Removing Stickers From DVD/Bluray Cases

With today’s world of dvd/bluray box sets, packaging is becoming more elaborate. Unfortunately after buying them customers may find they are covered in stickers. You may get home from the store with your brand new movie, only to accidentally destroy the packaging trying to remove them.
Video games, blurays, and dvds can come in plastic amaray cases or steel books. These destructive stickers can cause damage to the case decreasing value. This step by step tutorial will guide you through removal of these eyesores without damaging the product.

These tools are optional and depend on how serious you want to take the process.

• Q-TIP
• Goo Gone
• Razor
• Tape
• Towel

First you should have a bottle of goo gone which can be purchased at any convenience or dollar store. Secondly regular scotch tape may come in handy when removing the glue residue. A sharp razor can also be useful if you have short fingernails. If you are using goo gone you will need a cotton swab or Q-Tip.

Different stores use different types of stickers on their blurays/dvds, and they are also placed on different spots of the case. Some use a different type of glue and are harder to remove than others in my experience.
Some stores place stickers on the outside of the shrink-wrap in this case it is not worth removing the stickers since they will come off with the shrink-wrap.

In the case of a sticker directly on the plastic of the case, there is more of a risk of damaging the actual plastic case while removing it. In general the plastic cases are cheap and easy to swap, but you can try removing it with the same steps below. This is usually what you will find when buying used.

Finally the sticker could be placed directly on the outside of the cardboard slipcover. It may be the manufacturer rather than the store, or both, that place them here. This is the riskiest type of sticker and the risk of damage while removing it is high. So examine the sticker placement and consider the risk. These types of stickers are far more difficult to remove without damage, and it may be better to leave them than attempt removal. If you decide that it is worth taking the chance, move on to the next step.

Certain types of stickers are harder to remove than others. These types of stickers use a paper material and are commonly found in stores such as Wal-Mart. Another type is this heavier plastic sticker used for sale advertisements in stores like Best Buy.

If the sticker is on the cardboard slipcover, consider heating it up a bit before starting to remove it. First remove the slipcover from the actual case. A hair dryer can be used, pointing it at the sticker until slightly warm. Instead of a hair dryer you can just place it onto of a hot laptop to warm it up. Do not do this for too long as it could cause damage to the case. Using heat may allow the glue to soften and be more easily removable.

1. Pour a small amount, enough to dampen the cotton Q-Tip but not dripping wet.
2. Now rub the sticker with the Q-Tip until the sticker is thoroughly coated in Goo Gone.
3. For cardboard slipcovers rather than stickers on the plastic case, apply less liquid, as you do not want it to soak into the cover itself. Make sure the entire sticker is covered.
4. Allow the liquid to sit for a minute or two. Then proceed to the next step where we will be removing the actual sticker.

1. Now gently wedge your fingernail under one side of the sticker and pry the sticker up until one edge is lifted away from the case. Go slowly and if you feel the sticker tearing, stop, and try a different edge. The sticker will be much harder to remove if it tears during this stage.
2. Using a razor you can also extremely gently lift the edge of the sticker without cutting into the actual case.

After the sticker has been peeled off as best as you can, there may be glue residue left on the case. Avoid the temptation to roughly scrape this off as it can cause tearing and ruin your efforts thus far.
One method is by using the adhesive side of the sticker to attempt to remove any residue left over on the case. Take the sticker you just peeled off and dab the sticky side against the glued area of the case repeatedly. This can pick up the left over glue depending on the adhesive used. Scotch tape can also be used the same way. If that method fails, you can try rubbing the area gently with your thumb and many times this will remove the glue.

At times the frustration may get the better of you, or new stickers with more adhesive might be used which lead to tearing the case. Damaged bluray cases can be easily replaced by buying a few replacement cases and carefully swapping the cover slip. Consider searching for a seller on ebay.com to replace a torn slipcover. With more rare titles, this may be not be possible or too expensive. Empty cases can be found on Amazon.com.

After following all the steps you may still find yourself with a ripped slipcover. Consider the possibility of removing all the slipcovers and displaying all of your dvd/blurays without them. Some collectors have found this to be a more uniform appearance to a dvd collection and it has the advantage of taking up less space.