Label Removal Thread

[unionrdr]

Well, I've done some research, & found some very creative ways to remove labels. Many different methods are needed, depending on label material & whether water or oil-based adhesives used. I kept searching & reading, till I came to this page; http://labology.org.uk/ I never knew the hoppy of collecting beer labels, very old or very new, was a serious endeavor! I contacted them for their advice on this matter of removing them intact, whether printed or foil, or some combo of both.
Anyway, they also have galleries of old labels listed alphabetically for your viewing pleasure. Costs $ to join per year though. *dammit, I got that bs windows error call me to fix it thing again. Let's try this list again...
http://patrickbarry.com/blog/how-to-remove-beer-labels-intact-from-bottles
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer-News/Article-444.htm
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2014/02/a-super-simple-way-to-remove-labels-from-glass-bottles.html- This one seems interesting in that it looks easy enough fo most printed labels. Uses washing soda.
http://drinkfocus.com/beer/beer-labels/
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/a3085/how-to-remove-a-bottle-label/-This one is interesting, as he gives each method & his results from testing said method.
Many of these have already been discussed, but some give pro's & con's of each. Or maybe amounts of whatever is used.

 

[Nicknack]

Need some bottles for tomorrow... bottling day. Grabbed a Guinness yesterday while out and decided to do the hard part at lunch today... drink it. The label on a 22oz Guinness couldn't be any easier. The label comes off easily with your fingers and the sticky part is just as easy under cold water with a brillo pad. The whole process took only 30 minutes... 2 minutes to remove the label and 28 minutes to drink the contents.

 

[MaxStout]

That seems to be the case with many European beers. Soak in warm water a while and the label lifts right off.

I've had good luck getting the remaining glue layer off bottles using a Dobie pad.

 

[pantonelli]

So is ammonia bad to use? The bottles will be going through the dish washer after with no soap, then star San before bottling.

 

[enokidaki]

Jamician red stripe lables are put on by the devil himself

It's not the labels but the glue underneath that seems a whole nother level of sticky... Any ideas on how to remove this stuff?

 

[bendog15]

Man, all I've ever used is oxyclean and cold water from the garden hose. Soak for 24-48 hours. Use a scotch brite sponge on the tough labels of any glue residue. Works like a charm!!!

 

[slym2none]

Jamician red stripe lables are put on by the devil himself

RS must have changed since you posted this almost a year ago. The new stickers peel right off.

It's not the labels but the glue underneath that seems a whole nother level of sticky... Any ideas on how to remove this stuff?

I haven't tried a Star-San soak yet, but I do know the powdered cleaners (that are also sanitizers, they just can't legally label them that way) like One Step seem to be the best at removing labels & softening up any residual glue.

 

[buck57]

Two tablespoons of powdered lye in 5 gallon bucket. Get the lye from soap making supply places. No longer available in stores for some years now due to some sort of misuse. Takes off even stubborn labels in an overnight soak.

 

[Dimax]

I want to thank the person who said to use Baking Soda and hot water soak over night! this works Great.
The hardest labels seem to be the Plastic labels, but I peel them off and re soak, the glue slides right off after that.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Did an oxyclean soak on goose island IPA bottles and the ink came off leaving a perfect plain white sticker! The oxyclean did nothing to the glue or label. It was unreal.

 

[rhys333]

Try an overnight soak in bleach water. Works a treat.

 

[unionrdr]

I just had a new experience with this yesterday. I've been soaking the labels off the bottles from my collection where I'm able to. So, I started soaking some of the Bud " America" bottles. They wouldn't come off. I then noticed they were thin plastic film decals! So I grabbed an exacto knife with rounded blade edge & peeled off both neck & main labels. But they're so thin, I mounted them on printer paper & cut them out. Firmer & more easily handled this way.

 

[bendog15]

Just an fyi if those bud bottles are twist off, i don't recommend using them. The glass is very thin at the twist off neck, and you will experience a lot of breakage when u try to bottle. Stick with pop tops.

 

[specharka]

Just experienced some seriously satisfying label removal. I'm a dedicated collector of heavy Belgian bombers which possess the most frustratingly venerable adhesives. The labels peel intact, but leave a nasty surface that is nearly impossible to mechanically remove. Ive tried soaps, PBW, etc, with no effect. Talk about a PITA.

Well, today I did a quick Google search and found a simple solution: 1/2 baking soda and 1/2 oil. That solution made me able to pull off the adhesive with my fingers (not even the nails). A simple soak in dish detergent removed any oily detritus afterwards (just the exterior!). Simple, elegant and easy label removal.

I'm kicking myself now, because I actually tossed a few bottles simply because they had those plastic labels on them. No harsh chemicals, no messy cleanup...this changes everything.

 

[jcaggiano]

I do hot water with an high dose of StarSan. Even the tougher label come of eventually. Evo (Evolution Brewing) seems to know I love using their bottles. Labels slide off like boxers ofter the prom!

 

[Wovensummers]

I just cleaned about 40 bottles tonight. Sink full of hot water and a couple of shakes of baking soda and they all came off clean. 30 minute soak. Alaskan came off easiest, followed by Voodoo Ranger, then Sam Adams. The toughest was Shock Top. They are a vinyl label. Once you get a finger nail under a corner though, they peel right off. A quick swipe of the nylon dish brush and all were clean.