What's the latest and greatest in removable shelf paper?
April 7, 2022 8:13 AM Subscribe
Moving into a new rental, and would like to line my kitchen cabinets. Anyone know of actually removable or non-adhesive liners that can be removed cleanly after multiple years? Does the new sticky Con-Tact paper that claims to be removable actually come off easily? After 7 years, the Con-Tact grip non-adhesive shelf liner mentioned in this 2013 Ask left rows upon rows of stubby, sticky residue in all of my cabinets, so that's a hard no.
I also tried a few rolls of the Zip-N-Fit liner by the same brand, but with the small amount of material this costs a king's ransom, and "zipping" did not work well for me, it kept tearing at the wrong spot.
I also tried a few rolls of the Zip-N-Fit liner by the same brand, but with the small amount of material this costs a king's ransom, and "zipping" did not work well for me, it kept tearing at the wrong spot.
I would try “removable peel and stick wallpaper.” Of the many renter decorator TikTok accounts I follow, that seems to have the most success
posted by raccoon409 at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2022
posted by raccoon409 at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2022
I don't think you can trust the removable aspect of an adhesive over more than a year. Much like that latex-y gripper liner you used, it degrades in contact with oil, which is unavoidable in a kitchen.
I've always been very happy with non-adhesive non-rubbery-grip shelf liner, which 95% of the time doesn't slip around if you cut it to fit correctly. And in those 5% cases I'd rather use a little masking or scotch tape to hold it still than deal with semi-decomposed full-surface adhesive years later.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:58 AM on April 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've always been very happy with non-adhesive non-rubbery-grip shelf liner, which 95% of the time doesn't slip around if you cut it to fit correctly. And in those 5% cases I'd rather use a little masking or scotch tape to hold it still than deal with semi-decomposed full-surface adhesive years later.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:58 AM on April 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have used the non adhesive contact shelf liner from Costco for 10 years now and it’s still going strong without any marks.
Costco contact shelf liner
posted by SunPower at 9:04 AM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Costco contact shelf liner
posted by SunPower at 9:04 AM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm also a fan of non-adhesive shelf liner, which I just used pretty extensively in a rental house. I used Con-Tact "Multipurpose" liner for areas that just need basic protection (like under the sink) and Con-Tact "Grip Excel" liner for places where I store breakable things (like plates and glasses). The Grip Excel liner in particular stays in place well without adhesive.
posted by neushoorn at 9:29 AM on April 7, 2022
posted by neushoorn at 9:29 AM on April 7, 2022
Tool box liner if you don't mind the colors. Non-adhesive as it, but you could spray it with contact adhesive.
If you're not going to to remove it until you leave....what's it for? If you want a smoother surface than the shelves provide you can hot glue some other material to it. A thin, painted plywood or maybe plastic sheeting would look the nicest (trimmed to fit). My old place had extra lineoleum from the floors in the cabinets which was not particularly dignified but worked well for smooveness. And was probably easy to cut to shape, with the way it bends.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:07 PM on April 7, 2022
If you're not going to to remove it until you leave....what's it for? If you want a smoother surface than the shelves provide you can hot glue some other material to it. A thin, painted plywood or maybe plastic sheeting would look the nicest (trimmed to fit). My old place had extra lineoleum from the floors in the cabinets which was not particularly dignified but worked well for smooveness. And was probably easy to cut to shape, with the way it bends.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:07 PM on April 7, 2022
(Hot glue when used sparingly usually doesn't leave too much behind or cause too much damage when pried off a hard surface. Spray adhesive is riskier. But if you want zero damage, don't affix the liner at all.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:15 PM on April 7, 2022
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:15 PM on April 7, 2022
I prefer to use the drawer liner stuff that doesn't use adhesive, just its rubbery-ness (?) to stay put.
I'm also a fan of command strip hooks and etc, and have adapted them to all sorts of things they're not meant for. I like that they remove easy, and if they break, dental floss works wonders.
If I had a liner that wasn't staying put that I really wanted to make stay, I'd try the command poster strips, cut into thin strips, and put them around the edges of the liner. Might still not be thin enough, if the liner is really thin itself. (I did this with the drawer liner stuff above, on windowsills, to help protect them from cat nails. The cats would knock it down, so... I made it stay put.)
There's also other brands of removable double-sided tape that might work well. It's always seemed to me that heat or moisture exposure is what messes with the removable-without-residue nature... don't know if that's a scientifically accurate cause, but it often correlates in my experience.
posted by stormyteal at 11:52 AM on April 8, 2022
I'm also a fan of command strip hooks and etc, and have adapted them to all sorts of things they're not meant for. I like that they remove easy, and if they break, dental floss works wonders.
If I had a liner that wasn't staying put that I really wanted to make stay, I'd try the command poster strips, cut into thin strips, and put them around the edges of the liner. Might still not be thin enough, if the liner is really thin itself. (I did this with the drawer liner stuff above, on windowsills, to help protect them from cat nails. The cats would knock it down, so... I made it stay put.)
There's also other brands of removable double-sided tape that might work well. It's always seemed to me that heat or moisture exposure is what messes with the removable-without-residue nature... don't know if that's a scientifically accurate cause, but it often correlates in my experience.
posted by stormyteal at 11:52 AM on April 8, 2022
There's alien tape, which is kind of like those snotty hand-slap novelty toys; not quite as soft. But I've seen it take off some paint and/or leave residue. Not too bad, but some.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:22 PM on April 8, 2022
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:22 PM on April 8, 2022
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posted by Medieval Maven at 8:19 AM on April 7, 2022