Easy way to get labels off?

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buckeyebrewer

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I have a huge pile of bottles my friends have saved for me. All different kinds of bottles. Mostly paper labels. Currently I soak in hot soapy water for an hour or so and then scrub with a metal scrubbie. It works but it's a pain in the ass. Some seem to be much worse than others. Is there anything that will make them fall off or make the glue dissolve? Just looking for other ideas....thanks
 
Oxyclean soak in hot water...depending on the label, anywhere from 1 hour to 48.

Most take 24 hours...they fall off and leave almost no glue residue.

No scrubbing necessary.
 
Try soaking them in a five gallon bucket of Star San solution for a day or so.
 
Fill your bottles half full with Water so they don't float, Then fill your sink with Steaming hot water, Put the bottles in there until the water go's cold, they should slide right off.
 
I have 102 bottles soaking in 5 gallon buckets with HOT water and Oxyclean......thanks for the heads up!!!!
 
The oxyclean and HOT water does a good job on the gunk inside too.
 
As Brian said...Oxclean does everything!!!

I just picked up and 11 pound box of it at Sam's club... Woot Woot!!!

and I've got about 24 bottles soaking in my bucket as we speak....

(If only I could get it to take the paint off the red stripe bottles my neighbor just gave me.)
 
Revvy said:
(If only I could get it to take the paint off the red stripe bottles my neighbor just gave me.)
Try an extended soak in a strong StarSan solution. Many folks have reported success in taking the paint off Corona bottles this way.

I've got a single Corona bottle...I keep meaning to test this!
 
niquejim said:
Oxi clean doesn't work:( get your bottles out of there now

Au, contraire. Oxiclean works like a mutha.

Plus I hear that there are generic versions that are cheaper (Wal Mart has it I think). Just compare active ingregients to make sure

Also, I've used starsan to remove screen-printed labels off of Stone products (Arrogant Bastard, IPA, etc.). It justs takes some time, plus maybe a little scrubbing.
 
If you don't have oxyclean, put some ammonia in hot water and let it cool. Dissolves the glue right off. Just don't sniff too hard.
 
A big tub filled with a dilution of oxyclean or ammonia works fantastic! Most labels will be in the bottom of the tub after 12 hours or so.

I also have this for individual bottles. I just rinse them after emptying them and in they go. A few hours later the label is off.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35000
2967-LabelRemoval.jpg
 
BrianP said:
Au, contraire.
Also, I've used starsan to remove screen-printed labels off of Stone products (Arrogant Bastard, IPA, etc.). It justs takes some time, plus maybe a little scrubbing.

I haven't made the switch from iodophor to starsan yet...I'm one of the few that like that iodiney smell :D
 
RichBrewer said:
A big tub filled with a dilution of oxyclean or ammonia works fantastic! Most labels will be in the bottom of the tub after 12 hours or so.

I also have this for individual bottles. I just rinse them after emptying them and in they go. A few hours later the label is off.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35000
2967-LabelRemoval.jpg


I also do this to single bottles as I drink them. It works like a charm even with plain water. I use the oxyclean when I get a large batch of bottles from friends or family.
 
The oxyclen worked like a charm. All the labels were floating in the tub with the bottles and the glue just wipes right off. Thanks for the time saver!!
 
buckeyebrewer said:
The oxyclen worked like a charm. All the labels were floating in the tub with the bottles and the glue just wipes right off. Thanks for the time saver!!

Toss out your carboy brush and use it for your fermenters and buckets. And it easily cleans your kettle too!
 
real hot water and either OXY, ammonia or even vinegar. If the inside of the bottles are clean and I am only removing labels I skip the oxy and use vinegar. It takes lass than a hour with my tap water.
 
I was using this cheap Wal-Mart knockoff called Awesome Oxygen Cleaner or something equally generic and it worked great! I added one scoop (about 1tbsp) per gallon of water and within as little as two hours the labels would all slide off. Unfortunately I can longer find this brand so I've started using Oxyclean. I tried as close of a concentration to the Awesome as I could and nothing happened after a day. I then added a little more and a day later - nothing. I added more the next day and finally, after over 4 days in the bucket, the labels came off, although a handful of them left behind glue residue.

Does anyone know the magic concentration of Oxyclean to water?
 
I've got some EXTREMELY stuck labels and pretty much gave up and just left them soak...for a month...the bottles are green...the water is green...and the labels slide right off.
 
Well, I went back to Wal-Mart and picked up another off-brand of Oxiclean called Sun Oxygen Cleaner for about 1/3rd the price and twice the size of a container of the real oxiclean. One little scoop per gallon of water all of the labels fell off over night. I either need to stock up on it now or hope they don't discontinue this one too.
 
buckeyebrewer said:
The oxyclen worked like a charm. All the labels were floating in the tub with the bottles and the glue just wipes right off. Thanks for the time saver!!

Also, watch out, you may have a percarbonate scale on the bottles. This is easily removed with a water and vinegar solution.
 
mrfocus said:
Also, watch out, you may have a percarbonate scale on the bottles. This is easily removed with a water and vinegar solution.

+1 on this.

although i use starsan right after the oxyclean soak and haven't had any issues with this.
 
mrfocus said:
Also, watch out, you may have a percarbonate scale on the bottles. This is easily removed with a water and vinegar solution.

What concentration of vinegar should be used? I believe that this only applies to hard water(just got done reading the sanitizing section of HTB)
 
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