# Running Low



## Wade E (Jun 12, 2008)

Since I had the day off i called both my transfer station and the next towns transfer station(dump/recycle center) and asked them to hold any wine bottles till the end of the day for me. When I got to each place there were 3 boxes at each place for me. I filled the bathtub 3 times already and here is 1 of the pics. I usually dont do it this way anymore as I have been well supplied with bottles until recently since I bottled most of what I had bulk aging. I have 2-6 gallon batches left to bottle and only 26 of 1 kind and a whole lot of random bottles after that. I have to do some serious restocking for awhile. Heres 1 bathtub full with Oxyclean in there.






*Edited by: wade *


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 12, 2008)

So, Wade....where are the kids going to bathe tonight?????


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## Wade E (Jun 12, 2008)

Ill just hose them off with cold water outside!


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## Waldo (Jun 12, 2008)

How long do they have to soak before those labels begin to just fall off. Do you do another step of cleaning after this or are they done when they come out of the tub and rinsed.


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## Wade E (Jun 12, 2008)

They start falling off after 1 1/2 hours and after that I rinse out very well and then store them and sanitize before use. The Straight A cleanser does a good job of most labels and killing anything in there then on the bottle tree they hang to dry then into the box or the bottle rack if I have room.


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## univity (Jun 12, 2008)

I like using straight A but one time I let bottles soak in it overnight. After rinsing the bottles a number of them had a nasty film inside and outside - now i fill the bottles with water first and sit them all upright then fill the tub with hot water and straight A - havent had the yucky film since i started doing that. Also - Ecco Domani (sp?) and Wolf Blass bottles - dont even try de-labeling, way more work than they are worth!


Love the pic tho - and good idea - have a big garden tub in master bath that I rarely use - that may be a good use for it!!!


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## Jeff H (Jun 12, 2008)

Wade, I use Oxyclean too! Works great...nice haul. Jeff


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## Wade E (Jun 12, 2008)

I had some Straight A cleanser and it works better then the Oxyclean but I ran out on the last batch so had to steal the wifes Oxy. It works almost as good as the Straight A and as good as the C-Brite or B-Brite in my opinion.


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## Jeff H (Jun 12, 2008)

Interesting Wade....I have a short winemaking history, I have only used Oxyclean and Easy Clean http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=6019A. Care to elaborate on the merits of each of the cleansers? 






http://www.finevinewines.com/cleaning.htm
http://www.finevinewines.com/Cleaning-versus-Sanitizing.htm


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## Wade E (Jun 12, 2008)

Jeff H, what I am doing here is mainly delabeling recycled wine bottles. They are in no way, shape, or form ready to bottle at this stage. I use NA-Meta, Star San, or Iodophor for sanitizing them prior to using them. I have used C-Brite and B-Brite previous to this and must say that Straight A is by far the stronger of them all. Oxyclean and all its off brands to me seem to do the same job as cleaners in my opinion. I do not use any of those as sanitizers though. I have never used Easy Clean though so can not compare that product.

*Edited by: wade *


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## Jeff H (Jun 12, 2008)

Wade...there are so many different cleansers it's hard to know which to use.Thanks for your response.My Starter kit contained Easy Clean so I've stayed the course with it for wine and santizing with K-meta. For bottles I use Oxyclean, I got one of those mega sized containers at Sam's, so I'm in for the long haul



.


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## Wade E (Jun 13, 2008)

The Oxy and its off brands are good enough but if doing lots in a tub the Straight A is will lift the labels easier and get more of them off.


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## Wade E (Aug 19, 2008)

Last Saturday I called the transfer station again and retrieved 148 bottles not counting the 2 1/2 cases that I had o throw back due to them being twist offs. Those twist offs are becoming more and more common. I gonna do them bottles in a couple different loads in the bath tub.


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## corn field (Aug 20, 2008)

all those bottles to clean and remove labels makes my bach hure wade


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## Wade E (Aug 20, 2008)

Mine too corn field but paying for all those bottles makes my wallet hurt!


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## corn field (Aug 20, 2008)

I hear that Wade


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## termini (Aug 26, 2008)

I agree with univity, I also am starting to learn which brands are not worth the elbow grease to try and get the lables off. Especially when you are able to get volumes of bottles from a recycler. What ever does not float off, or come off really easily, I just toss it in my own recycling and move on---I have so much other stuff to be doing-- like preparing for fall hunting!!


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## Wade E (Aug 26, 2008)

Very few bottles make it to my recycle bin as Im not afraid to dig in with some elbow grease and some goo-b-gone!


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## Wayne1 (Aug 27, 2008)

I bought a big plastic tub at Lowes and put my bottles in it on the back porch where they are out of the way with water and simple dish detergent and am just leaving them - I"m finding that the longer I let them sit, moreand morelabels either are falling of or can be scraped off with a thumbnail


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## Wade E (Aug 27, 2008)

I just fill up my bathtub with hot water and Oxyclean(usually a Walmart brand) and put as many bottles in there as i can fit that will still be completely submerged, close the shower door, and let it sit for about 6 hours.


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## gaudet (Aug 27, 2008)

Somewhere earlier Wade stated that he was throwing away the screw top bottles. Are they unsafe to cork? Why can't you use them with corks? I think I have a few that I have cleaned, but none that I have used for bottling.
*Edited by: gaudet *


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## Wade E (Aug 27, 2008)

Do not cork a screw top as they dont have the thicker top walls to accommodate the pressure from a corker. i have done a few when I first started out making wine with no problems but have heard many horror stories of a bottling splitting when either corking or pulling the cork and people getting cut to the tendons or just many stitches or just a plain old waste of wine. Not worth it and especially if giving that bottle to someone else!!!!


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## univity (Aug 30, 2008)

I have used a few screwcap bottles and the cork seems to go in way too easily. One of them leaked on me after being on its side for a few days. I dont try to cork screw caps anymore.


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## Wade E (Sep 7, 2008)

Uhhh, just finished doing 134 bottles today. Im on vacation all this week so Ill be getting a lot more since I have the chance. My wife is going not going to be happy with me with all the bottles coming into the house and then in the tub. I do clean up after myself though but the bottle tree and the boxes are what gets on her nerves.


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## Rocky_Top (Sep 12, 2008)

I just got 10cases of bottles (120 bottles) at a local winery. The corker pressed the corkall the way downinto the bottles. The bottles are new but dirty without a lable, with a cork inside. I have seen the cork remover. How much work am I in for?


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## Wade E (Sep 12, 2008)

YouTube - How to *remove* a *cork* from inside of a bottle

http://www.instructables.com/id/Open-a-bottle-of-wine-with-a-piece-of-string./


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## Wade E (Sep 12, 2008)

YouTube - How to *remove* a *cork* from inside of a bottle

http://www.instructables.com/id/Open-a-bottle-of-wine-with-a-piece-of-string./

Ive tried the bag trick and it worked effortlessly the 1st time.


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## NorthernWinos (Sep 13, 2008)

That bag trick is slick....going to have to try that one....

We use a piece of thin wire with a little hook bent at the end...

Insert the wire, turn the bottle up side down with the wire beside the cork....Line the cork up with the bottle opening...and pull the wire....The cork will slide out with the wire...

Did that make any sense???


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## Rocky_Top (Sep 13, 2008)

Yes, I will try that next. the bag trick works. Each time it rips my bag. I ran out of bags. (120 bottles) synthetic corks are hard to pull out.


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## grapeman (Sep 13, 2008)

Rockytop, George sells a removal tool for a few dollar. It wont rip after each use. That is the problem I had with the bag- it always rips.
http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=9009

<TABLE =maintable borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=2>
<T>
<TR>
<TD =#ffff00>Item Number</TD>
<TD>9009</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD =#ffff00>Description</TD>
<TD>


Cork Retriever Three Prong








</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD =#ffff00>Current Price</TD>
<TD>$6.49</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD =#ffff00>Status</TD>
<TD>Stocked</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD =#ffff00>Order</TD>
<TD>Order</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD =#ffff00>Picture</TD>
<TD>




</TD></TR></T></TABLE>


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## Wade E (Sep 13, 2008)

I picked up another 67 bottles today and have been cleaning them all day after pouring my new floor down stairs. I have the last batch soaking now and thats it for awhile as Im right to the ceiling where I keep the empties!


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