Glue residue, especially on plastic surfaces, can be problematic. Many solvents will not work because they will damage the plastic.
Vegetable oil, when left on the adhesive residue, will soften the adhesive if left overnight. In the morning, you can wash off the oil and the adhesive will wash off also.
Unfortunately, there are many situations where oil is not practical as it will run off the surface. In those situations, I use mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is about 75% oil and will not run off. I slather on about 1/8” thick coating of mayo over the adhesive and I leave it for 8 to 12 hours. Wipe off and wash the area.
Abstract. Mayonnaise is a semisolid oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion which is made through the careful blending of oil, vinegar, egg yolk, and spices (especially mustard). In addition, mayonnaise traditionally contains 70%–80% oil, and egg yolk is a key ingredient contributing to its stability.
Additionally, when removing these labels, the application of dry heat will help considerably. Using a hand held hair dryer set on high on the label will soften the glue. It takes several minutes (3 - 5 minutes) to accomplish this. At that point the label can easily be pulled off, usually in one piece.
You can use a heat gun, but with great care as the heat gun will generate enough heat to melt the plastic.
I routinely remove labels from bottles by pouring boiling water inside the bottle, taking care not to get the label wet. After a few minutes, the label will pull off, usually in one piece.
The hair dryer will work on bumper stickers on your car also.
If you ever get one of those labels on the window that says, “You are parked illegally”, you know that they are designed to be difficult to remove. They use very cheap and weak paper and very strong adhesive. The mayo trick works great on these because the paper is cheap and porous. You can generally wipe the label off with a paper towel after 8 hours of mayo treatment.
It is a laughable way to clean off the residue, but I find that it always works, that most of us have mayo in the house, and it involves very little labor.