[ipgyst]

I recently acquired a beautiful sample set of NJ clays. The only problem is that half the chips used to have some sort of price-tag-sized sticker on the face of them. At one time, these tags were peeled off, but not completely, and large spots of the adhesive remained. Over time, that adhesive has dried out, maybe even polymerized, and attached itself to the face of these beautiful chips. It has so far resisted my attempts to remove it. I have tried:

Scratching at it with my fingernail
Soaking the chips in water
Soaking the affected area in Windex
Soaking the affected area in Lysol
Soaking the affected area in Acetone (nail polish remover)

I'm curious what to try next. I cannot fathom Pipeshield working. Paint thinner or gasoline are next on my list of increasingly risky organic solvents if I can't find anything better. If those fail, I'm finding a woodshop and some dichloromethane (methylene chloride), which is almost guaranteed to work but will probably dissolve half the chip if I am not careful with it. Actually, it will probably dissolve half my chip even if I am careful with it.

Thanks for listening.

[jamby]

Great idea posting this here ipgyst.

These were sample chips from Philip at Ace Poker Chip Co. Some of you guys might remember the mega sample set of over 300 miscellaneous chips that he sold on ebay before apparently going out of business. These NJ clays were part of that big set and as ipgyst says had small white labels affixed to them. I never tried to remove them, but ipgyst has and has had no luck so far.

I'm interested too as the BC flame mold hotstamp samples that I still have also have the little labels on them. I'm not even sure what the stickers were for originally. Anybody know what Philip might have been doing with them?

[ipgyst]

Originally Posted by jamby

...Anybody know what Philip might have been doing with them?

Turning them into spinners!

[Vince]

Wow, in Acetone?
Be glad they're still there, acetone usually kills your chips....
Try my all time favorit chip cleaner. Oxi Stain vanisher or remover or whatever.
Important: oxi!
Cold water, drop the oxi powder in, solve it and drop the chips in.

[JHickle]

Try GooGone

Lysol......... Did they also smell bad?

[ipgyst]

Originally Posted by Vince

Wow, in Acetone?

Yup. The chip labels are tough as nails on these NJ Clays. Not a molecule of acetone touched the outer ring of clay. I didn't figure that was a good idea. Unfortunately for me, from wikipedia:

"Acetone is the strongest consumer-grade solvent available."

If acetone was unsuccessful, I'm not holding out much hope for the alternatives. Maybe I will try the acetone again, but with a longer soak time. The problem is that the acetone is quite volatile and wants to evaporate quickly.

[jamby]

This sounds like the best suggestion yet. I'm going to try it tonight on one of the BC flame samples.

Originally Posted by JHickle

Try GooGone

[Rob1466]

Errr..Zippo lighter fuel is known for removing labels, maybe try one to see it it works or any improvement.
Good luck.

[dad604]

Try a bit of cooking oil on a chip, if it works you can do them all and then clean the oil off with something else. This is from the wife that says she uses that method to clean the price tag remains from jars, etc.

[ipgyst]

After trying GooGone, oil, and other things I had lying around, none of them worked. So I am now taking a dull kitchen knife and scraping the substance off. I can get 90-95% of the crud off this way, and what's left after that is clear anyway, so unless you are feeling the face or looking hard at the face, you don't notice. It's not perfect, but it's passable, and it eliminates the spinners.