Warning - on topic!

"Goop" might work. I've removed some pretty sticky stuff with it.

D> I've been busy moving 'stuff' away from all my windows in preparation

I'm not sure whether we're cleaning gummy off of the base of your foot control - or - the floor where the pedal stay resided. In either case, a coat of WD40 allowed to remain on the area for a while might do the deed. Not something you'd want to wear for perfume but it's pretty much harmless. Well, not completely harmless. It's not edible for QIs and could cause you to slip and fall. Polly

Our Canadian version is 'Goo-B-Gone' which I have used in the past but wasn't impressed. barnyowl

I found WD40 on my shelf which did the trick on the mat - I still have to treat the underside of the foot pedal. The pedal stay base is heavy vinyl and there is an area marked out where a square of felt is glued down which is the foot pedal area. The glue had seeped upwards through the felt which made it soggy and sticky and this had transferred to my foot pedal - plus it has acted as a magnet for all the lint/dust and whatever else has been floating around the sewing room. I'll tackle the foot pedal another day. barnyowl

My mom thought that a floor wasn't properly clean unless you up-ended all the chairs, wiped their feet and polished the rungs. (wrungs?) Anyhow. I'm glad she didn't see what was snarled around the wheels on all the chairs in my sewing room. Mercy. No wonder they didn't exactly roll anymore. Polly

I remember reading some place that to get rid of gummy goop you need to start with something that is NOT water soluble (ie cooking oil or peanut butter) and then follow up with dish detergent. The oil dissolves the goop and the detergent then has an easy time picking up both (for those who want to know the chemistry - detergent molecules have a water soluble end and a water "insoluble" end. Thus they can coat an oil molecule to make it water friendly, so to speak).

Anyway, I recently tried the cooking oil/detergent trick to remove a gummy label from a bottle and it worked like a charm. Beats weird chemicals anytime IMHO. :)

Allison

Hi Allison - another 'trick' with dish detergent is to add a couple of drops to a spray bottle of water to change the viscosity if you want to remove ceiling stipple easily...done that too! barnyowl

Another trick is to cover sticky area with mayonnaise (in a jar) quite thickly, leave for about 1/2 an hour and wipe off. Have used this on stickers left on doors for +5 years and cleaned off all residue. Actually, use this technique quite often. Good luck.

Janner France