I wet the label, scrape it with a window scraper and follow up with a stainless steel scrubby with a bit of detergent and it does the job. BTW, any oil will remove the gunk if you put it on a dry surface - works just like Goo Gone.
New Product for Removing Labels
- Thread starter JerryF
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You all are making this much more work than it needs to be.
Fill a kettle of water and boil it. Pour the boiling water into the bottle without letting the label get wet. Wait a while. The glue should be softened/melted and you should be able to peel the label off in one single intact piece. Use Goo-Gone to clean up any residual adhesive.
No scrubbing, no scraping, no dealing with a billion bits of wet paper fragments.
The few/rare bottles that use an adhesive that doesn't melt with this technique: just toss them into recycling and move onto the next bottle. It's not worth the extra effort.
Fill a kettle of water and boil it. Pour the boiling water into the bottle without letting the label get wet. Wait a while. The glue should be softened/melted and you should be able to peel the label off in one single intact piece. Use Goo-Gone to clean up any residual adhesive.
No scrubbing, no scraping, no dealing with a billion bits of wet paper fragments.
The few/rare bottles that use an adhesive that doesn't melt with this technique: just toss them into recycling and move onto the next bottle. It's not worth the extra effort.
winemanden
Senior Member
BOILING WATER? Surely there's a risk of heat stress cracks.
I soak them and use a hob scraper across the bottle.
I forgot to mention that I use warm/hot-ish water from the tap first, then the boiling water.
I've done well over 100 bottles this way and have cracked exactly 0 of them.
I put a couple of tablespoons of water in the bottle. Put the bottle in the microwave on its side and zap it for 1 minute on high. Remove the bottle with a gloved hand, empty the hot water and pick up the corner of the label with a sharp knife point. The label generally peels right off with constant, gentle pulling. I use SoftScrub on a piece of Scotchbright to remove any remaining glue. This has become my go-to method of label removal after many years of soaking and scraping. I've never had a problem with bottles breaking or cracking.
montanarick
Senior Member
This was my favorite method as well
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I use a heat gun to warm the labels moving it continuously for about 5 seconds and they peel off easily due to warming the glue. I use acetone on rag or goo gone to remove any remaining glue on bottle. The acetone can be strong so a mask helps but goo gone is easy too. This works quick and efficiently and is cheap.
Ugh no. A mask will not help with airborne acetone particulates, you need a respirator for that. You should never use acetone in small, confined spaces.
