Free bottles and Lable removal...

Well, after all my questions about corking my old screw top bottles, I had a brainwave...

The bottle bank in the municipal car-park near the top of our street rarely if ever has the lids locked, so I took a load of our glass for recycling and came back with 20+ (formally corked) wine bottles!

I've soaked them in hot water and found a massive difference in the glue used on the labels:

Some floated off :rockin:
Some peeled off easily
Some scrubbed off with a little effort

Then there’re the others

The ones where the glue outright refuses to come off, no mater how hot the water and no matter how hard I scrub.

Anyone have any tips for getting the awkward label-glue off of the bottles?

Soak in a strong Oxyclean or StarSan solution for 24 hrs or so. That should do the trick.

Try using an old dish scrubbing sponge with a little bit of nail polish remover.

You may find this sticky useful: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f46/label-removal-thread-91726/ Regards, GF.

I use inexpensive ammonia. Less than a dollar a bottle. I put about 1/2 cup in a small plastic bag sitting in a plastic bowl/bucket. Lay the bottle in the ammonia label side down and it falls off in about 15 minutes. No scrubbing required. Another method is to dillute a cup or two of ammonia in water in a 5 gallon bucket. Submerge as many bottles in there that you can and let it sit a day or so. Labels fall off.
Cheers
Terry

Well, I've tried OxiClean (as per labels thread) and 2 of the bottles have come up a treat.

The rest are now without labels, but with impossible-to-remove glue squares.

I'll Try ammonia next(thanks for that).

Watch your nose!! The ammonia cleans out your nasal passages!!



Terry

Oh, another thought. I haven't tried it but I bet Goof Off would get the real hard ones off! That could be expensive though.

Terry

I have baked the bottle in the oven on low about 250% for a couple of hours and then scrape it off. this has worked for me.

If I were getting my bottles for free, I'd just put the difficult ones back and go get another batch

I asked the Olive Garden near me what they did with all the empties...they just toss them...they said that they would be more than happy to save some for me...just call a few days ahead of when I needed them.

-Will

The Blow Leprechaun said:

If I were getting my bottles for free, I'd just put the difficult ones back and go get another batch

Click to expand...

+1 I found myself cleaning beer bottle labels this week and suddenly realizing how much work I was putting into the difficult ones when I was already getting more bottles than I could use... I decided any that don't come off after an overnighter with oxyclean could go back in the recycling bin.

I suppose if you had a really, really cool bottle you might spend some time on it.

In the end I found that after 3 days in the OxiClean, they could ALL be scrubbed clean with hot water, a squirt of kitchen cleaner and the rough side of a sponge.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions

I have used lighter fluid a few times for tough labels... Worked great but watch the fumes... No soaking required. Ammonia sounds good too I will try that!

lwilli said:

I have used lighter fluid a few times for tough labels... Worked great but watch the fumes

Click to expand...

Funnily enough, when I asked my dad if he had any idea's, he offerd me a can of petrol (gas) - that when I decided to ask here...

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Sorry about all the N00b question, but I'm a N00b...

I get mine for free from a large local winery. They have a recyling shed out back for all the used tasting bottles. After several batches, I have learned which bottles have the stubborn super glue and which come off easily...even varies by type in the same winery. I leave the stubborn ones for the recycling man!

I've found that Oxyclean leaves a film which sometimes lingers despite rinsing. Soaking in PBW works for me. Different breweries use different glues. Some labels come off easily, some not. Try GooGone for the tough ones. Just remember to wash it off with a soap solution, since it is petroleum based.