Use KNOX! It's the best label adhesive

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For commercials labels I've been using a stainless steel scrubby. The kind made out of tiny ribbons of stainless that'll cut up your fingers. Add a touch of dish soap for the last bit of adhesive
 
Awesome. I've been using milk. Works great except for any water situation, like in a cooler and the ice melts. Will be trying this next time. Does it leave a nasty residue in the tub after you soak the labels off?

Well, I suspect some larger craft breweries use milk too. Why you ask? A bunch of guys came over and we dumped their beers in my cooler, and 4 days later I open the cooler to dump the water and it smelled like soured baby formula.

I suspect gelatin would be better in this regard. I had to scrub that cooler and air it out for days.
 
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=224476&referrerid=195470

I use this recipe, no problem with the labels falling off. The glycerin and vinegar helps keep the glue pliable. Comes of easily with hot water just like the regular gelatin.


Thanks for the link....... It uses about double the gelatin called for in most recipes..... 2 packets for about half a cup of actual liquid. I'm wondering what the vinegar and glycerine actually do..... the glycerine isn't going to evaporate, so I assume it keeps things a bit flexible...... The glue getting hard and dry seems to cause the release. My guess is that the vinegar has an emulsifying effect, helping the glycerine go into solution with everything else.

Howard
 
Wonder if the glycerine/vinegar additions would help it hold to PET bottles.... That seems to be the only shortcoming I've found using gelatin alone.
 
I was inspired to experiment by the Aussie recipe using glycerine.......... but lacking glycerine, I resorted to just a dab of 50/50 auto antifreeze, a splash of vinegar, and a dab of sugar to promote stickyness.

Needless to say, I will be widely panned for resorting to a "toxic substance", but the quantity used is very small. Ethylene Glycol makes up about 15% of the total in this case, and "per bottle" that's almost nothing........... thus far it looks very good. You can slip a fingernail under the label, but it's tenacious..... Real results are a few weeks off.


H.W.
 
Like ladies underwear........with labels "come's off easy" is the most important consideration.

Too true. Dark Horse must use some kind of dark magic to apply their labels-- 24 hours of soaking in OxiClean and I still have to get after it with steel wool for a good ten minutes each.

Short's, on the other hand... is a little looser with her affections. ;)
 
Too true. Dark Horse must use some kind of dark magic to apply their labels-- 24 hours of soaking in OxiClean and I still have to get after it with steel wool for a good ten minutes each.

Short's, on the other hand... is a little looser with her affections. ;)

Try Smithwick's labels. They are like foiled paper, that resist the hot water soak. I soaked them for days with oxyclean, they did not even try to release. In the end they got tossed in the recycling bin. Great Lakes labels float right off in comparison.
 
Went to label today, got all my stuff boiled measured mixed , had my bottles lined up, and then couldn't find my labels. I was right about to dump my gelatine before I found my labels. 1.8 grams of gelatine, 28 g of water, I labeled 20 bottles and had plenty left over.
 

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