Rubber Cement Removal

[Ferg]

Okay..... I applied rubber cement to the back of the piece of leather I am/was tooling and stuck it to a piece of 1/4" plexiglass, never again.

How in tarnation do I get that glue off the back of the leather so I can glue a liner to it. Don't tell me to use rubber cement for that because it is not a good idea.

The plexiglass shrunk up into a concave, not a lot but enough that it won't lay down on the granite to carve on.

I n all the years I have tooled leather I never done any of the suggested methods to keep the leather from stretching. I simply never had a problem.

Believe me, I will go back to the way I always done it from now on.

I still need to get that blasted rubber cement off the back

ferg

[albane]

Ferg,

Will the cement reactivate it's self? By this I mean If you apply More fresh adhesive will it soften the old stuff?

If so consider applying a small amount of fresh adhesive (just enough to loosen up the excess and scrape as much as you can away.. Work a small area so it doesn't dry up before you finish.

after line your piece like you normally would.

Good luck,

[Tina]

I whish I had a good idea to help you out here...

But for the sake of argument, should the glue be applied directly to the leather or to the plexiglass (then dry up a wee bit) before mounting the leather and glass together? I have always wondered this???

[Aggiebraider]

If youre going to put a liner on anyway, why do you need to remove the rubber cement? If there is ALOT of cement, maybe carefully cut it away with a razor blade to smooth things up. I thought you could just rub the rubber cement off with a little friction (may be heat activated as well). If you were able to just peel the plexiglass off, you should be able to remove the remaining cement fairly easily. But these are all suppositions as I have yet to start tooling and havent run into this problem

[terrymac]

Ferg,

I think you missed one little step, and that is to apply packing tape directly to the leather, and then apply the glue to the packing tape and stick to the plexiglass. 3M packing tape seems to work best.

Terry

[Ferg]

I had thought of the packing tape but it would not stick to the leather. I had to apply two coats of rubber cement to get it to even think about sticking to the plastic.

BTW: I had waited until the leather was ready to carve before doing any of these so it was not excessively wet.

It doesn't want to rub off. My past experience with applying any liner with rubber cement has been a total disaster.

I also thought abut applying the glue to the plastic but I would need to make a mark around the piece to keep glue from getting every where else.

A marker would probably be needed and that could get on the face of the leather.

I am going to try a small amount of the cement over what is there and see what happens but I doubt it will loosen the stuff.

Thanks for all suggestions. Will post what happens.

ferg

[Somawas]

I don't think you can get rubber cement off the back. Maybe contact cement the liner over it.

[Ferg]

I don't think you can get rubber cement off the back. Maybe contact cement the liner over it.

I thought of that also, I don't think they are compatible. We have glued up thousands of feet of laminate with contact cement and it is a breed all it's own.

Thanks,

ferg

[King's X]

Have you tried a "gum" easer? It works for me. Also, try some Emery cloth sand paper you can find at wally mart in the automotive section. It will take it off, but be care full.

Good luck

[Ferg]

Have you tried a "gum" easer? It works for me. Also, try some Emery cloth sand paper you can find at wally mart in the automotive section. It will take it off, but be care full.

Good luck

Never thought of the gum eraser, I will try that.

Thanks,

ferg

[SimonJester753]

Okay..... I applied rubber cement to the back of the piece of leather I am/was tooling and stuck it to a piece of 1/4" plexiglass, never again.

How in tarnation do I get that glue off the back of the leather so I can glue a liner to it. Don't tell me to use rubber cement for that because it is not a good idea.

The plexiglass shrunk up into a concave, not a lot but enough that it won't lay down on the granite to carve on.

I n all the years I have tooled leather I never done any of the suggested methods to keep the leather from stretching. I simply never had a problem.

Believe me, I will go back to the way I always done it from now on.

I still need to get that blasted rubber cement off the back

ferg

If it's still on the plexi, and you can't peel it off, I'd carefully drip rubber cement thinner between the leather and plexi and start peeling them apart. I don't know what effect the thinner will have on leather. I've used it as a graphic artist to separate paper from illustration board without damaging either.

If you've already gotten it off the plexi, then you need a rubber cement pickup. They sell them in art supply stores, along with the thinner. Just rub the pickup over the area covered in rubber cement and it will pull the cement up.

Paper is less porous than leather, so it may take some doing.

I'm guessing the cement melted the plexi a bit.

Keep in mind, I just started working with leather, but I've got years of working with rubber cement.

[Ferg]

If it's still on the plexi, and you can't peel it off, I'd carefully drip rubber cement thinner between the leather and plexi and start peeling them apart. I don't know what effect the thinner will have on leather. I've used it as a graphic artist to separate paper from illustration board without damaging either.

If you've already gotten it off the plexi, then you need a rubber cement pickup. They sell them in art supply stores, along with the thinner. Just rub the pickup over the area covered in rubber cement and it will pull the cement up.

Paper is less porous than leather, so it may take some doing.

I'm guessing the cement melted the plexi a bit.

Keep in mind, I just started working with leather, but I've got years of working with rubber cement.

Nothing stayed on the plexi-glass. I have removed the piece from the PG. The cement is only on the leather and no the plexi-glass did not melt anywhere:)

ferg

[electrathon]

I glue almost everything I carve down. I generally glue to corion, but sometimes I do to plexiglass too. I glue the piece down by applying rubber cement to both the leather and the corion. Let it dry. Put it togeather. After tooling you gently pull it off, being carefull not to stretch it durring removal. You will not get the glue off. When you line it simply apply contact cement (I use Barge) to both your leatehr carcing and the liner. Assemble. I have never had one come apart.

Aaron