On Sat, 19 Nov 2016 19:08:19 -0000 (UTC), Robert Bannon
wrote:

On Fri, 18 Nov 2016 20:35:03 -0800, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Well, you could try using something that was actually formulated for
removing labels:
Ouch. Rather expensive at $25/quart.

Exactly.
1. Water, which is 1 cent a gallon, works fine to remove most paper labels
off of most grocery store jars (which is my application).

2. Gasoline, at $3 a gallon, works fine on most of the remaining underlying
goops. I use the gasoline outside, and I wash the jar of the gasoline, but
the stink still transfers into the house unless I air it outside for a day.

3. When the underlying goop is resistant to gasoline, usually acetone or MAF
cleaner does the trick.

That's my cheap, readily available 2-step (sometimes 3-step) process for
removing labels from food jars for further use of the jar.

MSDS shows interesting and noxious chemicals:
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSuUn_zu8l00x4xt9PxmxOv70k 17zHvu9lxtD7SSSSSS--
Ingredient C.A.S. No. % by Wt
Xylene 1330-20-7 30 - 60 Trade Secret *
Hydrotreated Light Naphtha (Petroleum)
64742-49-0 30 - 60 Trade Secret *
Ethylbenzene 100-41-4 7 - 13 Trade Secret *
Toluene 108-88-3 0.5 - 1.5 Trade Secret *
Benzene 71-43-2 0.1 Trade Secret *

Like you, I love the MSDS because they give you the list of noxious things
in the can (they don't need to list non-noxious stuff though).

This one looks suspiciously similar to gasoline, by the way, in that
gasoline contains the same stuff (almost certainly in different percentages
though).

For naphtha, use Coleman camp fuel. Xylene and toluene are no longer
available in California, so those won't work.

I definately tried Coleman Camp Fuel in the past, since I had about 4 cans
of the stuff. It didn't work anywhere nearly as well as gasoline did, and it
stunk too. It's almost certainly less flammable though.

I also tried charcoal lighter fluid, which was just as bad at removing the
goop as was the Coleman fuel.

Charcoal lighter fluid is usually undistinguishable from "varsol" ot
"mineral spirits".

Coleman fuel, or "white gas" has virtually the same flammability as
regular gasoline but burns cleaner and has an octane of about 50 - the
same as the old "straight run" gasoline from the '20s.

So, whatever they put in those cans, is no good for the task of removing the
underlying goop under labels (once the label is removed by soaking in
water).

There are made for purpose label removers, all of which really smell
awful. Goop-Off, Un-Du, Turtle Wax T-529, Goo-Gone, etc.

Yup. The label removers are no better than gasoline, as far as I know, when
it comes to removing the underlying adhesive under most food-jar labels.

They're only better than gasoline in that they're not flammable, which is
why I use the gasoline outside currently.

Then, there are the home concoctions:
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/remove-sticky-labels/

Not one of those seems to use gasoline, even though it's clearly and
obviously a fantastic solvent (which I've used for years and which works
fine for removing the goop).

The main problem with gasoline is that it needs to be used outside.