Tips for removing labels and that sticky glue?

[jarrodaden]

Any veterans want to share any tricks they know for quick and easy ways to remove labels AND the sticky glue residue from store bought beer bottles?

 

[MalFet]

It depends significantly on the brand, but I've found that a round or two of PBW followed by StarSan seems to make pretty much everything scrub off easily.

 

[kyleslattery]

I soak in OxiClean Free for a day or so, and the majority of labels come right off. I then scrub at the glue with a sponge to get any remaining residue.

Any bottles that still have labels after this (very few) aren't worth the time, so I just recycle them.

 

[AnthonyC]

I soak in OxiClean Free for a day or so

This.

A soak in Oxyclean Free followed by a good rinse takes off the labels, glue, etc.

 

[Revvy]

Hot watr and an overnight soak in oxyclean gets the job done for me.

 

[brandonhagen1]

use a potato peeler and soak in oxyclean glue and everything comes off

 

[Jayblefty]

Soak in hot water and baking soda for an hour or so and the labels will slide right off. The glue will usually come off with a dish towel if the water is still warm. I just did a batch of 70 bottles in my tub. Turned out nice and clean and baking soda is cheap so I dumped in an entire box.

 

[lx302]

Most people use Oxyclean, I currently use 2-3 tablespoons of ammonia in bucket of water. With the 5-6 bottles, most labels slide off in a matter of hours.

 

[dmckean44]

A brillo pad is good for scrubbing off glue.

 

[jarrodaden]

it depends significantly on the brand, but i've found that a round or two of pbw followed by starsan seems to make pretty much everything scrub off easily.

pbw?

 

[audger]

if nothing else works, or if you need to remove lables that are usually plastered all over used corney kegs, get some spray on paint stripper from home despot. takes everything right off.

 

[JonM]

Warm oxyclean UNSCENTED and about an hour soak. Most labels (especially Duvel and Bell's) come right off. Others, (I'm looking at you, North Coast Brewing Co.) are a PITA to get off. Either way, a steel pot scrubber takes off the glue residue.

 

[WDT]

Jumping on the oxiclean free bandwagon here. Soak overnight, then a hot water rinse for the stubborn glue residue that remains.

 

[mobilecabinworks]

Hot PBW and a green scrub pad! Mostly you need to melt the glue with warm/hot water, them the PBW does a pretty good job of dissolving the gum. Just remember to rinse in hot water as well.

 

[waltsj19]

pbw?

A common cleaner for available at LHBS. Used by many commercial breweries, but many homebrewers prefer alternative oxygen-based cleaners (oxyclean) due to the cost.

Search results for: 'pbw' : Northern Brewer

 

[jarrodaden]

Hot PBW and a green scrub pad! Mostly you need to melt the glue with warm/hot water, them the PBW does a pretty good job of dissolving the gum. Just remember to rinse in hot water as well.

Another "PBW" reference. This noob brewer has no idea what that is.

 

[Piratwolf]

Basically Oxyclean or something similar. The stuff is a brewer's best friend... Well, after beer, of course!

"All your home brew are belong to us!"

 

[DeafSmith]

PBW:

General Products | Five Star Chemicals & Supplies, Inc.

Sold at any Home Brew Supply store

 

[bthorn9435]

1 -Soak in warm water
2 -Take butter knife and remove labels
3 -Remove glue with a Magic Eraser. (The Magic Eraser is awesome for removing glue residue)

 

[jdd12364]

oxyclean & hot water .

 

[iaefebs]

Totally depends on the type of label the brewery uses. Most use "cold glue" and those are the simple ones that are removed by the oxyclean hot water method. Other breweries use a "pressure sensitive" label and the glue on those can't be removed with oxyclean, elbow grease, magic erasers, goo gone, etc. Once you run into a brewery that uses the "pressure sensitive" type just remember not to try to remove those labels.

 

[bthorn9435]

Sam Adams uses the standard glue on labels, I use these for re-bottling.

 

[Bobby_M]

If I soak a bottle overnight in oxiclean and I don't find the label floating (or nearly falling off) in the morning, that bottle goes in the recycle bin and I take a mental note of what brand it is. Some places use a non-water soluble glue.

 

[overdbus]

I use a simple heat gun at work to remove 98% of labels
then your cleaner of choice for the leftover glue.

 

[unionrdr]

When I was first collecting bottles waiting for my brew kit to come in,I used a homer cheapo bucket with enough PBW (Powdered Brewer's Wash) to cover 12-13 bottles by 2" or so. An overnight soak makes the labels float off,& dissolve the glue or make it very soft. A bottle brush & dobie make quick work of them after that. Rinse & onto the bottle tree to dry before storing in covered boxes.

 

[SPR-GRN]

Ok I think I can give some usefull advice as I reuse both beer bottles & wine bottles.
MOST beer bottle labels will come off with hot water and your choice of cleaner/sanitizer (I use bleach).

Stubborn labels (harpoon for one) require a green scubby, or at worst steel wool.

For wine bottles I soak and strip with green scrubby or steel wool - then use "goof off" to remove adhesive.
Aftrer goof off I do the bleach sanitation process. I immagine some difficult bottle labels will require this.

I hope this helps you out.

 

[franklinswheat]

Goo be gone followed by soak in bleach. If you"re too cheap for goo be gone wd-40 peels them off even easier but is harder to clean up

 

[corvanic]

I have a rubbermaid tote that i fill with water and 3 gallons of ammonia. bottles come out totally clean. it takes off the plastic clear labels too.

 

[phatspade]

I have used just straight hot water/dish soap and let them sit for 30-45 min. I have had a couple labels take a little bit of elbow grease, but nothing to discourage me from giving up and paying $15 for another case of bottles from my LHBS. I'm a firm believer is reusing when possible so I'll take the time to clean off all my stubborn labels.

 

[FoulMouth]

Olive oil, soap, and hot water and let it stay over night. If they dont slide off a green scrub thing works great.