Removing labels

What is the best way to remove labels from bottles. I have accumulated a good stock pile for my future brews but now comes the hard part.

Soak in oxyclean and the labels should come right off

Soak the bottles in oxyclean and hot water overnight and most of the labels should just pull off if they have not fallen off. A little rub with a scrubbie under the faucet should get rid of the rest of the glue.

Some have better glues than others so YMMV.

Sam Adams are pretty easy.

Baking soda and hot water soak has always taken the labels off for me.

Oxy is the absolute best way, and if it is concentrated it can take only half an hour or so

never tried oxyclean, but if you've got PBW instead of that, it also works great!

Pbw works great. Mix 4 tablespoons to 5 gal water and soak for half a day. You can do a several cases with the same batch of pbw

Depends on the brand, but I fill bottles with hot tap water, and submerge them in the same, usually in groups of 12 in my brew kettle. Fifteen minutes later most labels peel off and I scrub off any residual adhesive with hot tap water and a scrubby, no soap. Pliney the Elder bottles are the most difficult of all the brands attempted.

I have heard a lot about using oxyclean but has anyone that uses it had trouble with the slimy residue that oxy tends to leave behind?

I use PBW, as our well water will not permit the use of oxyclean. It works great- keeping in mind that some labels soak off easier than others. A few (like Two Brothers) don't soak off at all, but can easily be peeled off. The best, IMHO, are the Guinness longnecks with the shrink-on label. Just slit the label with a utility knife and remove, and pull out the white plastic "rocket" device inside the bottle with a needle-nose pliers.

Ditto on the OxyClean. I use the dollar store off brand stuff. Oxy is 12 bucks for a smallish size bucket. 4 of the dollar store oxys fill my oxyclean bucket.

bigskooter said:

I have heard a lot about using oxyclean but has anyone that uses it had trouble with the slimy residue that oxy tends to leave behind?

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Never had a problem. Just rinse them very well and when you go to bottle sanitize with starsan and you are good to go.

bigskooter said:

I have heard a lot about using oxyclean but has anyone that uses it had trouble with the slimy residue that oxy tends to leave behind?

Click to expand...

I fill the bottles with tap water and put them in a bucket full of oxy solution to just below the tops. So none gets inside the bottles. A quick rinse and scrub after soaking and the labels and glue are gone and there's no residue.

Also, a slightly more concentrated starsan solution removes the ink from printed bottles (except Rogue, which apparently forges their silk-screen in the fires of Mt. Doom).