Removing Old Labels?

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Ol Tex

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I'm sure this has been discussed, but as a newbie I'm gonna ask. What's the easiest way to remove labels from wine bottles? I have friends and family saving their bottles for me so I can recycle them and fill with my homemade wines. (I know they're wanting a bottle or two in return..LOL)
Right now, I have some soaking in 10% bleach/hot water solution. Is there a better way? Thanks in advance!
John
 
Fill the tub, laundry sink or large container with water, add oxy clean and let soak over night. find a plastic scaper of some kind and have fun. Some lables will fall off others will take a little work. A word of warning, if the lables fall off do not leave them on the floor. They are much harder to scrape off the floor.
smiley36.gif
 
I soak in plain hot water and use a paint scraper with a new razor blade....try to get under the hot glue and scrape around the bottle, not up and down.

Works for me....
 
Tub full of hot water and Oxyclean(Walmart Sun Brand). Straight A cleanser works better though.
Bottles.jpg
 
NW, I bet that a razor scraper works well.


Wade, Is the J and J no tears shampoo for you or the kids.
 
and a small scotch brite type scrubbing pad will help to take off the residual glue left on the bottles. Trust me on this one...................... They work great. Soak your bottles for a day or two in h20 or h20 with oxyclean and then strip your labels off with the plastic dish scraper mentioned above. Then take your scotch bright pad and rub out the remaining glue. All thats left is to rinse, scrub and sanitize before bottling.....
 
I also use the razor scraper for the tough ones and a scrubber is also handy. With all these tools handy the job will be much easier. The J&J is for the 5 year old boy. I shower upstairs where the water pressure is much better for some reason.
 
Rocky Top said:
Fill the tub, laundry sink or large container with water, add oxy clean and let soak over night. find a plastic scaper of some kind and have fun. Some lables will fall off others will take a little work. A word of warning, if the lables fall off do not leave them on the floor. They are much harder to scrape off the floor.
smiley36.gif


I don't know if it is the water softner or what is causing the problem of there being a film on the bottles after i use this method. I have even followed it up with a washing them in the dishwasher. Anyone else run into this and if so do you have any recomendations would be greatly appreciated
smiley5.gif

For now i'm going to switch to plain water. in smaller batches to see if the film persists.


rube
 
Get the bottle blaster to wash them out thoroughly after cleaning them!
 
I have even followed it up with a washing them in the dishwasher


I run all my bottles through the dishwasher with no soap and have the sanitizer mode selected. These are all clean bottles -- most had our wine in them previously. After the hot treatment in the dishwasher, I run sanitizer through each bottle. Over kill? Probably. Easy to do? Definitely!


Wayne
 
I do a combination of the above.


Soak in hot water for at least 3 hours.


Scrape AROUND the bottle, not up and down. Some need no scraping at all and just peel right off, otherscan be a real pain.


Instead of a Scotch Brite pad,Iusea copper scouring pad. You can usually get these at your local supermarket.


Feel the glue first before attempting to scrub it off. If it is "sticky" don't bother as it will onlyclog up your scouring pad. Buy some Goo Gone, give it a little squirtandthe sticky stuffwill usually rub right off. If the glue seems dry and hard the copper pad will take if off in about 2 seconds.


If you can't find Goo Gone, the other chemical aid I use is gasket remover. This you can get at an auto parts store. It's water soluble but will make your skin itch if you don't wash your arms and hands right away when finished. You also need to do this in a well ventilated area. I'd only reccomend this for the very toughest ones.
 
Rube-a-Billy said:
Rocky Top said:
Fill the tub, laundry sink or large container with water, add oxy clean and let soak over night. find a plastic scaper of some kind and have fun. Some lables will fall off others will take a little work. A word of warning, if the lables fall off do not leave them on the floor. They are much harder to scrape off the floor.
smiley36.gif


I don't know if it is the water softner or what is causing the problem of there being a film on the bottles after i use this method. I have even followed it up with a washing them in the dishwasher. Anyone else run into this and if so do you have any recomendations would be greatly appreciated
smiley5.gif

For now i'm going to switch to plain water. in smaller batches to see if the film persists.


rube
I forgota thing or two:
I fill the bottles with water and stand them up in the laundry sink then I fill the sink with water and add oxy clean. Then when the lable is off I use a sos pad to get the residue off the outside. I am sure that some other pad would be better.I use the sink drain to help hold the bottle whe scrubbing.After the outside is clean Iscrub the inside with b-bright.
 
I also get the annoying dusty film on the bottles if I use OxyClean,,,,so just use hot water...

Brush and bottle blaster are a must.

Scouring pad or Stainless Steel curly things do come in handy too....

I really don't mind cleaning bottles...all part of the process and signals that bottling day will soon arrive....
smiley4.gif
 
Thanks, everyone! Got my sleeves rolled up and heeeeere I go to fight the battle of the label.
 
Rube-a-Billy said:
Rocky Top said:
Fill the tub, laundry sink or large container with water, add oxy clean and let soak over night. find a plastic scaper of some kind and have fun. Some lables will fall off others will take a little work. A word of warning, if the lables fall off do not leave them on the floor. They are much harder to scrape off the floor.
smiley36.gif


I don't know if it is the water softner or what is causing the problem of there being a film on the bottles after i use this method. I have even followed it up with a washing them in the dishwasher. Anyone else run into this and if so do you have any recomendations would be greatly appreciated
smiley5.gif

For now i'm going to switch to plain water. in smaller batches to see if the film persists.


rube

I don't have any problems with our water softener. I did have the same problem. I use less oxyclean and the problem went away. We seem to use less cleaners with softened water compared to without.
 
Any recommendations on removing what I would call "painted" labels (no paper, but all info seems to be painted on the bottles, i.e., silver oak napa bottles)?

Thanks,
Ike
 
My source of empties has a number of "painted" bottles. I just put my label over the top of the painted label since anyone I give the wine too is going to know it's homemade and recycled bottles anyway!
 
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