Wooden letters on kids doors - tell me how to remove!

[Popskipiekin]

So we have our kids’ names in wooden letters stuck to their bedroom doors. I stuck them on a couple of years ago with superglue.

We’re selling up and I think I should probably remove the letters so our buyers have a nice neutral canvas. (I also quite like the letters themselves which were gifts.) Any tips on how to do this with minimal damage to the door, and ideally preserve the letters as well? I’ll repaint the whole door if I have to, if it does cause a lot of damage, but I’d rather not if anyone has any neat removal tricks...

Many thanks!

If it's super glue I doubt you are getting them off without damaging at least the door or the letters. Possibly both. Technically acetone will dissolve super glue but not sure how you'd go about that as you have to soak it...

Personally I'd chip them off with a hammer and chisel then repair or replace the door as necessary.

You can buy specific super-glue dissolver, although it might take a few goes for old glue (i assume it’s sold for those me who routinely glue their fingers to the thing they’re sticking.)

Ps if you do damage the door then wood filler, sand and repaint - not the end of the world.

Superglue is removed by pure acetone, but it will absolutely strip the paint too

I would remove either with a thin screwdriver and hammer or acetone. Either way, you’ll need to make good afterwards.

Have you actually sold the house? If so, get the estate agent to tell the buyers about any damage/repair. If not, chisel them off now and sell ‘as seen’!

I’d leave them be. The new owners can always rename their children.

@Finfintytint

I’d leave them be. The new owners can always rename their children.

@Finfintytint

I’d leave them be. The new owners can always rename their children.

haha We have actually sold it, so perhaps I should speak to the agent and ask him to mention my plans for removal to the buyers. Tbh I’m happy to leave the letters if they’d rather I didn’t risk damaging what is now ultimately their doors and not ours...

Thank you all v much for tips on removal. I absolutely would make good any damage, not a problem. Our buyers have been astonishingly easy going throughout so I’m not going to ruin it at the final hurdle!

Wd40?
Hairdryer to soften the glue and scrape off residue?

Take the doors with you?
(A friend bought a house and when she moved in found all the internal doors had been removed and she has never known why...)

Neatly saw a letterbox shape hole in the door to remove the name. If they query it, the doors were always like it. So you can check on your children in the night.

Isopropyl alcohol or acetone (nail varnish remover) for superglue. Though to be honest you might as well just leave them.

We have actually sold it, so perhaps I should speak to the agent and ask him to mention my plans for removal to the buyers. Tbh I’m happy to leave the letters if they’d rather I didn’t risk damaging what is now ultimately their doors and not ours...

During our last house sale/purchase there was discussion between parties about filling holes left by picture hooks, TV wall-mounts etc. As long as you let them know it'll be fine.

Can you slide a pallete knife under an edge and slice them off? Can you remember how you put them on?
I wouldn’t care about a messy door but then when we buy houses we basically rip everything out and start again anyway so the door would either be dipped and stripped or replaced at some point. Appreciate not everyone is like this though so mention it just in case!

I’d use a scraper and chivvy it with a hammer. It will take off a layer of paint with it but as long as you make good you’ll be fine.

@BerniesMittens

Neatly saw a letterbox shape hole in the door to remove the name. If they query it, the doors were always like it. So you can check on your children in the night.

This did make me guffaw.

I’ve bought some solution which claims it can dissolve superglue but I’m fairly sceptical given it’s underneath the letters and fairly impossible to get to... I’ll be arming myself with tools and going for it after that, as we have quite interestingly named DC and I doubt there’s much overlap with the buyers’ naming choices.

Sex lube and a fish slice?

I once superglued a mirror to the back of a door and could only remove it by using acetone, depending on the material and finish it might remove some paint or varnish which is an easy fix. If you can get them off use sandpaper afterwards to remove any glue residue and either paint/varnish as necessary.

We glued a set of mirrors (10x10 inch squares) to the wall near the doorway - to serve as a full sized mirror. Ripping them off would've damaged the walls - and they looked ok. Sold as is.