LESLIE: Listening in on WLBK from DeKalb, Illinois we have Eileen. Welcome. How can we help?
EILEEN: My son has moved into a brand new apartment and he decided to decorate his kitchen with these gel clings. He put them on his cabinet.
LESLIE: Oh, but they’re made for glass, right?
EILEEN: Yes.
TOM: Oh, no.
EILEEN: So, when he took them off, there is the stain and the outline of the cling.
TOM: OK, do you think it’s an actual dye transfer of this – of this gel thing to the cabinet surface or is it just like the glue and adhesive that’s sort of stuck behind?
EILEEN: It’s the dye because there’s different colors; there’s red, blue, purple, green.
TOM: Then you’re going to have to abrade it off. You’re probably going to need …
LESLIE: What are the cabinets made out of?
EILEEN: It’s maple.
LESLIE: So – but it’s real maple. It’s not like a laminate or …
TOM: And it’s light colored?
EILEEN: It’s light colored. Yeah.
TOM: Yeah. You know, I think that she may need to use like liquid sandpaper or something like that. You know, one thing you could try and I would try in the least conspicuous area and that is a rubbing compound; the kind that you use on a car. It has a very, very fine pumice abrasive quality to it and you may be able to rub it into that surface and see if you can abrade enough of the colorant off; enough of the dye off to leave the door behind unscathed. That would sort of be a first step. You’re sort of going to start with the most gentle thing and work down to it.
LESLIE: Have you tried – I know this sounds like simple and stupid but the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? I don’t know what it is but it gets the strangest things off of things. It’s basically just some sort of white, sponge-like thing but you have to buy the Magic Eraser and then you just wet it a little bit. I’ve seen it get Sharpie, like solid marker off of drywall. I’ve seen it get dried up, you know, pasta sauce off of a wall. Not that I’ve spilled things like that, but maybe I have. But seriously, try that. Because for two bucks at the supermarket, you could be saving yourself a whole bunch of headache.
EILEEN: OK.
LESLIE: Just give it a shot. You know, it’s the least – the lesser of the evils.
TOM: Unless you can get this off, you’re going to end up refinishing the cabinets anyway. So we just don’t want you to go to far too fast.
EILEEN: OK.
TOM: Alright? Give it a shot.
1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Leslie, who’s next?
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