I‘m just going to say I paid less than this sale sticker says but even if I didn’t, this is a pretty good sale price for Lanvin Ballerina Flats at Nordstrom Fashion Valley, because they rarely go on sale.
I thought about blacking out the sale price and not showing the brand, but decided leaving both on emphasizes my point. I HATE it when major department stores put these next to impossible to remove sale stickers on the bottom of shoes, once they go on sale. I mean, $440 is a lot to pay for a pair of ballerina flats. Just because you mark them down, does it really make it acceptable to put these frustrating stickers on the bottom? I shouldn’t have to scrape a sale sticker off the soles.
These stickers don’t just peel off. In fact, they are perforated so you have to peel them off in sections. After that, there’s the sticky residue to deal with. I used to leave the residue, but then started feeling my shoes stick to floors when I walked. Then you have a dirty rectangle on the bottom of your shoe that screams, “I bought these shoes on sale!”
These Lanvin ballerinas have been sitting in my closet for 2 months, because I was procrastinating sticker removal. I Googled “shoe sticker removal” and up popped threads by people with similar problems. Except they all swore that it was the cheap stores that did this and if they were buying designer shoes, this would never be an issue. Not so, my friends!
The Solution
No one online seemed to have a great solution. Most agreed that soapy water worked just “ok”. Some suggested spray oil, nail polish remover, hot water, hairdryer, etc. A lot just tackled the problem with a knife and lots of scraping. Yikes.
I tried one shoe with soapy water. That was a bust. Then I used spray oil and regular olive oil. Bust. Then, I tried nail polish remover, similar to my if your husband puts your keys in a pile of super glue post. Five paper towels later, the nail polish remover worked and there was no sticky residue, but somehow it failed on the second shoe. I tried soapy water on top of that and it seemed to work, several paper towels later. But these methods are time consuming, and don’t work really well.
Goo Gone: If you like to buy shoes on sale, Goo Gone will be your best friend. It works. I bought a big bottle for around $5 at my local hardware store. I peeled the sale sticker off as well as I could, put a few drops of Goo Gone on a paper towel and started rubbing the residue. It dissolved within seconds. With a clean paper towel, I wiped it off. I put a few drops of mild dish soap on another paper towel to get the Goo Gone off and wiped it dry. Voila, the sole of my shoe was perfectly clean.
So there you go. Shop the shoe sale rack with confidence!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Goo Be Gone is a great product for removing stickers. Or, if you want to use something you may already have in your pantry of cleaning supplies, try your orange oil (wood polish). Citrus Oils break down/slime up the adhesive and make it easier to remove.
You can put some on a paper towel and work it into the sticker’s edges, to begin the process…do not pour on, as it may run down the sides of the sole and damage the upper material.
Best of luck, let me know how it works for you!
I actually work at a shoe store where we get a lot of Clearance inventory from stores like Macy’s and have to manually take off any remaining stickers by hand. Like Ali suggested, Goo Be Gone is great for taking off any remaining sticker residue. To get off the actual sticker though, we use a heat gun (I think a hair dryer will suffice) to loosen the adhesive and then carefully peel off the sticker. It works much of the time to get the sticker off in one piece (unless it’s perforated) and even when it doesn’t, it still makes it an easier process. Just don’t let it cool down before taking off the sticker though or else the adhesive will only stick even more.
.-= quan´s last blog ..Running With Heels Interviews Founder of TOMS Shoes (again) =-.
Twitter: nataliewardel
March 2, 2010 at 11:35 am
Ew, this drives me nuts!! I feel like Nordstrom is the worst too! I have so many of those sale stickers — or shoes with the crappy looking residue mark.
.-= Natalie´s last blog ..Lemons into lemonade =-.
Twitter: lajollamom
March 2, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Thanks gals – that’s all super helpful!!!
I agree, Goo Be Gone is my go to for these kinds of things. I used it religiously with all of the china and crystal we got for our wedding that inevitably had tons of stickers on them thanks to Macy’s. I hadn’t thought about it for those darn stickers on the bottoms of the shoes that I buy on sale at Nordstrom’s – I know exactly what you are talking about though, the dilemma between trying to get it off and getting it off sufficiently so that you don’t walk around with half a sticker! Not sure if you have noticed, but they seem to put them on the inside of most men’s shoes instead of the sole – maybe because they wear socks with their shoes? – which means even more of a pain to remove as sometimes the inside is fabric
Funny, I think I deal with this more with the hubby’s shoes than mine – guess that means most of his come from the sale rack, LOL!
I also have the same problem. I bought a copy of The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman. I noticed that the store attached the sticker on the back cover and not on the plastic cover. I have to ask a sales guy to help me remove the sticker without damaging the back cover.
Uh-oh…we’re getting our first Nordstrom (yay!) this fall and I have a feeling I’ll be referencing this post at the first shoe sale!
.-= Lora´s last blog ..I Heart Faces: Hilarious Outtakes! =-.
I love Desolve it. It is a great citrus product that gets rid of of 40 things price stickers for one,tar, sap etc..
I absolutely understand what you mean. I have a calvin klein cocktail shoes that I have worn several times, that still has the sticker. I just stopped bothering with them.
Jessica Star
Sample Sale
Why not try some ugg winter boots.It’s soft and comfortable in winter,as well as luxury and fashion.
I think Nordstroms does this to make your designer shoes shout to the world “I WAS BOUGHT ON SALE!!! THIS B***H COULD NEVER AFFORD THEM OTHER WISE!!”
I also bout a beautiful pair of Christian Louboutins from Nordstroms and there is a huge sticky rectangle that I can’t get off the sole. I am trying to sell them since I am a mom with three boys and I will never wear them, but I can’t deliver them with this residue. I will try all of your suggestions! Thanks!
I think Nordstroms does this to make your designer shoes shout to the world “I WAS BOUGHT ON SALE!!! THIS B***H COULD NEVER HAVE AFFORDED THEM OTHER WISE!!”
I also bout a beautiful pair of Christian Louboutins from Nordstroms and there is a huge sticky rectangle that I can’t get off the sole. I am trying to sell them since I am a mom with three boys and I will never wear them, but I can’t deliver them with this residue. I will try all of your suggestions! Thanks!
I found your blog post doing the same exact Google search! I live by the mantra “any fool can buy something for full price” and get plenty of shoes from Nordstrom Rack. Normally I don’t have a problem with the stickers (thanks, Goo Gone) but today I came home with a pair of hard-to-find leather shoes which had the sticker INSIDE the shoe. Both of them. Like, where your foot has to go. WHO in their right mind does things like this?!
I am having same probleme but with sticker in side but till now no find anything that work. Where can i buy goo gone? I buy at Ross and the sticket is always inside the shoes.
Twitter: lajollamom
November 24, 2011 at 11:17 am
Try your local hardware store or Home Depot. They usually have it!
Got it at walmart but did like more good gone it smell better. Thanks girls
{ 1 trackback }