Suggestions for removing bottle labels

[brandonlovesbeer]

Yea it's funny there's certain labels that come off so much easier. There's a local brewery called Jack's Abby near me and their labels are almost foil-like. They peel off neatly all in one piece dry.

Sierra Nevada labels fall right off. As do New Belgium.
But my local craft brewer seems to use Super Glue to keep those labels on.

 

[Owly055]

I don't use crown caps....... In fact I rarely bottle at all anymore. However I do end up in situations where I need to remove a bottle label occasionally. I've found that the most effective strategy is to drop the bottle in the carburetor dip tank. I simply fill the bottle with water, and drop it in for a few hours. When I pull it out, the label and glue come off with the garden hose.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Sierra Nevada labels fall right off. As do New Belgium.
But my local craft brewer seems to use Super Glue to keep those labels on.

I recently tried to de-label a ton of bottles with Oxy-Clean and found there is a spectrum of glue strength they use, ranging from some that float to the top and leave no glue whatsoever(Harp), some that leave glue residue but after soaking it scraps off easy, and some that seem to use an industrial strength NASA glue that still remains super sticky after endless soaking(I believe Elysium was one of these). I set all those aside for further soaking after my last round but I think like previous posters I'm just tossing them. Not worth my time

 

[El Nino]

PBW + warm water takes it off in 20 mins

 

[flseadog]

A good soak in hot water and PBW works great for me, theye just peel right off.

 

[bleme]

I got my bottles from a local sushi restaurant - about 4 cases of bottles each weekend.
I set a 55 gallon trash can next to my water heater in the garage and filled with bottles.
Then I hooked a hose to the drain valve of the water heater.
Dump a scoop of OxyClean in a 5 gallon water jug, fill with hot water, pour over the bottles.
Repeat until they are covered and come back the next day.
Scrape any remaining labels off with an old credit card.
Use a green scrub pad to remove any glue.
Blast the inside with a blast from the Jet Cleaner.
Put in the dishwasher and run with no soap, sanitizing heat dry.

 

[kh54s10]

Soak in generic Oxyclean. Scrape with a razorblade scraper. Scrub the glue off with a scrub pad. If the labels do not come off easily they get recycled and try some others.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I found that Maine Beer Company is another that uses ridiculously sticky glue. I wanted to save theirs because they're larger bottles but I'm finding it's not worth my team futzing with bottles that take multiple soakings and lots of elbow grease.

 

[Druman07]

Oxi works well. Let them soak and the labels float away in a couple of hours. Only one of my british beer bottles with a foil label did not come off.

 

[Werner]

I got my labels off super easy, put my clean bottles in the dishwasher with a double of detergent on the hottest cycle setting. Let it run through the first fill and rinse, like 20 mins and then stopped it and opened the door, voila labels all loose or already falling off. Gathered them all with some hunting on the bottom of the rack for a few. Put proper detergent in and ran it on pots and pans with sanatize, tada labels, glue gone and heat sani'ed bottles.

 

[AleLover]

Ever seen those little brown plastic scrapers that come with the Pampered Chef baking stones? (if not, ask someone who cooks a lot)
Trust me, these little tools are a gem for taking gunk of of anything - have used for carpet tape, wallpaper removal, and now the newest - removing bottle labels! Test the bottles first - as mentioned some peel off real easily when dry. Otherwise soak in very hot water for 15-30 minutes and use the scraper to find an edge, get under it and work it right off. Even bottles with stubborn labels can be saved if one has this tool and desire to scrape the glue residuals.

 

[JZ1018]

Yea it's funny there's certain labels that come off so much easier. There's a local brewery called Jack's Abby near me and their labels are almost foil-like. They peel off neatly all in one piece dry.

Let me guess, you're near Framingham, Ma?

 

[r4dyce]

Let me guess, you're near Framingham, Ma?

Boston for many years, recently moved to Lowell but work takes me to Framingham often. Funny, in the time of originally wrote this post they've moved almost entirely to cans (at least for what I find in my beer shop )

 

[Calder]

I found that Maine Beer Company is another that uses ridiculously sticky glue. I wanted to save theirs because they're larger bottles but I'm finding it's not worth my team futzing with bottles that take multiple soakings and lots of elbow grease.

I am not familiar with that beer (or bottles), but I have found some bottles that the labels are just impossible to get off by soaking in anything. But .... if you can lift the corner of the label when dry, with some labels it is possible to slowly peel the label off, and the remaining glue can be wiped off with alcohol.

I had a load of Bruery beers (about 30 of the large bottles). I could not get anywhere with soaking on the first few, then I tried to peel the labels dry, and was surprised it worked, and didn't take too much effort (a lot easier than removing any label with soaking). I've found a few other bottles with similar type labels that come off dry better than when wet.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I am not familiar with that beer (or bottles), but I have found some bottles that the labels are just impossible to get off by soaking in anything. But .... if you can lift the corner of the label when dry, with some labels it is possible to slowly peel the label off, and the remaining glue can be wiped off with alcohol.

I had a load of Bruery beers (about 30 of the large bottles). I could not get anywhere with soaking on the first few, then I tried to peel the labels dry, and was surprised it worked, and didn't take too much effort (a lot easier than removing any label with soaking). I've found a few other bottles with similar type labels that come off dry better than when wet.

I've always been able to get labels off, just sometimes the glue is impossibly stubborn to get off. I'm sure I could eventually scrape it all off with a lot of effort after soaking but at this point I just chuck it in recycling and move on, especially since I've accumulated so many bottles.

 

[JPW]

There's always the option of just not removing them...

I used to scrub the labels off of refurbished bottles I used until I started using 16oz bottles from a local brewery, Urban Chestnut, and they seem to use plastic labels that just don't come off. So...

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Labels vary dramatically, from just float off, to the plastic and foil ones that are strong enough to peel off to the paper ones where you can get the top layer off but the underlying layer stays stuck. But if you can get to that stage, then the best thing for removing residual glue etc is a stainless steel scourer like this, it works like magic, much better even than normal Brillo-style steel wool :

 

[LittleRiver]

... in the dishwasher with a double of detergent on the hottest cycle setting. Let it run through the first fill and rinse, like 20 mins and then stopped it and opened the door, voila labels all loose or already falling off. Gathered them all with some hunting on the bottom of the rack for a few....

It's best to first do the hot water soak in a separate container (not your dishwasher) so you don't risk clogging the dishwasher's valves with a loose label.

When my son was young he put a plastic straw in our dishwasher. After quite a bit of disassembly to figure out what was wrong with the dishwasher I found the straw jammed in one of the valves.

 

[passedpawn]

Labels vary dramatically, from just float off, to the plastic and foil ones that are strong enough to peel off to the paper ones where you can get the top layer off but the underlying layer stays stuck. But if you can get to that stage, then the best thing for removing residual glue etc is a stainless steel scourer like this, it works like magic, much better even than normal Brillo-style steel wool :
View attachment 612243

That's what I do. Wine bottles, mostly, these days since I don't bottle beer anymore.