Removing labels from bottles

[beerisyummy]

Greetings Homebrewskis,
How do you remove labels from bottles? I read on the internet (therefore it must be true) that Arm & Hammer Washing (not Baking) Soda works well. It does, but I have a residue problem. The residue is tenacious too ... dishwasher doesn't get rid of it, sometimes even the bottle brush doesn't completely remove it. TIA for your ideas.

 

[Pkrd]

Soak in oxiclean overnight. If the labels don't fall off then toss the bottles and go buy more beer.

 

[JunkCatsOnThePorch]

Had the same problem. PBW, Starsan, hot water. Nothing worked, there is this glue that just will not come off.

You are not going to like this, but eventually I just left the labels on. It stopped bothering me. Told friends this is just my way of recycling. Spent my time else-where. I always sanitize the inside like crazy, while wiping down the outside with a sanitary wipe. This is just me though, you may have other preferences.

 

[slym2none]

Star San is good, but the cheap-o "No Rinse" or "One Step" powdered cleansers do an excellent job of getting labels off. Some bottles only need a 15 minute soak for them to slip off & leave little glue behind to scrub off.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Had the same problem. PBW, Starsan, hot water. Nothing worked, there is this glue that just will not come off.

You are not going to like this, but eventually I just left the labels on. It stopped bothering me. Told friends this is just my way of recycling. Spent my time else-where. I always sanitize the inside like crazy, while wiping down the outside with a sanitary wipe. This is just me though, you may have other preferences.

This is the point where I'm at. I have found Great Lakes Brewing Co. labels come off reallllly well in an overnight soak. If you have access to that, buy their stuff!

 

[kombat]

Yep, it depends on the brewery and how they attach their labels. Some breweries use plastic-y labels that will only come off if immersed in near-boiling water. I stopped bothering to try with those. I found a few breweries whose beer I like, and whose labels come off easily with an overnight soak in PBW or OxyClean.

 

[AkBrew907]

Hot soapy water soak. Most fall right off, the ones that are a little more stubborn I use a brush to scrub really quick.

 

[clone63]

The "plastic-y" labels I find are best just peeled off at room temperature. Warmth seems to make the glue... gummy-er. Because it is hard to rip the plastic label, they peel off like a sticker. Some spotting of residual glue usually remains, but it comes off easily enough with water and a steel wool pad.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Soak in concentrated solution of OxiClean or comparable oxygen bleach product overnight. Labels fall off, remaining glue can be rubbed with just about anything, including hands.

If you spend another moment considering any other technique, you are dead to me

Cheers

 

[mtyquinn]

oxiclean soak. good stuff. I will say though, if it doesn't come off- you don't need that aggravation in you life. Just move on.

 

[slym2none]

There's a lot of people in this thread that are now dead to you, eh?

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I just recently switched to 12 oz saver bottles from 16 oz ez caps. I soaked Sam Adams bottles in Oxyclean Free and straight hot water in my kitchen sink for about a half hour and the labels fell off before I got back to them. I had a couple Full Sail bottles in there too and I had to peel those and let them soak for ten more minutes. After the labels were off I scrubbed the glue off with a scrubby sponge and rinsed the bottles well before drying and storing for bottling day.

 

[beerisyummy]

Thanks everyone - just to be clear, it is residue INSIDE the bottles that concerns me. No prob with oxyclean?

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Thanks everyone - just to be clear, it is residue INSIDE the bottles that concerns me. No prob with oxyclean?

I don't know if you have seen crazy sanitize guy's video. He soaks a big brand new glass carboy in oxyclean free overnight and there are clearly visible deposits on the glass. It sounds like a lot of guys don't have problems soaking over night, but that could have something to do with how much oxyclean free they put in the water. I put 4 or 5 oz in 5 gallons which seemed pretty concentrated to me. I wouldn't want to soak my bottles for more than 40 minutes in that. At a half hour it worked great for me with no deposits after rinsing.

 

[kombat]

I use a bottle rinser attached to my laundry tub faucet to rinse out the inside of bottles.

 

[Munster51]

I tell people I will return bottles to me how they give them to me. I have a hodgepodge of about 500 bottles that are about 75% label free. I fill my laundry tub full of hot water and oxyclean to clean out/ delabel bottles. Make sure you fill them partway with water first otherwise they float.

 

[BioHopology]

Soak in oxiclean overnight. If the labels don't fall off then toss the bottles and go buy more beer.

+1 Oxyclean with hot water. If it takes more than an hour...trash it IMO