[JakeTheHopDog]

Thanks, TV, I'll have her give that a try. One of my favorite beers, so she really wants to use their label.

[homebeerbrewer]

Hot water will usually soften the label, which makes it easy to tear, but using a razor will take it off. It may take practice, so you'll need to do your part, drink as many as she needs to get the perfect label.

[JakeTheHopDog]

Originally Posted by homebeerbrewer

...so you'll need to do your part, drink as many as she needs to get the perfect label.

Great advice! I'm drinking one right now. Hopefully she'll mess a whole bunch of them!

Maybe I'll scratch a few lables...

[TVarmy]

Ugh, I just got a couple bags of empty Heinekins on Craigslist, not realizing what a PITA plastic labels are. I peeled the labels off one by one for one bag after soaking in hot water, which was okay, but now the glue is still there. It's really sticky, as in so sticky I'll pick up one bottle and accidentally have another attached to it. I tried an OxyClean soak and a run through the dishwasher which did nothing. Goo Gone works a little bit, but it takes a lot for each bottle, and that's a lot more elbow grease than I want to waste on ~70 bottles.

Any ideas? Maybe I should just keep the labels on, and then use milk to glue my own labels over top...

[millstone]

I know what you are going through. I used mineral spirits to clean off the remaining glue after peeling off the label. still a PITA .

tom

[mrmekon]

Originally Posted by TVarmy

Ugh, I just got a couple bags of empty Heinekins on Craigslist, not realizing what a PITA plastic labels are. I peeled the labels off one by one for one bag after soaking in hot water, which was okay, but now the glue is still there. It's really sticky, as in so sticky I'll pick up one bottle and accidentally have another attached to it. I tried an OxyClean soak and a run through the dishwasher which did nothing. Goo Gone works a little bit, but it takes a lot for each bottle, and that's a lot more elbow grease than I want to waste on ~70 bottles.

Any ideas? Maybe I should just keep the labels on, and then use milk to glue my own labels over top...

They've always come off for me after soaking overnight in hot oxyclean water, and then scrub with a brillo pad or something really rough. Those sponges with plastic mesh over them are great.

[TVarmy]

I have a batch in Oxyclean. If they're not better by tomorrow with a scrubber, I'm giving up and just bottling with the label still on. It won't be classy, but it's homemade.

Next time, I'll specifically ask for no Heinekins. I now consider them one of the bad labels. FWIW, Sierra Nevada, River Horse, Magic Hat and Sam Adams have been great.

[neovox]

Did some with TSP and hot water this weekend. Labels mostly pealed off in less than 1hr. Used a scrubber sponge to take the glue off. Some Magic Hat some Sierra Nevada. No problems at all.

[throwbookatface]

Do NOT use a dishwasher to take off the labels! It's a surefire way to end up needing repairs. The dishwasher we have at my work breaks about every 3 months when employees bring in new dishes and the small labels end up getting washed off and clog up the filtration system. If we're lucky most of the labels stay on the drainage filter's surface, but once they make their way into the cracks of the system, the glue and paper will clog or break parts inside. And it's expensive - it sucks to have to budget hundreds for dishwasher repairs every year.

I've had no problems with dish soap and a brillo pad...

[Marsdude]

Originally Posted by neovox

Did some with TSP and hot water this weekend. Labels mostly pealed off in less than 1hr. Used a scrubber sponge to take the glue off. Some Magic Hat some Sierra Nevada. No problems at all.

TSP is nasty stuff - I wouldn't want to put my hands into it.