Label removel - easy

I have struggled with removing the glue used on some wine bottles. I found Goo Gone, WD40, and charcoal lighter all work. To me all of these have their drawbacks. As a coincidence a friend of mine sent me a little FYI about WD40. This FYI said the main ingrediant was fish oil. That got me thinking, the oil in peanut butter will get chewing gum out of things.

Long story short, after I scraped off the labels I gently scrubbed them with a scotchbrite soaked in corn oil. I let them sit for 30 minutes and washed them off with warm water and Dawn. It worked like a charm and is cheap. I like cheap.

Sweet! Thanks for the tip.

I soak bottles in hot, soapy water overnight, scrape the label off with a wooden stick and rub the glue residue off with a scotch pad and it is clean. Not hard work at all. I don't use anything boat soap and water.

olusteebus,

I have soaked bottles for a week straight in soapy water and the did just what you do. Some glues just smear around when they get warm.

What do you do to get all the oil off the bottles?

I scrape the bottles prior to soaking in oxyclean. The residue from ever the most stubborn labels comes off.

Good tip Thanks!!

Boatboy24,

Read the whole post. I wash them with warm water and Dawn.

tcavan01 said:

olusteebus,

I have soaked bottles for a week straight in soapy water and the did just what you do. Some glues just smear around when they get warm.

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I guess it depends on the label type. The bottles I have used were mostly Aldi's Winking owl and also Woodbridge. I just have been fortunate.

Walmart sells a cheap wine called Lucky Duck and those labels are clear and a real bear to get off. If I were doing a lot, I would use a propane torch or a heat gun to melt.

B-Brite works well for me. Soak in warm water with B-Brite, rinse in cold water so the glues don't melt and get gooey. Cleans the bottles at the same time.

Clear,sticky labels

olusteebus said:

I guess it depends on the label type. The bottles I have used were mostly Aldi's Winking owl and also Woodbridge. I just have been fortunate.

Walmart sells a cheap wine called Lucky Duck and those labels are clear and a real bear to get off. If I were doing a lot, I would use a propane torch or a heat gun to melt.

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The propane torch sounds a bit like overkill.
I had the same problem with New Age wine bottles. Found that filling them with hot water, letting them sit a few minutes and then peeling them off worked great. Used GooGone to remove the residue. Washed well and filled.
I like the clear bottles for my Blushin' Skeeter and other "pretty" wines. Like Cranberry.

barryjo, I use corn oil instead of googone. It's cheaper and it's always in the pantry.

I soak mine over night with oxyclean, then scrape with a razor blade or wood scraper, then the clue comes off easily with Goo Gone. I spray the goo gone on an old rag and wipe off. Its that easy.

Sal

I tried the vinegar-in-hot-water-bath trick, and it worked... on some labels.

I must have gotten some easy labels on my first night because I was so impressed with the ease with which they came off. On the second night, the labels ran the gamut - some came off easily, but others, like the Apothic Red, took some elbow grease.

Sad, because my boyfriend and I like Apothic Red so we end up buying a fair amount of it...

I'll have to try OxyClean in the future. My friend just promised me a bunch of her bottles *cackles gleefully* so I'm sure I'll get lots of chances to try different methods!

after about 300 bottles i came up with scraping the labels off with a razor and then soaking them in water with StarSan added. After a couple days the glue comes off with a little scrubbing with a Scotch brite pad. However after doing 300 bottles I'm going to buy new ones from now on. Going forward I'll recycle my wine but I'm not taking anymore from friends.

JoaniB said:

I tried the vinegar-in-hot-water-bath trick, and it worked... on some labels.

I must have gotten some easy labels on my first night because I was so impressed with the ease with which they came off. On the second night, the labels ran the gamut - some came off easily, but others, like the Apothic Red, took some elbow grease.

Sad, because my boyfriend and I like Apothic Red so we end up buying a fair amount of it...

I'll have to try OxyClean in the future. My friend just promised me a bunch of her bottles *cackles gleefully* so I'm sure I'll get lots of chances to try different methods!

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Isn't that the truth! We drink lots of Apothic Red as well and I hate their labels!!

wood1954 said:

after about 300 bottles i came up with scraping the labels off with a razor and then soaking them in water with StarSan added. After a couple days the glue comes off with a little scrubbing with a Scotch brite pad. However after doing 300 bottles I'm going to buy new ones from now on. Going forward I'll recycle my wine but I'm not taking anymore from friends.

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Rather than using a Scotchbrite pad, I use one of those stainless steel pot scrubbers that look like Lil Orphan Annies hairdo. They don't seem to plug up as bad.

UBB said:

Isn't that the truth! We drink lots of Apothic Red as well and I hate their labels!!

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I'm sipping on some right now, and dreading the future task... However, the sipping helps with that...

JoaniB said:

I'm sipping on some right now, and dreading the future task... However, the sipping helps with that...

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I like the AR, though it is a tad fruity/sweet. I've found a few wines that I like with somewhat easy to remove labels: J Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon and Dreaming Tree (by Dave Matthews if you happen to be a fan) "Crush" (red blend) and Cabernet Sauv. All three are decent wines for $10-12 with labels that aren't too much pain to remove.

Try oxyclean its cheap and effective and it cleans the bottles at the same time. When using the goo gone, all I do is wipe on and wipe off. The glue comes right off. No scrubbing required.

Just a thought,
Sal