Getting old labels off

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ShaunJuan

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A buddy and myself have recently started brewing and since I do most of the bottle cleaning and such, I was wondering what beers have the easiest labels to remove. I just worked with some Cigar City labels and they were hard as hell to get off. Modelo and Unibroue labels are also a pest. The easiest ones so far have been Magic Hat's. Any other suggestions? Obviously we are trying to stay away from buying bottles, plus it gives us a reason to try different brews. Any help would be fantastic!
 
some of those types of labels are "water proof" ... the foil labels I would say would be the easiest to remove... although I have not really gone through removing labels.. (I went straight to kegging figuring it would be easier) ...... a good soaking in hot water and some scotch brite was always good to me the times I've needed to remove stickers though
 
I filled the bath with oxyclean and hot water then sunk the bottles. The next day peel a bit and scrub a bit with coarse steel wool. Ta da! Easy.
 
Yeah oxyclean worked well for me, didn't require much soaking time. I had quite a few Sam adams bottles and they came pretty easy.
 
I'm just soaking mine in hot water. I'm surprised EVERYONE on here has oxyclean, you guys should make a commercial!
 
I soak in hot water then use my wife's nail polish remover to get the sticky glue off....works a treat!
 
I am a PBW and soak in hot water, let them sit for 1-2 days, labels come right off - have not had a bottle yet that could withstand the PBW soak. Green 3M scrubbie for small residual spots, works great.
 
Oxyclean is where it's. At. I use a few 5 gallon buckets in my garage. Fill them with water and a scoop or so of oxyclean. Let them sit that way for a day or two and 90% of the labels are floating in the water.
 
Guinness bottles are extremely easy, just cut the sleeve off and you're done. There's no adhesive at all.
 
i have also ran them through my dishwasher with oxiclean and the labels come right off...but wifey wasn't happy having to clean out all the bits of label from the machine. at least it wasn't me doing it.
 
I went through various attempts to remove labels, worse I've found were Smuttynose, one of my fav brews. We spent days with hot water, scaping with paint scrapers/plastic putty knives and even broke down using "Goof-off".

Finally tried the Oxyclean method, full scoop in 5 gal of hot water...next day, not a label stuck to a bottle, even the tough Smuttynose labels, gone. Just had to use a "greenie sponge" to remove any residual glue (very few), ran them through the dishwasher to get rid of any Oxy residue and have perfectly clean bottles ready to sanitize.

So sad I wasted so much time instead of listening to the those recommending Oxy, it works perfectly...
 
So sad I wasted so much time instead of listening to the those recommending Oxy, it works perfectly...

+ eleventy billion

I previously have had success with dish soap and a hot water soak of 30 minutes or so. With the Oxy, by the time I am done filling the bucket, the labels are coming off fully intact with minimal effort.
 
Soak it in warm water to weaken the paper and then peel off as much as you can. Then use a paper towel to apply cheap vegetable oil to all the goo that is left over. You will know if it is working because the goo is gone. The oil dissolves the adhesive immediately. The paper towel wipes it off effortlessly.

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