A new study says that while duct tape may be the solution for a lot of things, its ability to cure warts may have been overstated.

A study among older adults has found duct tape helped only 21 percent of the time and was no better than moleskin, a cotton-tape bandage used to protect the skin.

But researchers used transparent duct tape. Only later did they learn that the transparent variety does not contain rubber, unlike the better-known, gray duct tape that appeared to be effective in a 2002 study.

The tape supposedly works by irritating the skin and stimulating the body’s immune system to attack the virus that causes warts.

Experts say warts usually clear up on their own in about two years.

The study appears in this month’s Archives of Dermatology.

Via Local 6