Salvation Army finally stops destroying all the scarves!!!

[valleythriftshopper]

If I was publishing a thrift newspaper that would be the headline for the day!  I went into the Salvation Army that is pretty decent today & discovered that they finally stopped stabbing all the dress scarves with the price gun, which used to ruin many of them, especially the silk ones.  I have complained many times about this only to be met with dirty looks mostly.  There is a saying here "Light dawns on Marblehead" (referring to the coastal town of Marblehead, MA)  which applies here as it took some genius there a year to figure out how to price the scarves without ruining them.  In celebration of this I purchased a vintage silk scarf for 2 dollars.  Hopefully some Veras will show up now that I can buy them.  I also got a military style jacket for 3 bucks, polar fleece gloves for 99 cents & a new in box Rowenta iron cleaner kit to clean the gunk off of my iron for 89 cents. 

I was in a spending mood as I had just picked up a box full of old sheet music from a freecycle offer.  The sheet music was all I hoped for & more!  I will post pics soon.

[Mattie]

 

One of Gromit's nicknames is "Marblehead."  He got it when one of my friends said, "When he shakes his head you can hear the solitary marble rolling around in there."

Good luck on the Vera hunt, VTS.  I found a few at St. Vincent but that was years ago.

[Frchgrl]

Gosh, that is my pet peeve and never understood why they tag things the way they do. One my favorite thrift stores staples prices right onto clothing when the label would do! And I also hate when they use a permanent marker on pottery and photos. errr

Great finds though! I recently found a mens Versace tie for $2. I sold it on eBay as most of my thrift store finds these days are for my eBay fun (funds my thrift store obsession) 

[valleythriftshopper]

The Salvation Army staples the price tickets onto the clothes too, they have told me it takes too much time to find the tag & staple it to the tag.  Most of the clothes are priced at a regional center, many of the people pricing are "volunteers" of sorts (community service, lots of recovering addicts so I am told).  The staples come out of most of the clothes pretty easily without damage, just fine fabrics are affected which is too bad.  I forgot to check if they stopped stabbing the mens neck ties too.  I've seen silk Gucci's etc, with the plactic tag holder stabbed through them- a waste!

[Jay2TheRescue]

AAAUGH!!!  permanent marker...  Luckily most often it can be easily removed with rubbing alcohol.  I hate stapling the prices on.  Don't they have a dennison gun?  I know they're cheap, just as cheap as a decent quality stapler.

-Jay

[oceangurl]

My favourite thrift...Catholic Thrift dosent use a staple gun , they mark everything inside. Like the garments, shirts, skirts and all other wearables are marked right on the garment with majic marker, I hate that because if someone should look inside my shirt , (not that they would..lol!...but if...) they'd see a big $ sign. I asked the manager of the store since I know him well why they would do this and he said if they used stickers people remove them and then put another cheaper sticker on them and as far as a tag gun I guess that their just to cheap to invest in one, so this is one of my biggest peeves since I buy alot of clothes there...

[valleythriftshopper]

Luckily none of the thrifts around here use permanent marker on anything.  Salvation Army uses price stickers, food bank thrift has standard prices for clothes, bric a brac is priced by whoever is working that day (they tell you what they want for it when you bring it to the counter).  The permanent marker reminds me of the times I have found toys from the original Toy Story moive at the thrifts (some of the figures have become collectible).  I have found a few Buzz Lightyears in good shape, but because in the movie the kid writes his name on the bottom of the foot of Woody & maybe Buzz, there is always some kids name written in Sharpee on the bottom of the foot.  The Mr. Clean magic eraser sponge takes it right off.  This sponge can dull a glossy surface though so be careful if you use it on one. 

[nancydr2]

The GWs around here have also found a gentler way of marking scarves.  They use a longer paper tag folded in half and stapled at the top.  It's much better than the poking a hole in it or putting it in a bag so you can't inspect it properly.

My product of choice for removing marker is Goo Gone.  Goodwills in my area use both a super adhesive sticker with a price and a code written with some sort of pen that's a cross between a magic marker and a grease pencil.  I can give them credit for trying to mark the code in an inconspicuous spot, but it's infuriating when they write over the foil label on a Lefton figurine. 

The Goo Gone also works on the sticker, but I think a quick soak in really hot water works better.  It seems like I always have a pile of recent purchases next to my kitchen sink waiting to be soaked and/or Goo Goned. 

[valleythriftshopper]

The GWs around here have also found a gentler way of marking scarves.  They use a longer paper tag folded in half and stapled at the top.  It's much better than the poking a hole in it or putting it in a bag so you can't inspect it properly.

That is what the Salvation Army finally figured out as well.  The only problem with hanging the scarf from the paper folded tag is that you can't spread the scarf out & hold it up in the light to inspect for tiny holes.  I will take this method over puncturing the item though anyday.  They are still using the old method on the men's neckties.

[Mattie]

Is there a good way to get a price sticker off a paper/cardboard item without ripping the surface?  I have some 1930s button cards with price tags right on the front.  I've heard lighter fluid works but I don't smoke and I don't want to buy a big can of that if all I need is a few drops.  Is there something else that works?

[valleythriftshopper]

I have steamed price stickers off of vintage book dust jackets & other paper items before.  Just boil a pot of water & hold the item just close enough to the steam to loosen the sticker.  Work it off a little at a time & apply more steam.  This has worked perfectly for me several times.  The Salvation Army uses horrible cheap adhesive stickers that can damage an item if not removed carefully.

[mccoysnina]

DS collects stamps and I have gotten stamps off things by putting them in the microwave for a few seconds.  Loosens up the glue and they peel off much more easily.  I try and pull the paper away from the stamp, that way if it wants to tear it is the envelope that tears and not usually the stamps.  Prolly won't work with the self adhesives stamps though. 
Jeannie

[kupton]

What I have found that works the best on ceramics, glass, plastic, even on the jacket covers of books, to remove the glue under the price stickers is first wash the item in hot water, in the case of books I use a hot dishcloth just to moisten the price sticker so it comes off easier. Once the sticker comes off and you have that bit of that sticky glue left, make sure you let the piece dry, and than give it a spray of Pam, yes the stuff you use to grease your bake ware, let it sit for a moment and than use a dry paper towel to rub the glue off, and than rewash the item, it works like a charm! Some items will need a second spray, because of the cheap stickers some shops use.

Pam does not smell like Goo Gone, and it is not flammable like lighter fluid. I have had wonderful results using it on the grease pencil one of our thrift store use here in Minneapolis to mark items. Pam is something most people have in their homes already and a little goes a long way.

Makes you wonder what Pam is made of and how it affects our body when we use to with something we eat? Good luck, hope this works as well for you as it does for me.

[daswitzer]

I have used my blow dryer to warm the glue up and then pull tags and stickers right off.  Don't burn your fingers though!