Webley Mark II Target Box Restoration

[45flint]

I bought a Webley Mark II Target last year that was just about mint. Gladly it came in a box, but the box had been taped up years ago and was very unsightly. A fellow on the forum say he used Methylene Chloride to remove tape on a box he had. Got some a couple of days ago and I thought I would try it on the pellet box to see how it worked. Amazingly it worked a miracle taking the tape off and removing the glue residue. I felt like one of those guys who cleans old paintings with solution and Q-Tips. Still have the main box to do but it should go similarly. But had enough fumes right now!

Here’s the box:



Here is the slideshow of the work on the pellet box:

https://imgur.com/gallery/GaBbMfu

Will post when all the work is done.

[micky2]

Wow that's great l must get some. as l have some boxes with tape on them.

[45flint]

Interesting started the main box and it’s a bear. Took an hour to remove 3 inches of tape. This tape is not as dried out. Very difficult to get the fluid to penetrate.

[Scott.]

Could you (very) carefully scrub the surface of the tape with sandpaper to break though any surface layer and allow the chemicals to penetrate deeper?

[ccdjg]

You could also try letting the methylene chloride soak through the cardboard from the other side so that it can get straight to the adhesive layer. It has no effect on cardboard so should not do any harm, and probably would not attack the original adhesives used on the box as pre-war they would not be synthetic polymer based, and methylene chloride specifically goes for the synthetics.

[45flint]

Could you (very) carefully scrub the surface of the tape with sandpaper to break though any surface layer and allow the chemicals to penetrate deeper?

Good thought. I also thought of soaking a felt pad with chemical leaving it on the tape covering it with non porus material and letting it soak for a while. Got time will try various things on a little bit and see what does best. Bottom line it does work eventually and no damage to box. Just the transformation of the pellet box is pretty amazing.

[Troubledshooter]

Lighter fuel is often very effective in removing tape and residue, but does sometimes require several applications.