Removing tape adhesive marks from stained doors

Hi all,

We used some "long life" exterior masking tape to mask off our lovely stained Cedar French doors before painting the weatherboards that butt up against them. It seems that the tape stayed on too long as upon removal it's left a lot of ugly adhesive marks behind.

The doors are coated with Intergrain DWD which is an acrylic polymer based finish.

Can anyone advise as to what I could use to remove the adhesive without damaging the finish on the doors ?
I have seen WD40 suggested often as an adhesive remover, but had seen conflicting info as to its useability on acrylic based finishes.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Blair

I'm not sure if will be safe to use on your finish, but eucalyptus oil is really good at getting that sort of stuff off.

Works really well for getting chewing gum out of carpet too.

Agreed. I certainly wouldn't be putting WD40 (or anything with silicone in it) on the doors because, if you need to refinish at some time in the future, the dreaded "fish eyes" will appear, and THAT means back to bare wood...

I would try the eucalyptus oil as suggested by atregent. I regularly use eucalyptus oil for removing adhesive marks. It works really well.

I would however suggest that you test it on your doors first in an inconspicuous a place as possible to make sure it doesn't effect the finish.

I have used it on painted interior walls before with no problems to remove crayon deposited by my two munchkins.

seem to recall it comes off with either turps or metho on a rag, neither of which should affect the finish.

I use eucalypus oil first before I try anything else, but remember it is different to ti (tea) tree oil - it seems to be more evaporative and leaves little or no residue .

I use Double "D" brand. Just like my grandma did :D

Pure or Gum Turpentine works well as a solvent as well - Apply with a soft cloth.