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Warm sudsy water and something mildly abrasive (like a dish towel) should get that off without damaging the wood/varnish.

with the goo-gone did you leave it to soak for a little while? I find particularly stubborn pieces of old paper need more attention, and then i use a sharp implement and gently start moving in on the corners first, applying more g-g as needed. Good luck.

I second the warm sudsy water and terry/microfiber cloth. If that doesn't work you might try warming it with the blow dryer to "melt" the adhesive that is under that paper.

I would suggest GOO GONE Goo Gone

Goo gone didn't budge it? Hmmm. I've had good luck with Windex taking off adhesive, but it can also take off the finish on wood, so use caution. You could also try heating it up with a hair dryer for several minutes. That should loosen up the glue.

Did you wipe the goo-gone on?

I'd try taking the drawer out saturating the sticker w/the goo gone (or olive oil... its what i have on hand) just pour it on and let it soak in all the way and then CAREFULLY scrape it with a clean putty knife. I've never had that not work...eventually. If you can't remove it get something to catch the drips and soak it while vertical.

Then murphys oil soap or dish soap to get the oil off and some lemon oil to finish.

Great looking desk, fantastic design.

if goo gone didn't get it with some soaking and then a putty knife there is something much more harsh then goo gone called Goof Off.

It's pretty hardcore and i only bring it out when goo gone fails. It's strong stuff though, and should take it off, don't get it on your skin a lot...

I agree with the Goo Gone comments. You really need to saturate the sticky place. I sometimes load up a paper towel with Goo Gone and weigh it down on the goopy part overnight. The next morning it wipes away like dust.

Apply warm soapy water for a while until it's thoroughly saturated, then carefully scrape off.

If this doesn't work, try peanut butter. Seriously.

Is there a product called Goo-B-Gone? Or did you try Goo Gone... because I've never found it unable to remove a pesky sticker, etc. I'd say try Goo Gone if you used something else, but like others said, allow it to soak in for a few minutes first.

someone told me that vodka takes off stickers. it's worth a try.

Try carefully applying Goof Off, which is a different product than Goo Gone. It gets absolutely everything off. (It might take the finish off too if you're not careful, so first test it in an inconspicuous location on the piece, and use something precise like a Q-tip to apply it.) You can buy it at Home Depot - we used it to get all kinds of paint and other weird crap off our hardwood floors when we moved into our house.

you might also want to try saturating it with cooking oil (or spray Pam). Let the sticker absorb it, then whipe it off.

The Mr Clean Magic Eraser got rid of some stuck on dried up glue (from duct tape) that wouldn't budge otherwise. Give that a shot?!

Re: vodka - yup, rubbing alcohol also works on removing sticky stuff... it's just not very nice to wood.

a goo gone soaking followed by scraping off with a credit card.

WD-40 can work wonders for removing sticker gunk.

great find! I'd like to know about the blue pot on your desk

Rubbing alcohol has always worked for me. Put some on fabric or cotton wool. let it seep in and it should come right off.

It sounds gross, I have had success by rubbing mayonnaise on the gunk and letting it penetrate for 20 minutes or so. Then you scrape it off with a plastic spatula or a credit card. I got the idea from the BBC show "How Clean is Your House?."

Peanut butter. Works every time, and doesn't damage.

I've used mayonnaise as well too, but I've never used it on such an old sticker. I use it for the price stickers and labels that are slapped on items.... it works amazingly well.

I've used baby oil, but I'm not sure how it would affect wood, if at all.

Thanks everyone for all the great solutions. I will definitely have to try some of them out this weekend. LaDonnaNichole- the blue piece is a La Solana cookie jar. La Solana is a vintage pottery line out of Arizona I believe. It comes in really great colors like turquoise, green, and yellow. Just google it or search for it on ebay. You should find plenty.
-Kara

Go to the art supply store and get their smallest can of rubber cement remover. Apply it to a paper towel and use it to soak through the paper label and then rub off the label and the adhesive.

Ah Ha! Ungooing things is something I'm good at!

Try Eucalyptus oil. I don't know what is in these Goo products, or how economical Eucalyptus oil is in the US, but it works really well.

In general, for future reference all the above methods are worth trying. They work in one of 6 different ways that break down the adhesive.

One, is by abrasion, for example sandpaper, eraser, gentle scourer, baking soda.

Two is by heat, which will soften the glue and hopefully you can scrape it off. Eg. hot water, hair dryer

Three is with water, that will soften the paper part of the sticker and hopefully the glue underneath. Gentle option.

Four is using a detergent. Detergents work by attracting oils and dirt and making them want to attach to water, not the thing they are stuck on. This is also a gentle option.

Five is by using an alcohol as a solvent - rubbing alc, vodka, windex, methylated spirits etc. They dissolve the glue, but are more likely to hurt the wood finish than other ways

Six is by using an oil to dissolve the glue - olive oil, mayonnaise, peanut butter, baby oil, vaseline, furniture polish etc. These will be gentler on the wood than alcohols.

I think that WD40 and hairspray possibly work in a combination of these ways when they dissolve the glue. I'm not sure what is in them that does the trick. But these will be very likely to damage wood finishes.

Eucalyptus oil, or a concentrated orange oil product (don't know what they are called in the US) work especially well as oils that dissolve goo, so maybe there is some other factor about them that does the trick as well. I know the orange ones have detergent properties as well (and they smell nice!) Eucalyptus oil may damage the finish on the wood.

What will actually work will depend on many things including how long the sticker has been there and what kind of adhesive was in the sticker. Sometimes it has bonded so well with the surface below that you can't do much else than abrade it off.

Whichever kind of dissolving method you try, you need to give them a good chance of working, so leave them on a while and soak well if they don't work well straight away. Have patience. There are good ideas above to try.

Because the adhesives in stickers can vary a lot, you may get a no success with one method of breaking down the glue and a great success from another, so just keep trying. I'd try heat first, then a gentler, oil based idea then work from there, trying a couple of more harsher solvents before you give up and try an abrasive method.

Unfortunately, some timber finishes including old varnish are very similar in their makeup to the adhesives so they are easy to damage using the same methods you use to remove sticky stuff.

If you don't care about preserving the finish or the patina of the piece, I'd try hot water and a gentle scourer, then Eucalyptus oil and risk the damage. If all else fails sand it off.

I have an old desk that has been covered with stickers, but I don't care about the finish so I am not even going to try all these methods, just go straight to sanding it. Then I'll finish it again with stain and varnish.

Good luck!

simple green works great on everything!