The Most Reliable Way to Get Pesky Stickers Off New Dishes

My mother has a strict policy against specialty cleaning products in her house. I have no idea how she keeps the place so clean without the help of a Swiffer or Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, but she manages. She does, however, break her own rule for one specific cleaning product. She always keeps a little bottle of yellow stuff under the sink — and it’s since become a staple in my own apartment, too.

What is it? An adorably named product called Goo Gone.

I used Goo Gone for the first time in elementary school, after destroying my glitter manicure in a failed attempt to scrape the sticky price tag off of a birthday gift for a classmate. My dad eventually came to the rescue, showing me how a few drops of Goo Gone on a cotton ball or paper towel could quickly de-stick all the leftover residue from that stubborn Radio Shack (!!!) sticker.

Buy: Goo Gone Surface Safe Adhesive Remover, $8 for eight ounces

As an adult, Goo Gone has been a lifesaver in the kitchen on more than one occasion. When I moved into my first apartment, I went through almost half a bottle removing stickers from new plates, à la carte silverware, and cups. And I’ve since used many additional bottles (although a little bit really does go a long way!). See, I’m a big fan of stores like Marshalls, HomeGoods, and T.J.Maxx, and those stores love to pepper their goods with a bunch of very hard-to-remove price tags. (Seriously, why do those stickers always come off in the smallest pieces?!And why is the glue so darn sticky?) Without Goo Gone, I’d probably still be using salad servers with price tags on the handles.

Beyond removing sticky labels from kitchen wares, I’ve also used Goo Gone to get unidentifiable sticky substances off of refrigerators, remove crayon markings from tables, clean window sills, remove residue from Band-Aids, clean up candle wax drippings from the dining room table, and even get gunky gum from the bottom of my favorite pair of shoes. It can also obviously get the price sticker off a bottle of wine (because nobody needs to know that the Pinot was $8!).

Other than its effectiveness and versatility, my favorite thing about Goo Gone is the smell. It’s surprisingly pleasant — sort of citrusy and woodsy, like a recently waxed hardwood floor. Wipe down your counter with a few drops, and your whole counter will smell refreshed. And again, the name is pretty darn adorable.

Do you love Goo Gone as much as I do? Or even better, what other cleaning products do you feel super strongly about? Tell us in the comments!