Best way to remove labels

[dan_man]

So I just bottled my first batch and used 26 22 oz bottles that I had saved. I soaked them in water for 24 hours and it was still way hard to remove all the labels. What's the best way you guys have found to remove labels?

 

[feinbera]

Take 'em out to that spot in the woods – you know the one, it's still "the woods," but it's not quite the woods, trees just won't grow there, and those moss-covered stones just peeking out between the first row of trees that do grow sure look to be in an awfully perfect circle to have just happened to arrive there by natural processes. Do it on the afternoon before the new moon – maybe the evening, but you definitely don't want to be there past sunset! Set them in the middle of the circle, and before you leave, walk around them three times, counterclockwise. Bring and old-school watch, so you can take a look and make sure you're going counterclockwise – if you thought staying past sunset was bad, you don't even wanna know what happens if you go 'round three times clockwise. Leave them overnight, and while you're at home waiting, read this.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

^^^ This totally works, but so does a few tablespoons of baking soda in water (sink or 5-gallon bucket works great). Soak bottles for an hour or two. The labels fall off.

 

[UpstateMike]

Since I have found that the woodland critters tend to do a piss poor job of delabeling my bottles, I find that a large cooler filled with hot water and some unscented OXYgen CLEANer works wonders.

 

[jtratcliff]

+1 to fairy circle and oxygen cleaner of your choice.

 

[ecobb]

Very hot water + oxyclean for about 2 hours.
Labels peel off and all you need is an old wash cloth to clean off the glue.

 

[jtratcliff]

green nylon scrubby works well on the glue, too.

And Eldritch forest creatures... try those first.

 

[flars]

How to get a label off often depends on whose label it is. Breweries will use different types of glue. New Glarus bottles are the easiest to remove the labels from with just a day long soak in water. Pilsner Urquell labels come off with a soak in hot water, and then peel. Most paper labels will come off, or be softened enough to scrape off, with a soak in a weak PBW solution for a day to three days. I use a 2 inch plastic dry wall mud applicator for the scraping.

 

[Moose_MI]

^^^this.....there are labels that will come off with a 15min soak in plain cold water....then there are labels (and glue) that use the same stuff that :rockin:keeps the space shuttle heat shield in place...so my #1 rule of label cleaning is Know Your Enemy and don't fight a war you can't win....brew on!