cleaning bottles

What is the best way to clean bottles? I have 30 bottles that were purchased and want to clean/condition them and remove labels. I have got about 1/2 the labels off by soaking them in hot soapy water the other 1/2 have a different glue that is a real bugger. Any ideas what isbest for the glue? Can I then run the bottles through the dish washer? These are not the bottles I'm using next week when I bottle my first batch so any help would be appreciated.

The best and easiest way it to get somebody else to do it!

...To get lables off bottles I fill up my bath and dunk them all in for about an hour. Then it is scrubbing time and burned hands. Take the lables off over the sink so the glue and paper does not get into the bath water which then fills the remaining bottles with gunk.

...or just don't take them off. The beer is the important thing and it is more essential to clean the inside of the bottle first!

If you can't get the labels off by soaking them in hot soapy water, then you've got some tough labels. Maybe someone else has some expertise, there, but I can't think of any easy solution, other than if you are not in a hurry to soak them longer. If you don't have a lot of them, you could also try a label remover such as Goo Gone.

As for cleaning the bottles, washing them in the dishwasher works fine for me. Be sure to check them good, though, because sometimes mine don't all get clean the first time I run them through.

Soaking them in Oxyclean has worked very well for me.

Vinegar does wonders on labels.

What worked for me on these labels, all from the same micro brew in town.
Left bottles dry
new straight edge razor blade (like from a box knife)
scrape the label off, actually cut the labels off
wipe bottles down with "GOO GONE" to remove remaining glue
bottles are now in washer on high temp wash, sani rinse and heat dry
no soap put in washer
when I use the bottles I will clean them again with a no rinse sanitizer
thanks for the tips

slowspoke said:

Left bottles dry...new straight edge razor blade (like from a box knife) scrape the label off, actually cut the labels off...wipe bottles down with "GOO GONE" to remove remaining glue...bottles are now in washer on high temp wash, sani rinse and heat dry no soap put in washer when I use the bottles I will clean them again with a no rinse sanitizer thanks for the tips

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All bad tips...especially the Goo-B-Gone. That's a pretroleum based product...think paint thinner...you don't want that on your bottles...and the smell...

Just do an overnight soak completely immersed under the water. I use a little bleach.

The next day most of the labels should have fallen off. If not, then use the back edge of a knife to scrape lines into the label and soak some more.

As for the glue, I just scrub with a green scrubbie once the label residue come off you can scrub a little more under running water. Works every time for me. I get off all of the glue.

I'm a big fan of the oxyclean method, typically an hour soak does it for me. In terms of goo-gone, I have used this for stubborn labels with no ill effects...what is so bad about it on the outside of one small part of the bottle? Really I'm just curious.

Oxyclean in hot water. It will take off or loosen most all paper labels. However, a friend of mine gave me 2 cases of Amstel Light bottles to use for my brew. Those labels inhale rapidly. Even after a soak in near boiling water, I had to get them off with a razor blade. Don't use any chemicals that can't be washed away with a rinse or two of water.

TheJadedDog said:

I'm a big fan of the oxyclean method, typically an hour soak does it for me. In terms of goo-gone, I have used this for stubborn labels with no ill effects...what is so bad about it on the outside of one small part of the bottle? Really I'm just curious.

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Nothing's wrong. I just don't like using petroleum products on my "food stuffs"...I know it eventually comes off, but... ...it's just a personal preference. If it works for you then go for it.

Straight-A and a scrubby sponge will take care of most labels and their glue after a soaking for a few minutes. I have however run across a few that are a real pain. The ones Legend Brewing, for example, uses are a real b*tch to get off and Straight-A won't get the glue off. It's gummy and not water soluable, and the only thing I've had success with breaking it up is petroleum-based stuff like WD-40. After using that you really need to give the bottle a good washdown with Ivory dishsoap, lots of hot water, and a bottle washer to get all of that oily residue and smell off. Just try not to get anything in the bottle when you're using the WD-40 by holding it neck-down and it'll be easier to deal with.

Hopfan said:

However, a friend of mine gave me 2 cases of Amstel Light bottles to use for my brew. Those labels inhale rapidly. Even after a soak in near boiling water, I had to get them off with a razor blade.

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I had a problem with some Amstel light bottles as well, but luckily I only had twelve. I didn't have to resort to using a razor blade but even after soaking for a couple of hours I had to use a little extra elbow grease to get them clean.

The key for handling bottles and lables after getting your first big batch ready is to do them as you empty them.
Delabeling and scrubbing a big batch of bottles is a *****, but doing a couple every time you wash dishes is no big deal, it's just a couple more dishes.
When I get in a new 12 pack or more of empty bottles I soak them in sanitizer and then use them, leaving the labels on for next time. The soak will loosen them up some, then when my friends drink my homebrews I encourage them to work off nervous energy by peeling labels
Then a green scrubby when I wash the bottles and they're gone.

Oxyclean for me, I did about 150 bottles in a week or so, 15 mins in oxyclean and the labels peel right off, another 5 minutes while you are doing the rest of the batch, and the glue melts right off in hot water.

You know what I do and this has been working nicely...I have a trash can filled about 1/4 with a very light bleach water. When I finish a new commercial brew (label intact) It get's submerged and they sit for at least 2 days. Some labels fall off (Weihenstephaner are great!) while others sit and sit (Stoudt's) and must be scraped. They sell these little nylon scrapers for cleaning pots and pans that works nice and is safe to use. Then a scrubby finishes the job. Each one gets rinsed and then stored to the day before bottling day where they are run though the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle. I would use oxyclean in the soak, but I had the bleach.

I rinse my bottles out several times with hot water right after I pour the beer out. Should a soak in onestep sanitizer be enough after that?

A jetwasher is a good investiment also. Fits onto an outdoor tap and blasts water up into the bottle and gets rid of all, if not most, of nasties.

Thanks for all the help. I got a jet washer attachment to hook to the kitchen faucet and this cleaned the inside real well. After the jet wash I put them in a no rinse sanitizer then air dried.

I haven't found a beer bottle label and glue that wouldn't come off with a good soaking yet.

For wine bottles, on the other hand, maybe 1 out of 20 the glue will not come off, no matter how much oxy or ctsp you use. For those, I resort to naptha/lighter fluid. I guess Goo-Gone is just naptha plus citrus oil? I can't see how it can call itself non-toxic though.

An example would be the transparent, pseudo enamel labels on a Gray Fox bottle. Pretty difficult to remove.

I probably go overboard but here is how I do it. If they still have labels I soak them in the sink overnight with just warm water and 75% just come off, most of the rest can just be peeled off. If that doesn't work or with wine bottles(those labels are really tough) I have a big rubbermaid container filled with water and ammonia.....that will get just about any label off. Then I rinse the bottles out and transfer them to another rubbermaid container I have filled with a light bleach-water solution. They sit in this till I am ready to bottle. On the day of bottling I take them out and rinse them out 2 or 3 times to get the bleach off. Then I have a five gallon bucket I make a one-step sanitizing solution in and soak the bottles in that right until the beer goes in.