clarification regarding removing labels with oxyclean

[blacks4]

Hi all,

Brand new to this website and new to brewing. Got my equipment yesterday and am brewing on Easter. In preparation, I have 7 cases of bottles and I'm trying to get them ready. Heard about Oxyclean so I soaked a bunch of bottles in a solution overnight. Labels came right off but the problem is that there is a residual residue inside and out. I filled each bottle with water to keep them submerged. Is there a better way to use Oxyclean so that there is no residue? Maybe only fill the sink just below the neck with the oxyclean water, but put plain/fresh water in the bottles to keep them from floating (and keep all bottles standing up so that no oxyclean gets inside the bottles)? These bottles were clean as hell (plus labels) before Oxyclean and now look terrible and I don't trust the cleanliness of the insides.

Thanks a lot.

Steve
Morristown, NJ

 

[dshaggy]

After using oxyclean, you're going to want to rinse it off the bottles (inside and out) before putting beer in them. You'll also need to sanitize them. Read some of the threads on here about cleaners and sanitizers.

 

[Runyanka]

Just rinse them after, its the only way to get rid if the oxyclean film. Or run them in the dish washer on the rinse only setting, no soap

 

[walt3120]

I am a little confused about the residue inside and out. When the perfume and dye free version of oxiclean is used on glass, I've never had it leave a visible residue.

If the bottles were not well rinsed after their first use, then they had a bunch of mold and fungus growin at the bottom in the beer residue. In my experience, oxiclean will not get rid of this material by itself. You first need to use a bottle brush with soap and scrubbing.

The outside residue is presumably the left over adhesive from the labels. Some labels will come off clean with oxiclean, but most will leave this adhesive. It's usually soft and will come off easily with a scrub using one of those two sided sponges.

If you do have to scrub out the gunk from a bottle of beer, I've give it another oxiclean treatment after the bottle brush cleaning.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I despise this about oxyclean, however it is an easy fix.. As you remove each bottle from the oxy soak, rinse it and drop it into a bucket of starsan. let it set a few minutes and viola the residue is gone.

 

[JLW]

I experimented with many different methods of removing lables. Oxyclean works the best for me. I just rinse thouroughly inside and use a scrubber pad to remove any lable residue or oxyclean residue.

As far gunk inside that oxyclean won't remove I just add a little bleach with water to the bottle and let it soak over night and they come clean.

 

[BWN]

Oxyclean leaves a residue on my bottles as well. It is because of hard water. I use vinegar and water mixture or lemmishine to remove the film.

 

[gregger]

Here's what I do, worked like a charm:

1) 15 minute Oxyclean soak in hot water to remove labels and clean the inside.
2) Shake the bottle, pour water out.
3) Rinse bottles in dishwasher, no soap. Came out sparkling clean and squeaky.
4) Sanitize with your no-rinse sanitizer.
5) Place on drying rack (which is my dishwasher rack).

I rinse my bottles as I finish them, if they either had homebrew or commercial beer in them. Therefore they'll have no gunk in them when it's time to reuse them.

 

[TheWeeb]

. .. .so, could be a process issue; when I use oxy to remove labels, I fill the bottles full of tap water first, then stand them up in a plastic bin and fill around them with oxy+water up to the neck, the solution never gets inside the bottles. I then use a green scratching pad under hot water to rinse off the outside and remove any lingering glue.

 

[smokinghole]

I grab a bucket filled with water when I remove bottles from oxyclean. Dunk, swirl, dump. Leave dry. I still get some residue right at the bottle lip but my water is hard as hell and get that ever with out oxyclean.

 

[Homercidal]

It's from the alkaline water. If you soak long enough it settles on the bottle. A quick rinse in starsan will take care of it. I usually spritz with a spray bottle after an oxisoak anyway. I'm usually putting them in a box for storage.

 

[cbsdaddy]

It is because of the hard water. I did the rinse with vinegar and water as well which worked. Then rinse again and use the starsan to sanitize.

i bottled once and due to the amount of work i had a kegerator conversion kit in the mail the next day and have 2 kegs on tap!!! Still love having the bottled beer just too much work to clean them.

 

[wi_brewer]

I used to use oxyclean, however I found the following works better for me (cheaper too).

1. Soak bottles in HOT water for a few hours.
2. By the time the water gets to be room temperature you should be able to easily pull off the labels (there will still be glue left).
3. Remove the glue using an SOS pad/steel wool.

Works like a charm.

 

[Homercidal]

I used to use oxyclean, however I found the following works better for me (cheaper too).

1. Soak bottles in HOT water for a few hours.
2. By the time the water gets to be room temperature you should be able to easily pull off the labels (there will still be glue left).
3. Remove the glue using an SOS pad/steel wool.

Works like a charm.

Hot water will work, but I soak in Oxi to help clean the inside too. The oxi will help lift the deposits, if there are any, and make any bottle brush activity work better.

If the labels don't come off after an hour-long soak in hot water, I'm not going to keep it. There are far too many bottles that have easy-to-remove labels for me to mess with the difficult ones.

 

[jwplessner]

Agree with the above, if youre heavily scrubbing the bottle it's probably more work than it's worth. I learned that after scrubbing some unibroue bottles to get the annoying foil off not realizing theyre screwtops. I tossed them into the recycling alongside a rogue bomber whose paint didnt come off even after a month long star san soak.

 

[Revvy]

Any weak acid will dissolve the oxyclean scale, lemonjuice or vinegar in water, but the easiest is just starsan.

 

[blacks4]

I guess I have hard water then. Below are a couple pics of the neck/mouth of some bottles with the residue on them. I'll try vinegar and see what happens. Thanks a lot guys.

 

[blacks4]

you guys ROCK!!!! vinegar/hot water did the trick PERFECTLY. Thank you so much.

 

[iaefebs]

Not all labels are applied with the same adhesive. Some will come off with a gentle soak in oxyclean and some won't.You need to avoid the labels that are pressure sensitive, and get the ones that are cold glued.

 

[blacks4]

It is because of the hard water. I did the rinse with vinegar and water as well which worked. Then rinse again and use the starsan to sanitize.

i bottled once and due to the amount of work i had a kegerator conversion kit in the mail the next day and have 2 kegs on tap!!! Still love having the bottled beer just too much work to clean them.

LOL, once I get these bottles clean with labels removed, I'll be extra strict to collect them after the homebrew is consumed for the next batch. Why go through all this hell twice right??

 

[nymtber]

Maybe your using too much oxiclean? I used 1/2 the green scoop in about 3 gallons of water. We have very hard water - calcium and lime buildup on every sink in the house. After removing label/brushing inside of bottle when needed, I rinsed in clean cold water, wiped the outside dry with a beat up bath towel, and shook out as much from the inside as I could. Next time I will put them on the bottle tree I have now and let them air dry. My carboy I used a little over 1 scoop to clean out, and it rinsed clean, no film that I can see...

 

[JKalpowsky]

I just yesterday dumped a tub of solution that I've been sitting on and using for about a month now. I just started cleaning the labels off of a bunch of old bottles I'd had sitting at my folks' place for a while, had well over a hundred to do, so I filled a tote with 10 gallons of HOT water, and 2 cups (yes, measured cups) of oxyclean. I just tossed bottles in, filled them inside with the oxyclean solution, and left them sit. About 10 minutes later, I was moving another box of bottles down to the basement, and there were already labels floating. At about the 30 minute mark, I started pulling bottles out, there weren't any with any glue or labels left (these were mostly Sam Adams bottles, some Smuttynose, Saramac, DFH, etc). I then just rinsed inside and out with warm clean water, and lined the bottom of my empty cases with paper towels. Put the bottles in the cases upside down to finish draining/drying, and haven't had a bit of problem with any sort of residue. To be honest, I only dumped the whole thing yesterday because I had to clean a primary, and wanted to make sure to use a fresh, clean solution, but the tote was still taking off labels without a bit of problem.

 

[RugerRedhawk]

LOL, once I get these bottles clean with labels removed, I'll be extra strict to collect them after the homebrew is consumed for the next batch. Why go through all this hell twice right??

If you just give them a thorough rinsing right after pouring the beer, and store them in a clean place you can simply sanitize them before use and not have to wash them at all next time.

 

[RugerRedhawk]

Great, I think this thread jinxed me. I just pulled my bottles out of an oxiclean soak, I was lazy and left them there for a couple of days and might have used to much powder. Anyway now I have over a case of bottles covered in residue. Almost looks a little sandy. Rinsing doesn't take care of it! i think I'll go back to just a short hot water soak, it seems to work about as well. So if I use starsan to remove the residue, can I use a more diluted mix than used for sanitization? Or the same? As if de-labeling wasn't a big enough pain already, now I have to do this batch twice!

 

[LonoMT]

Here's what I've done after researching on these boards, and it has worked well for me.

1. Soak in Oxi-Clean Free ('OC') until the labels fall right off.
2. Remove from 'OC' and give it a quick scotch-brite scrub to remove any leftover adhesive.
3. Rinse inside and out with fresh water.
4. Drop them into another bucket that has a couple tablespoons of vinegar mixed with a couple gallons of water (I'm just making the solution into a weak acid to neutralize the base 'OC') and let soak while prepping the next bottle or two.
5. Remove from vinegar water and rinse again in fresh water.
6. Place upside down to dry enough to store until you are ready to sterilize them for bottling day.

I have found that after a couple cases of bottles I have to call it quits and start over. It seems the adhesive from the labels pollutes the 'OC' and makes it progressively more contaminated, requiring more rinsing per bottle. Plus, hunching over the counter-top for that long hurts the old back and I'm tired of de-labeling bottles after this long.

 

[jiggs262]

I soak my bottles in Dawn and hot water for about 24 hours and have no problem with them coming off.

 

[smokinghole]

Great, I think this thread jinxed me. I just pulled my bottles out of an oxiclean soak, I was lazy and left them there for a couple of days and might have used to much powder. Anyway now I have over a case of bottles covered in residue. Almost looks a little sandy. Rinsing doesn't take care of it! i think I'll go back to just a short hot water soak, it seems to work about as well. So if I use starsan to remove the residue, can I use a more diluted mix than used for sanitization? Or the same? As if de-labeling wasn't a big enough pain already, now I have to do this batch twice!

You need to use the same strength starsan each time you use the stuff. The manufacturer recommended concentrations are there for optimal effectiveness. Also unless you're bottling right after removing labels and such then you will need to sanitize again because starsan is a contact no rinse sanitizer. Therefore you can not count on a dry bottle to still be clean essentially.

 

[RugerRedhawk]

You need to use the same strength starsan each time you use the stuff. The manufacturer recommended concentrations are there for optimal effectiveness. Also unless you're bottling right after removing labels and such then you will need to sanitize again because starsan is a contact no rinse sanitizer. Therefore you can not count on a dry bottle to still be clean essentially.

Yeah, I definitely will be sanitizing immediately before bottling, I just wasn't sure if regular 1oz/5gal was needed for oxiclean residue removal since I'm not actually looking to sanitize at that point, just get the gunk off. I'll figure it out, can always use vinegar. Looks like I'll be avoiding oxiclean in the future, that's for sure. I think it would work fine for me if I soaked for less time and used less powder, but seems like it's not worth the risk since hot water seems to work fairly good too. I'll look into PBW that others here have recommended.