What to try when Oxyclean won't get labels off?

[uwjester]

I have several Pliny bottles I'd like to reuse, but oxyclean doesn't seem to do a good enough job of removing the labels. I can get most of the paper off, but there is still a lot of glue left. I left the bottles for about 36 hours with a water/oxyclean change about halfway through, but no luck. I just have a sticky gooey mess. I also tried the hottest water I could get and scraping, but it still doesn't do a very good job. I have no idea what Russian River uses for glue, but I have not had this kind of problem with the hundreds of other bottles I have reused. Any ideas?

 

[ChshreCat]

I get that. Usually just the oxyclean soak and then a green scouring pad works fine.

 

[BreWirfel]

i read on here someone was soaking their bottles in starsan and it took the painted labels off their corona bottles...might be worth a try

 

[Reno_eNVy]

uwjester, so here's what I've found:

- Oxyclean works best on tough labels when the water you're soaking in is still hot... so 36 hour soaks will simply looser the glue and then allow the glue to harden up a little after cooling back down.
- Soak in hot water and Oxyclean for 30-45 minutes... 1 hour if you REALLY feel like it
- While still in the soak, start picking at the corner of one of the tough guys. If it comes off and the glue starts to dissipate and spread in the water, then they're ready
- Simply peel off the label, rinse the warm and more soluble glue off using just water
- If you have to, rub it down a little with a Bounty/sponge/pad/household-pet and you're good to go. No labels, no gunk!

At least it works for me. I get a lot of Sierra Nevada bottles and they can be brutal!

 

[stevea1210]

Wait a minute. Now that Billy Mays has passed, has oxylean lost its mystic powers?

Say it ain't so. Billy, us homebrewers need you....

 

[menschmaschine]

Lye (caustic soda, sodium hydroxide). It doesn't seem like anyone else on here but me has used it. A half-hour soak should get them off easily. It's usually available in the plumbing department of hardware stores (unless they take it off the shelves for crystal meth makers). It's a drain cleaner... just make sure it says 100% Lye. Wear PPE as applicable (dish gloves, safety glasses, etc.) and be careful.

 

[uwjester]

I tried cleaning them while still hot before I posted. Still no luck. I suppose I didn't put a whole lot of elbow grease into it. I think I might give the lye a try.

 

[SumnerH]

i read on here someone was soaking their bottles in starsan and it took the painted labels off their corona bottles...might be worth a try

I've heard that rumor, but I tried it and no dice. Didn't do anything at all on Corona, Piraat, Red Stripe, or Gouden Caralous. I stepped it up to a double concentration for 48 hours and still not even a scratch on the paint.

Nail polish remover works fine on all of the above, though.

 

[ottobrew]

I remove all my labels, to include the occasional Pliny label, with PBW. Works in a similar fashion as lye, but minus the side effects (chemical burns and such). Happy bottling.

 

[DeafSmith]

I've tried a strong ammonia solution on labels (before I discovered OxyClean) with good success, but never tried it on Pliny bottles. Just another suggestion if all else fails. You'd probably want to cover the bucket you have the solution in to cut down on the smell.

 

[Freezeblade]

Steel Wool. Just scrub at them suckers under water, works like a charm for me, and takes glue right off. I've yet to leave visible scratches on the surface of the bottles either.

 

[TXCrash]

PTE labels seem to be stuck on with some mystical magic adhesive ;-) I tried a WEEK LONG soak with oxyclean and the paper fell off - but not the labels (only on the PTE bottles).

Lye etches glass in certain concentrations but is an excellent cleaner.

I've been planning on trying goof off (basically acetone) which SHOULD remove the glue adequately.

 

[Dwain]

I used to soak them in TSP. Sometimes, I would use a potato peeler to help get the labels off. luck - Dwain

 

[beerthirty]

Paper labels except foil, week long soak in Dawn detergent with water and the labels slip off whole and can be kept for kezzer decoration. Painted labels very fine steel wool and acetone. Foil labels, still working on how to remove them intact.

 

[uwjester]

Hmmm. Think I'll try the PBW before I resort to lye. Hope I don't have to resort to a potato peeler.

 

[amercuric]

Soak in scalding hot water for an hour or so. At this point you should be able to peel off most of the label, but there will still be some adhesive left. Then just go to town on the label with a whisk. Works like a charm. Pic related.

 

[conpewter]

I've used "Goo-gone" on the bottles that still have tough glue after the oxiclean soak.

 

[willangus]

Sand paper and steel wool. Comes off a treat.

 

[Homercidal]

Goo-Gone has finished the glue off for me on occasion, but I'd rather toss any bottles that don't just slide off after an Oxi soak. Too much trouble.

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

When the glue is softened, but not dissolved, by oxiclean I use a nylon paint stripping brush to scrape/scrub away the remaining adhesive.
Adhesives that are not softened by water/detergents may be susceptible to plain vegetable oil.

Does anyone have a way to remove the paint from Corsendonk bottles?

 

[Brewin_CRAZY]

I have always just done a starsan soak, takes both print screened and labels off. Never had a problem. Just let them soak a night or two, basically long enough for everything to just come right off.

 

[uwjester]

A little update on the process. I tried pbw without any luck, same gooey glue mess. I let that dry a bit and went after the glue with goo gone. That stuff chewed right through it, but it leaves a kind of oily residue. I'll probably do another oxyclean soak before I fill the bottles.

As a side note, I had another bottle of Pliny while I was doing the cleaning, and I figured I'd clean that one too. I carefully peeled the label off without any soak. The damn thing came right off. There was still a lot of glue left behind, but there was actually less than the bottles that had soaked in oxyclean and pbw. Maybe this information will help someone, maybe it wont.

 

[zman]

a potato peeler after soaking hot water, then the green scrubbing pad works wonders for me.

 

[samc]

ORANGE-SOL and De-Solv-it: Safe, Citrus-Based, and General Cleaning Products and Solutions

I don't bottle much anymore but the citrus stuff works on any glue I have tried it on.