removing beer bottle labels/reusing bottles

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Cimerian

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
282
Reaction score
1
Location
Hillsboro
Ok don't yell I did search this one. Problem is I can not find just regular old oxy clean. At walmart they have,oxy mountain fresh, oxy with stainlifters, oxy with scotchguard(that may be an interesting one). What else besides bleach can I use to soak the bottle in to get the labels to peel off. I have a lot of St. pauli girl and beck's that have the foil label around the necks too. I really really do not want to have to hand scrub every one of these bottles.
 
Run them trough the dishwasher then peal them like a potato...lol sometimes they peal off because of the heat realy.
 
A good 30 minute soak in really hot water in the sink usually works for me with most bottles. Get the watee as hot as possible from the tap.
 
Even a good soak in scalding hot soapy water will do the trick for many bottles, if not most. You'll have to do more scubbing than you would with Oxyclean, and it's unlikely the labels will slide off perfectly intact like they do with Ovy, but it'll get the job done. Do 30 minutes to an hour. Rinse thoroughly when you're done.
 
If I run them through the dishwasher the labels won't clog up the drain will they?
 
Another vote for hot soak. Loosens the glue and labels comes right off. I have used this with Sam Adams labels and have about 60 bottles right now to re-use. You might have to scrub the glue while it is still warm to remove all of it. I then run them through dishwasher with no soap.
 
I've had great luck just soaking them in a bucket of hot water with automatic dish washing detergent (powder). There are a number of oxygenated powder/cleaners, the key ingredient is sodium carbonate. Keep looking, there's got to be one on your store shelves somewhere.
 
Walmart sells Sun Oxygen cleaner. It's effectively the same as Oxiclean, but cheaper.
I used a bowl full today to remove the labels from 16 wine bottles.

-a.
 
I dont think using scented oxy is a problem with glass bottles. Using it on plastic fermenters wouldnt be advisable as plastic could hold some odors. IMHO, i'd say soak the bottles in scented oxy if thats all you can find
 
I dont think using scented oxy is a problem with glass bottles. Using it on plastic fermenters wouldnt be advisable as plastic could hold some odors. IMHO, i'd say soak the bottles in scented oxy if thats all you can find

That was my thought too. It needs to be very thoroughly rinsed either way.
 
Ok I think then the plan for tonight is. Run half through the dishwasher and soak the other half over night then switch them tomorrow morning. It's to late to go back to town tonight and I am way to impatient lol. Any that have leftover gunk tomorrow I will soak in oh Oxy with scotchguard or should I go with mountain scent? That is if I can not find Sun Oxy which I will look for tomorrow. I just had a lot of bottle given to me so I guess I can experiment some. And just for the record I should still soak all of them in a non rinse sanitizer on bottle day correct?
 
I've never had any labels clog my dishwasher, there maybe some paper you'll need to pick up but the idea is to loosen the glue it's the lazy way out.After a few batches and a few good rinsings you'll be as good as gold.
 
No need to soak the whole bottle. What I used to do, before bottle tree and vinator was put as many bottle as would fit in my sink. from my bottling bucket half filled with star san solution, using the spigot, i'd give half the bottles a shot of sanitizer. Then, while spinning a bottle, i'd pour each bottle into an empty bottle, then stick the now sanitized bottle upside down on my dishwasher rack. Continue in batches till all bottles are sanitized. Bottle tree and vinator for the win though......besides kegging, of course
 
I've skinned about 80 bottles to date. I have found that some are easier than others. Basically, hot water for about 30 minutes and you are hitting the law of diminishing returns. Sam Adams and Magic Hat seem to be the easiest. I use a razor blade to scrap the labels and glue off. Then, a light bleach solution and a bottle brush, bake at 350 for 30 minutes and all is good. Probably over doing it. But, that is what I do.
 
Back
Top