Silver Linings, Rub-Ons, and Un-Du Adhesive Remover

I'm working on custom albums right now, and want to share my mishap and the knowledge gained from it.

The other day, I was quite distraught to find that the beautiful flourish rub-on I was adding to my layout came out spotty.  Absolutely nothing seemed to work to get the full image to release.  Then, I thought I was going to have to re-create the entire layout when the adhesive eraser did not work at all in removing the parts of the rub-on that did transfer.

There I was, racking my brain trying to figure out if there was anything else I could use, when I saw my bottle of Un-Du Adhesive Remover on the desk.  After thoroughly re-reading the label, I was convinced it was worth trying; after all, it couldn't possibly make it any worse!

Guess what?  It worked! 

Here's what I did, and what I learned:

I used the tip of a foam cosmetic wedge (not one cotton swab was to be found!) to apply Un-Du to a piece of rub-on that needed to be removed.  Then I rubbed the (dry) back of the wedge (in one direction) over the same area, and a little bit of it came up!

Taking my time, I was able to salvage the entire layout by wetting the rub-on with Un-Du, then using a dry corner of the wedge to tease it up from the paper. As pieces of the rub-on came off, I wiped them from the wedge so the ink wouldn't smear while I tried to remove the next piece of rub-on.

Also, as I worked on it, I realized I didn't have to keep applying the Un-Du to the wedge, because it didn't evaporate out of the foam like it does out of cotton swabs.  Which meant I was able to use far less Un-Du than usual.  As I needed to reapply the Un-Du to the rub-on, I just pressed down the tip of the wedge where I had initially applied the Un-Du, until the rub-on was wet.  It worked so well, it was almost eerie!

They say every cloud has a silver lining.  Mine had three!  1.) The layout was saved; 2.) I learned how to remove rub-ons using Un-Du; and 3.) I learned that, in some applications, a foam cosmetic wedge works better with Un-Du than cotton swabs, because it prevents the solution from evaporating too quickly.

Plus, I was thrilled to have discovered a new use for my dear Un-Du -- as well as a new way to apply it!  (Yes, it takes so little to make me happy...)

So, that's my sharing, and my Tip of the Day!  LOL

Until next time, happy scrapping and stamping!

Dee