How to Remove Shoe Sale Price Stickers

I find it irritating when major department stores put these next-to-impossible-to-remove sale stickers on the bottom of shoes, once they go on sale.

I scored a pair of leopard Charlotte Olympia shoes at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City right after Christmas. They were 50% off but were still much more than the average shoe price.

My point is that just because you mark them down, putting these frustrating stickers on the bottom isn’t acceptable. I shouldn’t have to scrape a sale sticker off the soles of shoes that are still $400+.

Some stickers, like the ones that Nordstrom uses frequently, 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 left to deal with.

I used to leave the residue but started feeling my shoes sticking to the floors when I walked. Then, you also have a dirty rectangle on the bottom of your shoe that screams, “I bought these shoes on sale!”

Some stores put these stickers on the inside of the shoe. The leftover residue becomes incredibly uncomfortable on the bottom of your feet. It can also turn into a dirty-looking rectangle that people would see if you ever took off your shoe.

I Googled “shoe sticker removal,” and threads by people with similar problems popped up. Except they all swore that the cheap stores did this, and if they were buying designer shoes, this would never be an issue. Not so, my friends. I see this on shoes in stores when I’m shopping overseas on vacation, too.

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How to Remove Sale Stickers From Shoes

No one online seemed to have a great solution. Most agreed that soapy water worked just okay. Some suggested spray oil, nail polish remover, hot water, hairdryer, etc. Many tackled the problem with a knife and lots of scraping.

I tried removing the sale sticker off of one shoe using soapy water. That was a bust.

Then I used spray oil and regular olive oil which yielded the same result. Then, I tried nail polish remover. Five paper towels later, the nail polish remover worked, and there was no sticky residue, but somehow, the technique 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.

Use Goo Gone:  If you like to buy shoes on sale, Goo Gone will be your best friend. It works.

I peeled the sale sticker off as well as I could, put a few drops of Goo Gone on a paper towel, and rubbed the residue. It dissolved within seconds.

I put a few drops of mild dish soap on another clean paper towel to get the Goo Gone off and wiped it dry. The sole of my shoe was perfectly clean.

So there you go. Continue to shop the shoe sale rack with confidence.