I recieved two books today that were well wrapped on the exterior but the interior plastic had some kind of adhesive on it.

I've never seen this kind of plastic before, or maybe it had spray adhesive on it.  It was clinging tightly to the books without tape and I knew that was a bad sign but it was on the inside too.  The front of one book cover, back cover of the other, both spines were covered in sticky stuff.  I was able to wash most of it off but these are two older mass market paperbacks and can't take too much liquid cleaning.  I'm also concerned about the pages, not to mention a little grossed out.

I sent a PM about it but wanted to ask advice of more seasoned members before proceeding.  This person lists a lot of books, and I would think they'd know better so it's odd.

Maybe it's that Press 'n Seal stuff PBS recommends NOT using because of the stickiness it has.

I sometimes get books wrapped very tightly in plastic wrap but luckily none has been the Press 'n Seal, though the wrap was difficult to undo.

Gail

Unfortunately there was an adhesive element.  Plain tight wrapping would have been better. 

Yup, the most likely culprit is press-n-seal. Press-n-seal has some kind of adhesive on it that makes it stick to stuff it wouldn't normally stick to.

There are other things it could have been as well (carpet protector comes to mind, I had a roll of that for a while in my house).

But basically if a sender damages a book by preparing it for mailing in a way that damages it ... you can mark it RWAP and ask for your credit back.

You can also try alcohol wipes, perhaps, to clean those older covers .... not as damaging as other substances.

The wipes sound like a good idea.  I don't want to do any more damage.

From the Help documents, How To Wrap a Book:

• Consider using an inner layer of plastic
  • You can use Saran Wrap, or clean plastic grocery bags, or any kind of clean plastic material
  • please do not use "Press and Seal". This product contains some type of glue that sticks to the books.
    • If you wrap your book in this and it is then damaged when the package is opened, you will not receive a credit.
    • If you get a book that was wrapped using Press-and-Seal, a little rubbing alcohol will remove the residue from the book cover.

That wording should really be changed. Because they do get a credit when you mark it RWP.  It just leaves a bad mark on their account if htey don't refund the credit.

Press'n Seal sucks mightily when it's used to wrap books. 

You could try a litlle Goo Gone, squirted onto a paper towel.  It worked pretty well for those few books I've received that were wrapped in the dreaded Press'n Seal.

I have had good luck with both Goo Gone and disinfectant wipes, which I believe are alcohol based, for removing the residue from Press-n-Seal wrap. As another member said, try on an inconspicuous place first.

Thanks all for the advice, I used alcohol wipes and it worked to remove the rest of the residue.  

The sender has not gotten back to me yet but I'm not going to be listing them as RWP for credits as the problem was fixable.  I could imagine that in the heat of summer the damage of using press-n-seal would be much worse.  The stuff really does stink, I can't believe there's a book business that actually uses it!