The Best Way to Remove Old Labels

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New2HomeBrew

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Hello All,


Hoping that someone has some advise for me on an easy way to remove the old labels from Sam Adams/Sierra Nevada bottles.

I just started botteling this past weekend, and the $13.00 bucks that they charge for a case of new bottles at my LHBS is too much.

I've got a high pressure bottle cleaner for the inside, just hoping that some folks might share their experience with the best ways of removing the old labels.


Cheers!:mug:
 
I have found that soaking in hot water and OxyClean for an hour or two will remove even the most stubborn labels.
 
I've been saving my Sammy and Sierra bottles as well. For commercial and self applied (Avery) labels, I soak them in one step solution and scotch brite sponge them off. Usually the commercial labels peel off pretty easy, but leave behind the glue residue and the sponge comes in handy. I then reclean them like normal bottles.
 
I have a few cases worth of SA bottles that I use, along with a few cases worth of various micros. The trick for me was hot water and Oxy-Clean Free. Most of the labels started floating after about 30-45 minutes. Most of the glue is gone within an hour. Out of about 6-7 cases that I have cleaned this way, only a handful of bottles needed a scrub with the 3M greenie pad to get the last little bit of glue off. I generally mix 4-5 gallons of hot water with about 1.5 scoops of Oxy-Clean Free.
 
Soak in Oxyclean and then use green scrubby pad to remove residual glue. Blast insides with brass carboy sprayer thingy
 
I just tell people hey while you are drinking my beer take the label off the bottle then I scrub the glue off as needed.
 
One thing I found about residual glue.

Try as I might with hot, soapy, bleachy water. The glue just wanted to come off and then rebroadcast itself right back onto the bottle.

One night I had a few bottles in my sink that had some residual glue on them and I was in a hurry to clear my sink. I removed the bottles, used cold water and a scrubby, and the labels crumbled up and rolled right off, without re-sticking somewhere else on the bottle.

Once the glue has deteriorated after a hot soak…use cold water to scrub it off.

Kind of like the old method of using an ice cube to get gum off of clothing.
 
Oxyclean.

Oxyclean.

Oxyclean. :D

I used to just put my bottles in a garbage pail that had bleach in it. What a lot of work! With Oxyclean, the majority of labels just literally FALL off. The real tuffies, you may have to scrub lightly. It is soooo worth it. Trust us!
 
So it sounds like Oxyclean is the winner. I'll go out and buy some after I get back from my trip. Thanks for all the replies! I used some goo gone to get the glue from the price tag off of my new growler. It worked like a charm, so I may stick to that for any residual glue. Thanks again for all the sage advise.
 
I have used one step and boiled the bottles in it. The labels will slide off and the glue can be scrubbed off with a scotch brite pad. Just watch the fingers, the bottles are hot!!
 
New2HomeBrew said:
So it sounds like Oxyclean is the winner. I'll go out and buy some after I get back from my trip. Thanks for all the replies! I used some goo gone to get the glue from the price tag off of my new growler. It worked like a charm, so I may stick to that for any residual glue. Thanks again for all the sage advise.

Just make sure you get the unscented kind
 
If you are in a hurry or cheep (like me) I have found that ammonia works great. I just let the bottles soak for a few hours and they come right off. It will also get the mold off that can grow in the bottom of the bottle. A normal sponge will wipe the glue off easy too.
 
Oxyclean +1 Then reclean the bottles- I normally just throw em in the dishwasher. Not to sanitize, just to wash them clean. After an oxyclean bath and label removal + the dishwasher they sparkle. I will worry about the sanitizing thing just prior to bottling.
 
Hot PBW and an overnight soak and there will be no scrubbing at all...ever...even takes foil off of necks and doesn't redeposit anything anywhere.

:mug:
 
Back in the day, when I was a blueprinter, I use to use anhydrous ammonia that was no longer strong enough to develope blulines - after 5 minutes in that stuff ALL labels would just slide off. Tried to find some anhydrous from local blueprinters before they threw it out and nobody uses that stuff anymore. I'm still using strong ammonia solutions; perhaps I need to try the oxyclean for myself - likely easier on the hands.
 
During the summer I take a large plastic storage tub and fill it with plain water and oxyclean. I then fill it with bottles making sure that they are submerged. Put the top on and let them sit in the sun for about a week. after that time all the labels most have come off on their own. Other than that... do what works for you
 
I brewed a batch the other day, and I was cleaning the brewpot with 5-star PBW solution and left it in the kettle to soak. I threw a few bottles with labels in with the soak. An hour later when I removed the bottles to finish cleaning the pot, the labels just slid right off. A quick rinse and no glue remained.
 
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