PVC Closures

[ehlenrg]

I picked up some PVC closures to dress up the bottles I give away. Is there some secret to smoothly shrinking these without wrinkles or do I need to purchase a special shrink wrap gun?

 

[NorthernWinos]

This works for me....a pot of boiling water....slip capsule over the top of the bottle...invert bottle holding capsule tight to top of bottle with a spoon...dip into the boiling water....works for me.

 

[grapeman]

There are a lot of tools to apply the shrinks from fancy heat guns, to cheap heat guns and pans of boiling water and my favorite- a tea kettle. All you neet is steam or boiling water and it will shrink rapidly. As I apply them with the steam from the kettle, I give it a quick twist and it shrinks quicky, usually without any wrinkes, but I do occasionally get a small one.

 

[Joanie]

If you're really brave, you can hold the cap with your thumb as you slide the bottle into the boiling water. As soon as the cap hits the water, pull your thumb away. The first one is pretty scary but it works really well.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I'm too slow to use the tea kettle, usually got wrinkles....maybe needed more practice....
Thumb in boiling water....would never work for me.

 

[Wade E]

I forked out the money for this and it really makes things easy and fast without boiling any fingers.

 

[ehlenrg]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I have a few techniques to try out next time I dress up a bottle to give away. Right now I'm concentrating on starting some new vines. St. Pepin and LaCrosse. Looks like I lost the Edelwiess in the -25 weather last winter. King of the North came through fine.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I have a few techniques to try out next time I dress up a bottle to give away. Right now I'm concentrating on starting some new vines. St. Pepin and LaCrosse. Looks like I lost the Edelwiess in the -25 weather last winter. King of the North came through fine.

Don't give up on the Edelweiss ....it may come up from the base.

What other vines do you have growing????/....Sounds like you have some hardy ones......you must be in the North for such brutal temperatures.....good luck on your vines.

 

[grapeman]

Like NW said, don't give up too soon on the Edelweiss. How old were they? If they were only one year old the cane could have gotten hit and it will likely grow back from the ground even quicker than last time. It is also possible that they just haven't come around yet. In cool springs, there can be a lot of variability in budbreak- some varieties coming around a couple weeks sooner than others. Edelweiss should be able to withstand those temperatures alright. If you have many winters that cold you might need varieties more cold hardy than St. Pepin and LaCrosse even.

 

[ehlenrg]

Looks like the Edelweis made it. A couple of small buds coming through. I checked with a couple of guys at our local club (Prairie Home Vintner's) and they also said just give them time that for some reason their Edelweis were really slow this spring compared to the other vines as well.

 

[whino-wino]

I'm too slow to use the tea kettle, usually got wrinkles....maybe needed more practice....
Thumb in boiling water....would never work for me.

Just use a fork in one hand to hold the cap in place and hold the bottle in the other hand. Start at the top AT THE SEAM and go down the seam first. After the seam is done then start at the top again and twist. If you do the seam first there is no need to bequick about it. You can take your sweet time if you want to. Works every time for me, I can't remember the last time I had a wrinkle in the shrink cap (knock on wood).