Hi all. I read here often but don't post much. I read the thread about what glue to use to attach a strike plate and rest and decided to bring up the other side of the coin. What should I use to to remove mine? I bought the bow used from RMSgear and whoever owned the bow previously attached them to stay forever it seems. Both are wearing out and need replaced. I believe I could get them off but I'm not sure of the damage to the finish. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

Ideally, you would dig under it with your thumbnail and gradually work it loose. Your thumbnail is unlikely to scratch or gouge the finish.  If that doesn't work, you could try sanding off the old rest and glue, being careful not to sand down into the finish.  I would imagine this would be a tedious process.  There are probably chemicals, like MEK, that would quickly remove the rest and glue, but they might also remove the old finish just as quickly.  I can't imagine why anyone would use a permanent glue on an arrow rest.  I've found that double sided carpet tape holds well and is also easy to remove.

Barge cement works great and comes off easily!!

Maybe a hair dryer will work or hot water. Not to hot just enough to loosen up the glue.

Goo Gone isn't caustic and won't harm the bow finishes.  If the rest won't peel off with gentle fingertip persuasion try soaking it in Goo Gone for 10 minutes and then prying it up with fingertips again.  If it's not permanent glue (like super glue) it should come off fine.  Goo Gone is also great for removing surface dirt from bows...pretty handy stuff.

If barge cement was used to affix the strike plate/rest, I use denatured alcohol to remove them.  Just saturate, wait a few minutes and peel off.  Clean up any residue with more alcohol.

If, on the other hand, it was glued on with epoxy or a wood glue, you'll probably  just have to rip off what you can and sand down to the finish.  May even need to do some refinishing before installing new.

What type of rest and strike material is it? That may give a clue as to how it was adhered. That industrial Velcro has a good adhesive on it, and can be rather difficult to remove if it's been in place for a while.

The rest looks to be a piece of whitetail hide and the strike plate looks like rug rest material.

Thanks for posting this, I have the same issue to tackle

I second the Goo Gone. I've cleaned up a lot of old glue from strike plates and rests with that stuff.

WD-40 works great as well.  Just clean the WD-40 off with some warm soapy water before applying your new rest

Goo gone works very well. If barge cement is used it usually just peels like if use rubber cement on something.

I'll second the WD-40, at least for starters. If that doesn't work, then I'd try denatured alcohol, or Goof-Off.

Get a corner of it started and rip it off with pliers.  Then use goo gone to soften up the adhesive and remaining leather parts.  I usually use my thumb nail and thumb to rub the softened material off.  But sometimes I'll cut a old tooth brush handle at 45 degrees and use it to help scrape. Some are very stubborn and may take a few goo gone treatments and a couple of evenings.  Some of the weldwood, pilo bonds and 3M adhesives are very tough to get off.