Cover image via SAYS
Raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimised by one of these impossible-to-remove road tax stickers
Image via Kimberly Low
It's especially frustrating when you manage to scrape off the decal… only to have these ugly glue marks stubbornly refusing to get off your windscreen!
Image via Danny Foo
In fact, some don't even bother removing their expired road tax stickers, preferring to leave a road tax trail on their windscreens instead
Image via Metro Online Broadcast
Removing road tax stickers is not a simple matter of tearing off the old and sticking on the new, it requires a specific set of tools as well as quite a bit of elbow grease and patience. Here are some tried and tested methods we gathered from our fellow motorists:
1. With a rag soaked in soap water and a plastic card
Using the rag soaked in soap water, rub against the glue marks until they soften. Then, scrape of the glue residue with a plastic card e.g. expired membership cards or credit cards.
Expired credit cards are great for scraping things off surfaces, such as ice, glue, wax etc.
Image via SAYS
2. Gently scraping it off with a razor cutter blade (typically for pen knives) or a glass scraper
Hold your tool firmly at a steady angle, scrape evenly starting from the edge until the end. Lightly scrape off any remaining remnants.
If necessary, wipe off residue with some paint thinner (sparingly, especially if you have tinted windows) and polish off with window cleaner or glass solution.
3. With WD-40 spray and a dry cloth or sponge
However, some motorists have noted that this method only works on fresh glue and not on glue that has been on the windscreen for a long time. WD-40 can also be quite corrosive on certain rubber and plastic materials.
**Watch how it's done here:**
Image via Amoils.com
4. Pour some Goo Gone citrus solvent (available in hardware stores) onto a rag and rub until the glue residue comes off
Image via Twitter @Quazacolt
5. With a hairdryer, soap solution, and a rag or some tissues
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6. With cooking oil. This method is said to be the most effective, removing glue residue in less than one minute.
**WHAT YOU NEED:**
Rags or kitchen cloths
Cooking oil
Soap water
**METHOD:**
1. Soak a small part of a kitchen cloth with cooking oil.
2. Rub against glue residue until it is wiped off.
3. Wipe the windscreen clean with a cloth soaked in soap water.
4. Rinse and dry off.
Image via Alibaba
7. Pour some minyak cap kapak or medicated baby oil onto a piece of cloth and start rubbing until glue residue comes off
Image via Dokita
8. With any organic solvent such as nail polish remover, paint thinner, rubbing alcohol, petrol, kerosene, and acetone
**IMPORTANT:** The aforementioned materials and flammable and should be handled with care i.e. don't use it near any fire sources.
Also not recommended for tinted windows as they may damage the tint.
Nail polish remover is quite a cleansing agent. It can even remove permanent marker from whiteboards and unfortunately, colour off of dyed material.
Image via Pop Sugar
If you'd rather not spend even more time trying to remove road tax stickers and glue residue for the rest of your driving life, then you might want to take note of these hassle-free ways to replacing your road tax:
1. Get hold of some plain car stickers or one of those road tax sticker decals
Image via EternalC / Lowyat Forum
Image via Kimberly Low
These stickers should be available in car accessory shops and online via Mudah.my or Lelong.my. If you're lucky, you might get a free one courtesy of your car insurance agent when you renew your license.
2. To make sure your road tax sticker does not make any adhesive contact with your windscreen, you can choose to laminate your sticker…
Image via Kimberly Low
… Covering it with a cut up CD plastic case
Image via SaiMatKong.com
Image via SaiMatKong.com
3. Apply your laminated or covered road tax sticker onto the decal
Image via Carreviewsandcare
4. Stick it onto your car windscreen…
Image via Kimberly Low
5. … And don't worry about glue residue when your remove it next year! Or the next and the next…
Image via Disney
