the carpet, you can predict how disgusting it looks. As rubber cement is very sticky and has silicone-type residue, its removal process is not too easy.
Project Metrics
The Things You Need
- 1 teaspoon warm white vinegar
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- Paper towel
- A dull knife
- A microfiber rug
- Mild dish soap
Process
- Place a piece of paper towel under the carpet around the rubber cement area. You should try to pry away the more significant portion of dried rubber cement from the carpet with a dull knife because of its plasticky nature.
- Make a solution with white vinegar and mild dish soap.
- Soak a microfiber rag into the solution and place it on the carpet’s affected area.
- Wait 5-10 minutes to soften the cement and wipe the carpet to remove it altogether. Repeat the process if there is more stain.
Tip: If the stain is stubborn, you can add 3% hydrogen peroxide with the solution to make it stronger and wait 1 hour instead of 5-10 minutes. This solution will make your carpet stain accessible.
Many people love to wear fabric shoes casually or at home. The fabric shoes are comfortable for sensitive feet or who have blisters, but sometimes you may glue these shoes by mistake. As most fabric shoes are made with cotton, Polyester, nylon, and wool materials, removing them doesn’t require too much effort.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- Soapy water
- A dull knife
- A toothbrush
Process
- First, scrape the dried glue from the shoe. Then soak the glued area of the shoe in soapy water for 30 minutes and let it soften the glue.
- Gently rub the affected area with a soft sponge or toothbrush to remove the glue.
- Then, wash the shoe and keep it in an airy place to dry.
Tip: Don’t over-rub the shoe to avoid scratching. Moreover, you can also apply acetone or another glue remover if you find them easy to follow.
Though all the glue is used for bonding material, all of them aren’t equally suitable for all purposes. However, maybe you can remove all kinds of glue by following the above tricks. But to make the process easier and worthwhile, you have to follow the proper process and solutions.
If you love to wear artificial nails yourself, you may notice a blob of nail glue on your cloth after your manicure. As nail glue is made with acrylic resin to dry it fast like super glue, its bonding is powerful. Using acetone is the best solution to remove nail glue from your cloth.
Project Metrics
The Things You Need
- 2-3 drops of acetone
- A cotton ball
- A dull knife
Process
- Scrap the dried nail glue from the cloth to remove extra glue.
- Soak a cotton ball with acetone and swab the ball on the glued area to pull off the glue from the cloth.
- Next, wash the cloth with mild detergent and air dry.
Tip: By doing manicure carefully, you can avoid this hassle. However, you can also use baking soda, vinegar, olive oil, or soapy water to remove nail glue.
Sometimes, you won’t have acetone or any nail polish remover at your home. If you don’t want to purchase acetone at that time, you have to follow alternative options to get the nail glue off from the cloth.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- 1 teaspoon of white vinegar/ cooking oil
- A dull knife
- A toothbrush
Process
- Peel off the excess glue with a dull knife.
- Now, soak the glued area in soapy water/white vinegar/any cooking oil.
- Wait 2-3 minutes; within this time, the glue will be soft.
- Scrub the fabric with a toothbrush to remove the entire glue and wash it.
Tip: You have to apply anyone from the listed solution, instead of applying all of them at once.
Glitter glue is mainly used for decorating kids’ clothes as it comes in various colors. Most glitter glue-producing companies guarantee to wash it and won’t leave any stain. So you can easily get off the glitter glue from the cloth.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- Mild detergent water
- A dull knife
- A toothbrush
Process
- First, you must peel off the extra dried glitter glue from the fabric.
- After that, you need to soak the affected area in mild detergent water; if you soak the whole cloth, the glitter may spread around the affected space. So you have to be careful.
- Wait for 30 minutes and then gently rub the glue with a toothbrush and check whether more glue is visible. If there is more glue, repeat the process.
- Finally, wash it as usual and dry it.
Tip: If the glitter glue-affected area of the garment is enormous, you can make a solution with water and bleach instead of mild detergent. But for this, you have to read the bleach label to avoid damaging your cloth.
Using a hot glue gun takes your gluing experience to an advanced level, as it is easier to use than any other glue. However, when dealing with the glue gun, your clothes may come attached with the hot glue by mistake. Here is how you remove the glue from your garment.
Project Metrics
The Things You Need
- A ziplock bag
- A dull knife
- Mild detergent
Process
- As the glue is hot when it falls, first let it dry. Then pry away the hot glue chunk as much as possible.
- Keep the fabric in a ziplock bag by keeping the glue side up. Lock the zip, and keep the bag in your freezer for 8-10 hours or overnight.
- Finally, when the glue is softened after freezing, rub the cloth to remove the glue and wash it.
Tip: Using an iron or acetone is also a very effective way to remove hot glue from the fabric. But, whatever you use, you should keep in mind your fabric types and how much heat it can withstand.
Super glue is mainly used to get a waterproof and heat-resistant bond. Moreover, this glue works too fast, which is also appreciated. But, unintentionally spilling super glue on fabric is also a common scenario among the crafters.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- A cotton ball
- A few drops of acetone
- Mild detergent
Process
- Soak a cotton ball into acetone and swab it in the glued area for 2-3 minutes.
- Now, you’ll notice the glue will come apart from itself. Peel the glue from its edge until there is no glue residue visible.
- Then wash the cloth and let it air dry.
It’s a widespread aspect that you’ll see many kinds of stickers (price tag, size tag, brand tag, etc.) after purchasing a new cloth. Though mostly these tags are attached to the backside of the cloth, sometimes it is also attached to the front side. However, it leaves its residue when you pick off the tag’s sticker. In that case, you have to remove the sticker residue from the cloth before wearing it.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- A toothbrush
- A few drops rubbing alcohol
- Mild detergent
Process
- At first, you have to pick off the sticker and its residue as much as possible. So, it leaves less residue, which reduces your glue-removing task.
- Then saturate an old toothbrush bristle part with rubbing alcohol or acetone. Now, rub the cloth’s residue portion with the saturated toothbrush.
- When there is no sticker residue visible, wash the cloth with mild detergent and air dry.
Tip: It’ll be helpful if you soak the cloth before peeling the sticker from the cloth. As water will reduce the stocker’s strength, so when you pick off the sticker, it won’t leave too much residue.
Though all glues effectively bond fabric, the fabric glue is specially formulated to use to bond different types of fabric without damage. So people who are concerned about their clothes use fabric glue. But, for misusing fabric glue, you have to remove it.
Project Metrics
- Working time: 2-3 minutes
The Things You Need
- A toothbrush
- A few drops of white vinegar
- Mild detergent
Process
- Pour 2-3 drops of white vinegar on the glued area and wait a few minutes. During this time, the vinegar will penetrate the glue from the fabric.
- Now, scrub the cloth with a toothbrush and remove the glue.
- As long as you remove the glue, throw it in the washing machine for washing.
Tip: Acetone, rubbing alcohol, olive, or coconut oil are excellent options for removing fabric glue.
So, now I have come to the ending point of my words on how to get glue out of clothes as I described all of the possible ways to remove glue for your convenience, you can choose any option that fits you best.
Do you remove glue from your fabric, and how is your experience? Share with me by leaving a comment, as I love to hear from you.