I picked up a pretty mint Arvin 61R58 portable transistor radio just like the one my Mom (and also my aunt) had back in the day that is visible in some old family photos. Put some C cells in it and it works great. $6.

Unfortunately, there is some glue residue from the price sticker I carefully scrapped off and also evidence of other such stickers with their own glue. What can I use to get this off without damaging the leather? I am afraid to use any solvent for fear of it bleaching the leather, etc.

Also, what would be good to use on the leather afterwards?

thx.

Sometimes you can use soy lecithin (like the stuff in original PAM non-stick spray) on a rough cloth like an old washcloth. Do not put it directly on the leather. Wrap a single thickness of the cloth over your forefinger and wet the tip. Rub the finger tip over the glue to try to roll the glue off. Be sure to test on a hidden area first, like the edge rolled to the inside to make sure the leather does sot soak up the oily PAM and go dark. Might happen if the leather does not have a smooth finish.

I use KIWI neutral shoe polish on light colored leather radios to bring them back to life and protect them. Most are really a VERY thin layer of leather over cardboard. Cracks and splits tend to go too dark if liquid leather treatments are used. For good quality leather, I use Lexol products, but most of these little portables are not that great a leather.

I tried to remove something like that from a non radio piece of leather, using WD40, and it left a dark place where the oil soaked into. Personally, I wouldn't use it again.
I didn't spray directly either, it did soak into the leather.

I am not sure how much leather would be 'bleached' or changed if you'd use a little lacquer thinner on a cloth. If any discoloration a final coating of saddle soap or leather conditioner might even out the discoloration.

Avon Skin-So-Soft. It will darken the leather a bit but will evaporate away in a few days. Test on an inconspicuous spot first.

Larry

Goof Off will do it slowly.

Thanks.

I remembered I DO have my Mom's original radio in the garage attic and dug it out. Its so rough I figured anything I did to it testing glue solvents wouldn't make it any worse....

I tried some denatured alchohol since I've used that to get glue off painted surfaces before. It seemed to also take some of the dye out of the leather as well as the glue though. Then I tried some 3M adhesive remover. It got most of the worst glue off and only a bit of the leather dye came with, not as much as the alchohol did. So I used that on the "good" radio as it did not seem to leave a noticeable stain, etc.

Here is the rough one on the left and the recent nice one on the right.



I also noticed there must have been a running change to these radios. My Mom's had tabs with female snaps on the case that went up and over the battery compartment flap on the back but the "new" one I just got has male snaps on the case and the female ones are on the flap itself. Also the earphone jack was moved. Everything else looks exactly the same. The snaps on my Mom's one are long gone after the leather tabs got ripped off from use. My Mom used that radio a lot. Its got a crack in the front bezel and also the PCB has been cracked and repaired. It must have gotten dropped hard at one time. The chromed plastic is worn down. There are paint spatters and its faded and gouged. I recall it spent a lot of time out in the garden with her back in the 60s and 70s.