Lessons learned
Lessons learned while cleaning my new kitchen:
1) Mactac was created by the devil. If you’ve ever looked at perfectly good cabinets and thought, ‘these could really use some mactac’ you should stop reading this point now and we will never speak of it again.
If we were to speak of it, I would have to figure out how to asphyxiate you with the cursed mactac glue.
If you haven’t thought this we’ll carry on being BFFs.
Oh, and if you ever get to that one (or 6) cupboard and decide you’re going to use up all the extra little scrap bits rather than cutting a continuous piece from the roll:
I will stab you.
This stuff is going to be the death of me.
And I’ll let you in on a little secret. The glue this stuff leaves behind has destroyed the cabinets. So, no it didn’t really preserve them at all, but what it did is FORCED me in to having to install more mactac! If you’re looking for me I’m the one sobbing in the corner.
2) If you consider doing a quick little facelift on the cabinets is in order and think that replacing the knobs is in order (I was shocked to discover that beige ceramic knobs are no longer in style. I’m also pronouncing the ‘k’ in my head every time I write knobs.) you should count the knobs before committing. As I took one of my many breaks from sobbing in the cupboards peeling mactac I discovered that we have 61 knobs in the kitchen. SIXTY-ONE freaking knobs. The only way this becomes a small, cheap facelift is if I take them off and don’t replace them. Sure a bit inconvenient, but cheap!
3) When you initially go through the house and find mouse droppings don’t assume they had a mouse problem. It’s very possible that either they didn’t think it was a problem and continued to allow the mice to snack on the bird seed in the garage, or you have a mouse problem. Ya, not going to say much more than, ‘Mickey stop pooping in my kitchen. You live outside, I live inside.’
Now if you’ll excuse me, the mactac has robbed me of my will to…well, peel anymore mactac for one, so I’m off to google how to remove that damn glue and look for people willing to lend me a mouse-hunting cat.
One day this blog will have a snazzy name 
Been there sister, death to Mactac! Here’s some tips: hair dryer or heat gun will help with the removal. Mineral spirits or GooGone will remove the sticky. Good luck!
Thanks! I’ll have to remember to bring them out next time I tackle the sticky monster. (because the thought of applying more mactac gives me hives)
Is it wrong to laugh?? I’m sorry you’re dealing with critters but you are painting a very humourous mental picture. Ka-nobs aren’t cheap are they?
Ugh. I’m laughing too. I mean nothing here is a tragedy. Well maybe the mactac.
We use this stuff from IKEA to line our drawers…doesn’t stick. http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80012853 Maybe that would hide the mactac (which I agree is very very evil, our house had some when we moved it too.)
I like it! I’ll have to check it out. Thanks Kim.
ahh, the evils of mactac. my mom was the mactac queen. she would even use it on school books. don’t ask. i did not inherite that gene, so we can still be freidns.
googone will be your friend.
mice? really? that sucks.
On your books? Schools must have loved you! I see myself investing in googone in the very near future….and I was secretly sort of hoping that the shelves would be sticky enough that I wouldn’t have to buy mouse traps *g*
I’ve never heard the term Mactac. We always just called it shelf paper. It is a pain to deal with but it seems like anything is anymore. 61 knobs blows my mind. There is no such thing as a cheap kitchen makeover! Whoever told you this was lying. That’s why my kitchen looks like 1980 when it was redone last by the previous owners. I hate it but I hate the upheaval of remodeling even more. Not to mention the expense would kill me. Yours will be beautiful and worth it though! 🙂
We had mice in the garage but between mouse traps and D-CON, they no longer reside at our address! Yay. Hope you get rid of yours. Those mouse droppings are gross.
I’m guessing it’s a brand name thing, like q-tips versus cotton swabs. Or we’re just weird up here *g*. We aren’t ready for a full remodel yet, and I’m thinking at this point we might even live with the knobs. That’s a pretty significant investment for interim solution.
I have mactac-ed my kitchen cupboard bottoms, but only because the cheap particleboard with the peeling surface underneath it looks worse. :p I’ve also been considering a facelift for my mid-80s kitchen. A full-scale reno makes me feel faint every time I think about it.
We have had two mice in the house in the past five years, which is two FAR too many, IMHO. :p We’re not sure how one got i — possibly through the front door while dh was standing with it open a crack one night, talking to the neighour — but the other came in through the dryer hose vent & then chewed a hole in the hose to get out & trot around the house. We bought a bunch of plastic snap traps & some peanut butter for bait & laid them around the house, mostly in the kitchen & where we’d spotted them. Both were caught within a few hours, thankfully.
Thanks for making me laugh! I found your blog when I googled “I hate Mactac”.
I just spent 2 days sobbing in the cupboards myself. Next step, new k-nobs!
No mice, but I have a bee hive outside the back door. That’s a whole other story…
Ah the joys of moving to a new home.
You’re awesome lol. I’m in mac tac hell too. I’ll be buying googone tomorrow, Try removing ad spray painting your 61 ka-nobs:)
Is mactac that paper on the outside of the kitchen cabinets that peels and looks like wood but isn’t ?