Read this *only* if you scored 100% on recently-posted OCD screening exam/tool

[awkwardPause]

Ok, guys and gals. My sincere apologies, here.  My OCD side had a strong showing tonight, and to make a medium-length story, short, I decided there was an older Partagas 8-9-8 varnished box (GEA NOV 07) that I'd like to put "on display" in my music/cigar room in the basement. Now, I considered calling this box "vintage", but I thought better of using that term as I knew I'd be called out here by smokers of the previous "unvarnished" release (pre-2002). Therefore, I determined the box age to be "older".

So, I looked at said box, and gorgeous as she was, there existed a very ugly, noticeable scar from a previous health sticker that adorned her front-side for 10+ years.  I considered my options - as immense as they were - and thought "why not give harsh chemicals a try?". At any rate, after procuring a bit of Goo Gone ("Surface Safe"), Pledge Revitalizing Oil (with "Natural Orange Oil"/scent), and a Scotch-Brite "Heavy Duty" Scrub sponge from the shadowy reaches of my utility closet, I decided to tackle the job henceforth. Fortunately, it all turned out favorably and it helped reinforce my severe OCD tendencies. Pics below if you care at all (and you shouldn't). 

*disclaimer - try this on unfinished wood? Fuhgeddaboudit!

 

[JohnS]

Outstanding job!

[cfc1016]

Cleeeaaannnnnnn

[Fuzz]

A little bit of the outline still exists....

[jerrybrowne]

Wow, looks great!


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[PapaDisco]

Beautiful!  What was the magic sequence of harsh chemicals?  Goo Gone first I assume?

[stogieluver]

@awkwardPause, I think we’re brothers. 

Great job!

[Fugu]

6 hours ago, awkwardPause said:

disclaimer - try this on unfinished wood? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Try acetone on unvarnished (remove cigars first and allow it to evaporate fully before putting them back in). Plain ethanol or isopropanol does the job well on varnished surfaces (doesn't attac the varnish - usually).

[Colt45]

3 hours ago, Fuzz said:

A little bit of the outline still exists....

Great job AP!

[CaptainQuintero]

You can get stuff called 'sticky stuff remover' here that is for that job, I'm guessing Amazon will have something similar. Growing up I always used a bit of olive oil on some kitchen roll and a bit of elbow grease 

Re the box, the unvarnished and varnished were separate releases (and vitola) that were sold at the same time alongside each other; the unvarnished wasn't an older version of the varnished

[awkwardPause]

3 hours ago, CaptainQuintero said:

You can get stuff called 'sticky stuff remover' here that is for that job, I'm guessing Amazon will have something similar. Growing up I always used a bit of olive oil on some kitchen roll and a bit of elbow grease 

Re the box, the unvarnished and varnished were separate releases (and vitola) that were sold at the same time alongside each other; the unvarnished wasn't an older version of the varnished

You're absolutely right - thank you for the correction! For some reason I had it in my head that there was a transition point from the unvarnished to varnished releases but I see now that is not the case. 

[awkwardPause]

I appreciate the input from others here, especially when it comes to likely cleaner alternatives. This was more out of boredom and for a little bit experimentation. Also, had to work with what I had sitting around the house. Surely there are better options, though!

Cheers

[Martin_F]

Nice!

Now the big question, what to use on dress boxes?

[awkwardPause]

7 hours ago, PapaDisco said:

Beautiful!  What was the magic sequence of harsh chemicals?  Goo Gone first I assume?

Indeed. I used a paper towel to apply it, then let it sit for a few minutes. After that, I gave it a light scrubbing and it came right off. That said, the finish did look a bit dull in that area after the first step, hence the Pledge. Sounds like there may be other options though per @Fugu above - plain ethanol or isopropanol. Maybe gentler on the existing varnish? I'm not sure that the Goo Gone step attacked the varnish, or if the sticker itself that was on for 10 years was more of the culprit. At any rate, the Pledge worked nicely!

[KRunch61]

Well done! Looks great!

[cfc1016]

2 hours ago, awkwardPause said:

You're absolutely right - thank you for the correction! For some reason I had it in my head that there was a transition point from the unvarnished to varnished releases but I see now that is not the case. 

Different cigars indeed. Similar character though. 

For similar tasks, I’m a big fan of a dab of acetone and either a cotton ball or, believe it or not, mr clean magic eraser (unscented original version only). The magic eraser is basically just a super high grit abrasive foam. Like 800-1,000 grit samdpapaer in foam packaging. It’s chemically inert. 

We actually use them frequently in the saltwater aquarium hobby for scrubbing calcareous algae off of the surface of acrylic aquaria. 

[Optic101]

Great job !