removing newbaums+shellac from painted surfaces

[Brent Eastman]

heya,

i just bought a pre owned clem frame and there are some areas of the frame wrapped with cotton tape and shellac (top tube curve and chainstay). I'd like to start fresh on this build and i am afraid of messing with the paint during removal. 

anyone done this successfully? is it easy? risky?

[Ben Miller]

Denatured alcohol will removed shellac easily without damaging paint. I've used it before to clean up after shellacking handlebars. Should help removing residual glue from the tape as well, but goo gone is better. (Though the smell is way worse)

[John Hawrylak, Woodstown NJ]

Newbaum's used a VERY tenacious tape.    I wrapped a Nitto B177 with it, removed it, let it sit for 5 years and it was a PITA to remove using 70% alcohol and rough nylon pad.   The stuff left after removing the tape was very tacky and rubbing with a nylon pad & alcohol did not work.  The nylon pad picked up some glue and got very tacky,    I had to use Goo Gone, but did not had to worry about it affecting paint.

 Suggest applying the alcohol (a lot, saturate it ) with a brush, apply more while removing the tape.   Put the frame in a stand and set the taped section horizontal to minimize alcohol run off and apply alcohol with brush as you remove the tape.  Wear sone cheap gloves to protect your hand.  put a container below to catch excess and reuse the excess

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[Brenton Eastman]

update. 

the bar tape and twine and adhesive came off no problem. 

my new concern is the amber shellac may have stained the clear coat. is this possible?

i can’t feel any change in the surface where the amber soaked through. (variation in the color of the gold paint is from my headlamp)

anyone got a solve for this? 

On Apr 12, 2026, at 11:59 AM, 'John Hawrylak, Woodstown NJ' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Newbaum's used a VERY tenacious tape.    I wrapped a Nitto B177 with it, removed it, let it sit for 5 years and it was a PITA to remove using 70% alcohol and rough nylon pad.   The stuff left after removing the tape was very tacky and rubbing with a nylon pad & alcohol did not work.  The nylon pad picked up some glue and got very tacky,    I had to use Goo Gone, but did not had to worry about it affecting paint.

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[Mike Rossi]

Definitely stained it. The same thing happened on my Susie, but in a much smaller and inconspicuous spot. Alcohol, ammonia, Goo Gone, mineral spirits,… nothing worked. I actually went through the clear a bit and started to “eat up” one of the chain stay decals, so I stopped and left it alone. Personally, I think it(on your bike) looks cool and would be tempted to recreate the effect on the whole length of that tube. It might be possible to wet sand the clear with 2000 grit to get rid of the stain and buff it back to a shine, but I’d be scared to try it as I wouldn’t be sure how much clear there is. 

Best wishes.

Mike

On Apr 12, 2026, at 4:00 PM, Brenton Eastman <brenton...@gmail.com> wrote:



update. 

the bar tape and twine and adhesive came off no problem. 

my new concern is the amber shellac may have stained the clear coat. is this possible?

i can’t feel any change in the surface where the amber soaked through. (variation in the color of the gold paint is from my headlamp)

anyone got a solve for this? 

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On Apr 12, 2026, at 11:59 AM, 'John Hawrylak, Woodstown NJ' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Newbaum's used a VERY tenacious tape.    I wrapped a Nitto B177 with it, removed it, let it sit for 5 years and it was a PITA to remove using 70% alcohol and rough nylon pad.   The stuff left after removing the tape was very tacky and rubbing with a nylon pad & alcohol did not work.  The nylon pad picked up some glue and got very tacky,    I had to use Goo Gone, but did not had to worry about it affecting paint.

 Suggest applying the alcohol (a lot, saturate it ) with a brush, apply more while removing the tape.   Put the frame in a stand and set the taped section horizontal to minimize alcohol run off and apply alcohol with brush as you remove the tape.  Wear sone cheap gloves to protect your hand.  put a container below to catch excess and reuse the excess

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

On Sunday, April 12, 2026 at 12:32:00 PM UTC-4 brenton...@gmail.com wrote:

heya,

i just bought a pre owned clem frame and there are some areas of the frame wrapped with cotton tape and shellac (top tube curve and chainstay). I'd like to start fresh on this build and i am afraid of messing with the paint during removal. 

anyone done this successfully? is it easy? risky?

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