Getting labels off of bottles

[150kwh]

This thread was helpful for me, and I Iike beating dead horses.

For the scrub averse: soak for a week in ___(Something oxidizing like Oxy or B-Brite, or a surfactant like laundry soap)___. The longer you can go, the more the glue will be loosened and dissolved.

I have found that regular baking soda soaking works wonders on most labels. I use the already old stuff in my fridge that has been absorbing odors rather than from the cupboard.

I have found that most labels that have shiny foil in their design tend to be tough as nails. You also learn which ones work best and which don't. I also look for the number of labels. A neck label or small promo label on the back, while probably using the same glue, just makes more work. After soaking and peeling, there is often some glue left. A small plastic scrubby normally gets it off with little work. If you have batches, soak in a bucket and pour your soak water back into the bucket for the next batch....

I humbly suggest that bicarbonate isn't active enough to make the job easier. (It certainly is easier on your municipal water treatment plant and the environment, however.) And as other say it depends strongly on the size of the beer company. Maybe the big assembly line machines can use cheap glue.

I've had good results with 4 day soak in B-Brite on bottles from a large corp that puts fancy foil at the top:
Foil doesn't bend and fall away so glue tends to stay, but it comes off rubbing with your thumb. Rub no scrub. Or just put it back for a few more days, zero scrub. Cheers

 

[jspain3]

+1

Several breweries' labels will not come off with oxyclean. Some have plastic coatings, some have industrial strength glue. So after their oxyclean bath, I peel the plastic if they had it, soak it more, then scrape with a teflon scraper. The glue can be removed with a paper towel and WD40, and then washed with hot soapy water. I don't do this for 12s, it's just not worth it, but for bombers I take the time.

Of course the two cases of beer I drank to acquire my home brew bottles were the plastic covered, industrial glue kind whose labels don't peel off after 48 hours of soaking (Jekyll Brewery in Alphareta, GA, if you're playing at home). My SweetWater labels practically jumped off the bottles after 15 minutes.

I'll have to try re-soaking after peeling the plastic label off and scrubbing with WD40. Thanks for the tip.