This 2 Ingredient DIY ‘Goo Gone’ Removes Sticky Gunk In a Snap

In my house, we never toss out jars. Instead, we put them right back to work as water glasses, leftover food containers, pen holders, and even piggy banks. Of course, that often leads to frustrating battles against the sticky labels attached to them — which is why I was very happy to stumble upon an easy recipe for DIY “goo gone.”

You might already be familiar with the actual Goo Gone product ($8.98, Amazon). I’ve definitely relied on that in the past, but have come up against stubborn gunk just when my bottle of the adhesive remover has run out. Plus, I like the idea of being able to make my own budget-friendly version with a couple items I always have in my kitchen.

So when I saw the post below from Cook’s Illustrated while scrolling my Instagram feed, I knew I had to give their DIY “goo gone” a try.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBvP8uZFsnd/

I followed the instructions to mix 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/4 cup vegetable oil, but didn’t have any of the citrus essential oil they recommend. I crossed my fingers and hoped that was just to give it a nice aroma rather than being responsible for any of the adhesive-erasing duty.

After smearing a bit of it on the label of my jar and then letting it sit for about 10 minutes, I wiped it down with a damp cloth and rinsed it under warm water. And it totally did the trick! There wasn’t a single speck of stickiness left on the jar (which I then used to store the remaining homemade adhesive remover to use later).

I’m sure this will be helpful to remove sticker residue from more than just jars, but that’s definitely where I’ll be getting the most use out of it. Try it yourself and I’m sure you’ll be just as glad to have this simple goo-destroyer on hand, too!