taking the cube apart is the best way to go, you don't ever want to take off the stickers unless you want to either buy a new cube or buy replacement stickers.
also it is fairly easy to take apart and put back together when you know how
to take apart:
turn one side half-way so that it is not lined up with the rest of the cube
pull out one of the middle pieces from the side you just turned
wiggle out all the other pieces
to put back together:
match up a row and slide it into place where it should properly go
slide in pieces around it building up the first couple layers so that it will be stable without holding it all together
finish up the last rows with corner pieces first, then you can just snap the middle pieces in nice and easy
also it is good to lube the cube while your at it, but with something non-erosive, Vaseline will eat away at a cube, but it does make it nice and easy to turn, much better alternatives out there are like silicone spray or something like that
also sanding down the cube can have nice results but it is very time consuming and if you do not lube it, it will be scratchy sounding as you turn it because the surfaces are all gritty