How to Remove Eternabond tape (without chemicals)

Caravans leak. It is a fact of life. Having been quoted 1500 to fix said leaks on my 1980’s Viscount caravan, I decided to take matters into my own hands. As I had little DIY experience, re-siliconing the roof seemed a bit beyond me, so hopping on to YouTube for some advice I found videos recommending Eternabond tape. It looked easy enough…and it was, on the flat surface of the roof top. As soon as it came to bending the tape over the sides, accounting for all those rims and corrugations made it difficult to keep out those pesky air bubbles. Hence the moisture found its way in, and the tape had to be removed.

“Eternabond is not made to be removed,” the forums said. That’s why it’s called ETERNABOND. And oh boy were they right. I tried the first method for removal I found on google. Heat the tape. Peel off the white part. Scrape off the adhesive. Wipe the residual with turps or adhesive remover. This isn't the easiest way as it took me 2 hours to remove about a foot of tape. Scraping off the adhesive to a point where it was thin enough to remove with turps took forever, as it would just re-stick to itself upon removal. I soon found scraping off the tape as you removed the top layer was better, but still took a lot of time. Eventually I switched from turps to a more potent adhesive remover, which required wearing a full gas mask and heavy-duty gloves. This remover was infinitely better at wiping off the residual, however, using it still meant going through cloth after cloth, because the cloths would only remove a little of the adhesive before needing a clean section, and the cloths were somewhat impossible to clean afterwards.

So, this led me to my final method, born out of the memory of using Blu Tack to remove Blu Tack from the walls of my childhood bedroom. The following method is infinitely faster and more effective, allowing me to remove the same amount of tape in a day that would have taken me a week, and doesn’t require the use of harmful chemicals.

Firstly, cut the section you want to remove using a Stanley knife, careful not to press too hard if you don’t want to leave scratches behind.

Next, heat the section with a heat gun or hairdryer until the tape is warm. (Don’t heat too much otherwise the tape turns into goo and is a tad messier to remove).

Using a scraper, peel back the first bit of tape and fold it under itself so you have something to hold onto.

As you peel back the tape, scrape the adhesive to the underside as best you can. Continue folding over the tape for a better hold. (If the tape becomes difficult to peel, re-warm with the heat gun)

Slightly heat the left over adhesive for easier removal.

Use regular duct tape to remove the residual by pressing down and lifting, using a new piece of roll each time. (Use the heat gun to re-warm if adhesive becomes difficult to remove.)

And that’s it! You can roll up the Eternabond adhesive in the duct tape for easy disposal and the surface of your caravan is left clean and un-tacky (no need to wipe it down!). It has even removed it cleanly from those uneven pits and crevasses!

In the end, my friend, with the infinite wisdom of sealing 20 of his mate's caravans, came and sealed up my dingy roof with PU240 Polyurethane Sealant adhesive and it has worked so far. It really does pay to talk to people who know their stuff! But if you do choose to go the Eternabond route, make sure you take the time to press it down nice and firm and evenly too.