hey anybody out there,
i have a bottle of mens cologne on my wood dresser that is stuck like
glue.
i don't know what happen. some years ago, i belive it fell to it's side
and there must have been some kind of slight leak. well,it's been
laying on it's side STUCK to the wood for years now. I've been tempted
to beat it with a hammer and get it off. but my big fear is that it
will break open and my room will smell like mens cologne for eternity.
any suggestions?
Charles
Very likely alcohol, that's a main component of cologne.
Is your dresser a valuable antique or heirloom? If not, I'd give
alcohol a try. It's fairly easy to repair the finish with shellac
afterward. If it's valuable ($ or sentiment) you might consider taking
it to a furniture refinisher for removal and repair.
Good luck.
"SonomaProducts.com" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well, one idea is if the wood is finished with Shellac then perhaps the
> alcohol in the cologne disolved the Shellac then after it dried, the
> Shellac hardened.
>
> Try using alcohol or acetone if it's real stuck. Of course th finish
> will need repair.
>
Permit me one more mention of how shellac is not my choice of finish for
jewelry boxes?
I wouldn't pull or saw. Solvent will remove it, the dissolved finish might
rub out well enough to maintain color. If not, get some colors and add to
the repaired area.
Top-Poster Bob here. I just can't resist this one. Since your cologne
bottle has been stuck to your dresser for years, you are obviously a
meticulous housekeeper, and are in a big rush to get this problem resolved.
You should fill a vat large enough to accommodate the entire dresser with a
suitable stripper to remove the finish and the bottle. Submerge the entire
mess into the vat thereby removing the bottle along with the finish.
(regardless of the original cause for the bottle/dresser adhesion). You
will be left with an interesting refinish project on the dresser as well as
a newly freed cologne bottle. If you are not inclined to undertake the
refinish project, then a second method might be to practice your golf
pitching wedge technique to remove the bottle. I don't recommend a sand
wedge, as they are designed to "bounce" off of the underlying surface
thereby damaging the surface of your well maintained dresser. Be creative.
This is not an unsolvable problem.
P.S. for those who are confused by top posting, scroll down for the original
message.
Sarcastic s.o.b.:
Bob
"chuck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> hey anybody out there,
>
> i have a bottle of mens cologne on my wood dresser that is stuck like
> glue.
> i don't know what happen. some years ago, i belive it fell to it's side
> and there must have been some kind of slight leak. well,it's been
> laying on it's side STUCK to the wood for years now. I've been tempted
> to beat it with a hammer and get it off. but my big fear is that it
> will break open and my room will smell like mens cologne for eternity.
> any suggestions?
> Charles
>
I think it's like SonomaProducts.com said, the alcohol probably disolved the
shellac and rehardened against the bottle.
I would try using some thin nylon twine wrapped around two pencils and
sliding it back and forth to cause it to 'saw' it's way through the shellac
as close to the bottle as possible. If you don't have nylon twine, try
using unwaxed dental floss (don't bother with the waxed stuff), or some
other strong thread (like the kind of thread you would stitch jeans with or
a jacket). It will probably break often and require a lot of paticence, but
it should allow you to break the seal close to the bottle.
Try not to use force to remove the bottle because the wood will probably
give before the bond between the bottle and the wood does (that is, you'll
remove a chunk of wood from the shelf).
X_HOBBES