The traditional method of gel extraction involves creating a folded pocket of Parafilm wax paper and placing the agarose fragment inside. The agarose is physically compressed with a finger into a corner of the pocket, partially liquifying the gel and its contents. The liquid droplets can then be directed out of the pocket onto an exterior piece of Parafilm, where they are pipetted into a small tube. A butanol extraction removes the ethidium bromide stain, followed by a phenol/chloroform extraction of the cleaned DNA fragment.
The disadvantage of gel isolation is that background can only be removed if it can be physically identified using the UV light.  If two bands are very close together, it can be hard to separate them without some contamination. In order to clearly identify the band of interest, further restriction digests may be necessary. Restriction sites unique to unwanted bands of similar size can aid in breaking up these potential contaminants.