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The $6 Crafting Tool I’m Adding to My Cleaning Kit

Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She's been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.
published Mar 25, 2022
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Credit: Sarah Crowley/Apartment Therapy

I recently found myself in the throes of a massive art/craft/game closet overhaul. For the day-long project, I had purchased two sets of these 8×8 Iris storage boxes for storing decanting games out of their bulky, space-wasting boxes. I was so excited to put them to good use to transform our closet — until I realized that every single one of those boxes had a stubborn, sticky label that left behind the most frustrating white paper residue known to human. Ugh. 

But I was on a mission and I was not to be deterred. I knew I could use coconut oil and baking soda to clean it off, but that would be messy and time-consuming and I didn’t want to interrupt my workflow even more. A razor blade might scrape away the residue, but it would also scratch the plastic surface of the storage box.

Then I remembered that I had been making some labels earlier that day and a certain tool was forefront in my mind: this scraper, which came in my Labeling Starter Kit, but you can also buy independently for just $6.

Scraper Craft Weeding Tools-Vinyl Weeder Basic Tool
$5.99
Amazon
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With its sturdy construction and thin, hard edge, the tool seemed like the perfect way to get under that stubborn label residue and lift it away without damaging the plastic. The scraper, which is made to scrape vinyl and paper from a sticky cutting mat, was definitely worth a try. 

It worked so well that I plan to add a dedicated one to my set of cleaning tools. It’s less flexible than the usual plastic scrapers and with a thinner edge, which makes it perfect for lifting not just sticky residue from stickers, but also sticky messes from stovetops, oven surfaces, glass, and even flooring. Having this tool on-hand for cleaning purposes is my newest “cross-discipline” addition to my cleaning arsenal and I can’t wait to see how often it comes in handy.