# Best label removal hack EVER



## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Jul 9, 2020)

Rather than revive an old thread, I just wanted to say thank you to @CDrew for the best label removing hack I've find to date. I had some bottles given to me but the labels were impossible to get off so I was ready to throw them out. Your method is working like a charm!!!


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## KCCam (Jul 21, 2020)

I tried the oven, but still had trouble with a bunch. I tried a heat gun, but was worried, and read reports, that excessive heat could cause residual stress in the glass. 
I will say that the *absolute best *thing for removing any kind of adhesive is *NAPHTHA. *Otherwise known as Coleman fluid. It’s cheap ($10/gallon) compared to all the other things I’ve ever tried, but* extremely flammable*. It dissolves adhesives like water dissolved sugar. I wear rubber gloves when using it.


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## reeflections (Jul 21, 2020)

Tried the oven, tried all the other methods. Some worked on some plenty didn't work on others. Residual glue is a pain and I'm not inclined to use harsh noxious chemicals. So, I quit using used commercial bottles and started buying new ones and using easy peel labels that I read about on another thread here and they are great. Buying bottles isn't too bad if they are easy to wash and peel. Plus they come with a box. Worth it to me anyway.


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## DizzyIzzy (Jul 23, 2020)

Val-the-Brew-Gal said:


> Rather than revive an old thread, I just wanted to say thank you to @CDrew for the best label removing hack I've find to date. I had some bottles given to me but the labels were impossible to get off so I was ready to throw them out. Your method is working like a charm!!!View attachment 63330


Cdrew and Val, I am looking forward to trying the oven trick: soaking and scraping is for the birds! I remove the glue/gum residue easily with "*GOO GONE."............*......Dizzy


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## GaDawg (Jul 23, 2020)

I’m a label peeler, but my hack is the trash can. Some bottles just need to be tossed, they are not worth the effort.


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## rustbucket (Jul 23, 2020)

If you're lucky enough to live near a wine making supply store where you can buy bottles for about $1 or less, then it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of time and energy salvaging wine bottles. Those people who don't have a local bottle source have to pay shipping to get bottles in. The costs of shipping doubles your bottle costs. When I was in that position, I scrounged every bottle I could spending hours on label removal.

The method I used called for letting the bottles soak in a sink filled with easy clean and, after a half hour, scraping off the label and glue with a box cutter for the more stubborn situations. Unfortunately, the later seemed to be the case with the majority of bottles I procured.


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## GaDawg (Jul 24, 2020)

I don't live near a wine making supply store but I have bought from wineries. With friends neighbors, and family saving bottles I rarely need bottles.


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## KCCam (Jul 24, 2020)

GaDawg said:


> I don't live near a wine making supply store but I have bought from wineries. With friends neighbors, and family saving bottles I rarely need bottles.


Not many wineries where I live (Alberta), but I have enough bottles from friends and family now that I can finally recycle the ones with tough labels.
Wait a second... I just Googled "wineries in alberta". Who knew? I guess you don't need grapes to make wine. Oh, right, that's what *I'm *doing now. LOL.


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## NoQuarter (Jul 24, 2020)

So tired of removing labels.....
I use my labels for wine gifts and my main (beautiful) wine rack in dining area of house. I use the wine tags in my wine cellar, that's the wine we drink around the house. I do keep a drawer with extra printed labels just in case I have to get some together for a wedding or something from cellar. I have always just soaked bottles for a day or two outside then commence to scrubbing. SUCKS.


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## Jal5 (Jul 24, 2020)

I’ve tried just about every way. My favorite is a heat gun for a couple of minutes then most will peel off. Some still need scraping. Anymore than that and in the recycle bin it goes. Do the heat with air moving or outside- that glue will give you a headache.


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## montanarick (Jul 25, 2020)

I always stick bottles in the oven at 250 degrees for about ten minutes. most labels will peel right off without any residual but every once in a while some will leave a residue. For those stubborn bottles I clean them with with VN&P Naphtha which works quickly and leaves no residue whatsoever. I've found that mineral spirits will leave an oily residue and doesn't work as well as naphtha.


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## PandemoniumWines (Jul 25, 2020)

I toss any bottles that don’t peel cleanly with the oven method. That’s about 30% or so for me.


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## Chuck E (Jul 25, 2020)

I've found some bottles with a water soluble glue back label and a temperature sensitive front label. Oven or boiling water takes care of the front and soaking takes care of the back.


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## Venatorscribe (Jul 25, 2020)

Same as the above technique in combination with a paint scraper or sharp knife. I wipe the bottle with acetone to remove any remaining glue. I have no patience for bottle labels that don't play along. Those bottles go straight into the glass recycle bin.


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## Yooper🍷 (Jul 26, 2020)

I use a 5 gal bucket fill half with hot water and add a scoop of oxiclean. Fill bottles with hot water and put in bucket fill rest of the way. After a day or so paper labels fall or peal right off. If they don’t I run a sharp knife up and down label refill with hot water and put back in bucket. Works pretty good.


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## Sage (Jul 31, 2020)

Since it's 105 outside today, I'm going to set some out in the sun. Might be hot enough for an easy peel ??


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## cmason1957 (Jul 31, 2020)

Sage said:


> Since it's 105 outside today, I'm going to set some out in the sun. Might be hot enough for an easy peel ??



105F is hardly even hot water, I doubt it will do much.


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## montanarick (Jul 31, 2020)




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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> 105F is hardly even hot water, I doubt it will do much.


Worth a try... Couldn't hurt... Much less mess and time spent if it works... I used to leave floppy disks on top of my CRT monitor. The little bit of extra warmth made a huge difference in how easily those labels peeled off. How old am I, right??? LOL *No, they were NOT 5 1/4" disks... *although I did have lots of those too, just never needed to remove their labels. Hahaha. And how many of you have seen an 8" floppy disk? I used a few of those too!!


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## cmason1957 (Jul 31, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Worth a try... Couldn't hurt... Much less mess and time spent if it works... I used to leave floppy disks on top of my CRT monitor. The little bit of extra warmth made a huge difference in how easily those labels peeled off. How old am I, right??? LOL *No, they were NOT 5 1/4" disks... *although I did have lots of those too, just never needed to remove their labels. Hahaha. And how many of you have seen an 8" floppy disk? I used a few of those too!!



Floppy disks, I laugh at those. How about back when you had to know what switches to have up and which ones down to boot a Dec (Digital Equipment Company) PDP 11 computer?? and an 80 Mb disk platter was a big round thing with 8 or 10 read heads. Everything you wrote had to reside in 32K of address space or was it even less, it has been a long time since I thought about that.


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> Floppy disks, I laugh at those. How about back when you had to know what switches to have up and which ones down to boot a Dec (Digital Equipment Company) PDP 11 computer?? and an 80 Mb disk platter was a big round thing with 8 or 10 read heads. Everything you wrote had to reside in 32K of address space or was it even less, it has been a long time since I thought about that.


Hahaha, OK, I got that beat. I used to work on "computerized" HVAC systems. The "computer" was the size of present-day server rack, and the hard drive was *1 MB. *Yes you read that right. The platter was contained in a steel cannister, maybe about 10 gallons in size, and *pressurized with Helium* to prevent any influx of dust or other particles that could crash the heads.


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Hahaha, OK, I got that beat. I used to work on "computerized" HVAC systems. The "computer" was the size of present-day server rack, and the hard drive was *1 MB. *Yes you read that right. The platter was contained in a steel cannister, maybe about 10 gallons in size, and *pressurized with Helium* to prevent any influx of dust or other particles that could crash the heads.


The memory wasn't even soldered to a circuit board, the pins were all individually wire-wrapped together. Not sure how many Bytes it would have been, but obviously much less than 1 MB.


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Jul 31, 2020)

The first computer I bought cost $2300 I think (that included the printer), ran Windows 3.1 and had a 640 MB hard drive. Man, I thought I had something!


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

Val-the-Brew-Gal said:


> The first computer I bought cost $2300 I think (that included the printer), ran Windows 3.1 and had a 640 MB hard drive. Man, I thought I had something!


Haha, I have you beat too. My first computer was a Radio Shack Model I. It had *4 kB *(yes, you read that right), of RAM. And no disk drive. Programs were read from cassette tape (anyone remember what a cassette is?). It was incapable of displaying lower case text, unless you soldered a chip piggy-backed to another chip on the circuit board. Windows was not invented yet. Neither was DOS. Ahhhh, those were the days. I later *upgraded *to the *16 kB *model with an *89 kB *external 5 1/4" floppy disk drive. Ahhhhh, ... wait,... no, I don't miss those days! 

My first IBM PC clone was 512 kB RAM, with a 30 MB hard drive. That was still before Windows, but after DOS.


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Jul 31, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Haha, I have you beat too. My first computer was a Radio Shack Model I. It had *4 kB *(yes, you read that right), of RAM. And no disk drive. Programs were read from cassette tape (anyone remember what a cassette is?). It was incapable of displaying lower case text, unless you soldered a chip piggy-backed to another chip on the circuit board. Windows was not invented yet. Neither was DOS. Ahhhh, those were the days. I later *upgraded *to the *16 kB *model with an *89 kB *external 5 1/4" floppy disk drive. Ahhhhh, ... wait,... no, I don't miss those days!
> 
> My first IBM PC clone was 512 kB RAM, with a 30 MB hard drive. That was still before Windows, but after DOS.



Man, things have changed, haven't they?! Here I am on my phone with built in memory 100x bigger than my first computer, in a size smaller overall than that 5 1/4 inch floppy disk which held just 320 KB.


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

Val-the-Brew-Gal said:


> Man, things have changed, haven't they?! Here I am on my phone with built in memory 100x bigger than my first computer, in a size smaller overall than that 5 1/4 inch floppy disk which held just 320 KB.


Well, you must be a spring chicken, because my phone has 32,000,000 times as much memory as my first computer. Beat THAT!


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

Val-the-Brew-Gal said:


> Man, things have changed, haven't they?! Here I am on my phone with built in memory 100x bigger than my first computer, in a size smaller overall than that 5 1/4 inch floppy disk which held just 320 KB.


Sorry, I'm getting a little competitive there, or maybe nostalgic. Yes, things have sure changed. Can you imagine back then thinking you would actually be able to dictate to a computer, much less a phone, with almost 100% accuracy?


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Jul 31, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Sorry, I'm getting a little competitive there, or maybe nostalgic. Yes, things have sure changed. Can you imagine back then thinking you would actually be able to dictate to a computer, much less a phone, with almost 100% accuracy?



Or that your phone could take quality pictures that you could view instantly and send to friends in moments.


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## Sage (Jul 31, 2020)

True 105 isn't hot. But put a thermometer in the sun and it will be a lot higher than 105 in the shade.

Sorry, got tied up with a project and never got a chance to try it.


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

Sage said:


> True 105 isn't hot. But put a thermometer in the sun and it will be a lot higher than 105 in the shade.
> 
> Sorry, got tied up with a project and never got a chance to try it.


Yes, very true. You wouldn’t get a sunburn sitting in your bathtub, but soaking up some rays is a different story!


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## wpt-me (Jul 31, 2020)

Anybody remember doing programing in Basic on the PDP-11 ??

Bill


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

wpt-me said:


> Anybody remember doing programing in Basic on the PDP-11 ??
> 
> Bill


I remember programming in BASIC, but not on a PDP-11, it was on my TRS-80, Model I. I remember my first classes in programming were COBOL and FORTRAN, and I remember having to take punched cards to have them fed into the computer.


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## wpt-me (Jul 31, 2020)

Cobol on a IBM 360 with punch cards !!

Bill


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## cmason1957 (Jul 31, 2020)

wpt-me said:


> Anybody remember doing programing in Basic on the PDP-11 ??
> 
> Bill


No Basic, but C, assembly, Fortran, and Pascal.


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## KCCam (Jul 31, 2020)

Are we getting a little off-topic? Haha, OK, one last memory. I used one of the first "portable" computers for programming HVAC systems in commercial buildings: the Compaq Portable. "Portable" meant 28 lbs, and it didn't have a battery. It listed for $3600, came standard with 128 kB RAM, and two 5 1/4" floppy drives. It's state-of-the-art graphics (CGA) were displayed on a 9" green monochrome CRT and it was powered by a 4.77 *MHz *Intel 8088 CPU.


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Aug 1, 2020)

Sage said:


> True 105 isn't hot. But put a thermometer in the sun and it will be a lot higher than 105 in the shade.
> 
> Sorry, got tied up with a project and never got a chance to try it.



Yes, I would imagine that they are going to get extremely hot in the sun! We had 103° today and when I went to move the water outside (I was barefoot) I burnt the base of my toes on the decorative rocks in the flower bed. Not exactly my brightest move but it shows how hot things can get!


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## sour_grapes (Aug 1, 2020)

KCCam said:


> And how many of you have seen an 8" floppy disk?



Yup, I can stilll put my hands on a few of those if you wish! 



cmason1957 said:


> How about back when you had to know what switches to have up and which ones down to boot a Dec (Digital Equipment Company) PDP 11 computer??



I had the same experience with PDP-8's, but by the time I was on 11's, I only had to deal with more forgiving interfaces!


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## Chuck E (Aug 1, 2020)

wpt-me said:


> Anybody remember doing programing in Basic on the PDP-11 ?? Bill



Mostly Fortran, a little Assembler, and APT (a NC machine tool programing language).


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## Chuck E (Aug 1, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> Floppy disks, I laugh at those. How about back when you had to know what switches to have up and which ones down to boot a Dec (Digital Equipment Company) PDP 11 computer?? and an 80 Mb disk platter was a big round thing with 8 or 10 read heads. Everything you wrote had to reside in 32K of address space or was it even less, it has been a long time since I thought about that.



The hard disk drives were as big as clothes washing machines. Purple and orange switches... set them & enter, set them & enter, REPEAT...


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## Mike Parisi (Aug 1, 2020)

Back to residual glue. A really cheap and easy way is to mix equal parts of vegetable oil and baking soda. Mix it into a paste and apply it to the glue. Wait for it to dry, then wash off the paste and the glue. Hardly have to do any scrubbing at all. For 2-3 bottles, 1 TBSP of oil and baking soda is usually enough.


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## KCCam (Aug 1, 2020)

Mike Parisi said:


> Back to residual glue. A really cheap and easy way is to mix equal parts of vegetable oil and baking soda. Mix it into a paste and apply it to the glue. Wait for it to dry, then wash off the paste and the glue. Hardly have to do any scrubbing at all. For 2-3 bottles, 1 TBSP of oil and baking soda is usually enough.


First time I’ve heard that one. I’ll have to try it. Naphtha is cheap, simpler, and much quicker, but it’s also toxic and flammable. Nothing I’ve tried come close to removing residue as completely and cleanly (it leaves no residue). Maybe this will.


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## Lukaswine (Aug 1, 2020)

reeflections said:


> Tried the oven, tried all the other methods. Some worked on some plenty didn't work on others. Residual glue is a pain and I'm not inclined to use harsh noxious chemicals. So, I quit using used commercial bottles and started buying new ones and using easy peel labels that I read about on another thread here and they are great. Buying bottles isn't too bad if they are easy to wash and peel. Plus they come with a box. Worth it to me anyway.


I haven’t tried the oven method yet and probably won’t. Like you I purchase new ones because it’s easier. I found a place in Olympia WA @ $12/case.


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## Darrell Hawley (Aug 2, 2020)

Chuck E said:


> Mostly Fortran, a little Assembler, and APT (a NC machine tool programing language).


Yes, the good old days, IBM 7070 and IBM 1401 and a lot of Assembler language to go with it.


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## LeeInCS (Aug 2, 2020)

We soak in hot, soapy water for a couple of hours and peal. Residue is scraped with a razor then scrubbed with scrubby sponge (scrunge). No big deal


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## Ted Brumleve (Aug 2, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> Floppy disks, I laugh at those. How about back when you had to know what switches to have up and which ones down to boot a Dec (Digital Equipment Company) PDP 11 computer?? and an 80 Mb disk platter was a big round thing with 8 or 10 read heads. Everything you wrote had to reside in 32K of address space or was it even less, it has been a long time since I thought about that.


PDP->VAX->Alpha Those were soooo much better than PCs for controls in a chemical plant. PCs just for the operator interface.


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## cmason1957 (Aug 2, 2020)

Ted Brumleve said:


> PDP->VAX->Alpha Those were soooo much better than PCs for controls in a chemical plant. PCs just for the operator interface.


Yes sir, I worked putting robots onto thre shop floor and we used VT220 and thre color ones (I forget the number now) for the operator UI. And add I recall the number pdp 11-73 which wad a ship floor hardened version of PDP 11/70, this would have been 198x. Before Vax was every thought about and prior to that Perkin Elmer something or other to replace machine tool readers.


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## akron (Aug 2, 2020)

Ok, since we are going ancient here, how about making up punch cards to feed into a computer?


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## KCCam (Aug 2, 2020)

akron said:


> Ok, since we are going ancient here, how about making up punch cards to feed into a computer?


I did that. In school. It seems like it was high school, but that can’t be right. Must have been first year university.


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## sour_grapes (Aug 2, 2020)

akron said:


> Ok, since we are going ancient here, how about making up punch cards to feed into a computer?



I also did that in college. I must admit, I never had to do it _after_ college, so I guess that makes me young!


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## Chuck E (Aug 2, 2020)

akron said:


> Ok, since we are going ancient here, how about making up punch cards to feed into a computer?



I did that at Bradley University in the '70s. If you had an error, they returned the deck to you with the error message. You had to troubleshoot the rest yourself. Near finals time, there would be lines outside to turn the decks for processing... at 3am!


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## cmason1957 (Aug 2, 2020)

akron said:


> Ok, since we are going ancient here, how about making up punch cards to feed into a computer?


Did that at my first year of college, only undergraduate computer science class I took, Fortran IV, I believe on am IBM of some kind. And one other time, I can't remember what for, but I had to write a program in RPG, what a stupid language.


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## Darrell Hawley (Aug 3, 2020)

akron said:


> Ok, since we are going ancient here, how about making up punch cards to feed into a computer?


Early 70's, local police department wanted to have their work online. Spent 2 weeks loading in the vanilla cards(71-126) into a machine so they could be read.


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## Cellar Vader (Aug 3, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> Cdrew and Val, I am looking forward to trying the oven trick: soaking and scraping is for the birds! I remove the glue/gum residue easily with "*GOO GONE."............*......Dizzy


+1 on the Goo-Gone!


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## DizzyIzzy (Aug 3, 2020)

Chuck E said:


> The hard disk drives were as big as clothes washing machines. Purple and orange switches... set them & enter, set them & enter, REPEAT...


To Val, KC and others commenting on the "good ole days" with early computers. * I have you ALL beat...*............I am old enough to remember when there was* no *_*such thing *_as a computer, *nor* cell phones for that matter. We had to search for a pay phone to call someone, and cashiers in super markets had cash registers, and they actually "counted out" your cash............noone counts today (have you noticed?) But, Val, I can relate to one thing you said. I, too, paid $2,600 for my first computer. It was a Gateway, and I am still using its keyboard because I am used to the feel of it, kinda like the old-fashioned typewriters. Any of you have memories of those?....................Like Archie Bunker: those were the days...........................................Dizzy


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## Venatorscribe (Aug 3, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> To Val, KC and others commenting on the "good ole days" with early computers. * I have you ALL beat...*............I am old enough to remember when there was* no *_*such thing *_as a computer, *nor* cell phones for that matter. We had to search for a pay phone to call someone, and cashiers in super markets had cash registers, and they actually "counted out" your cash............noone counts today (have you noticed?) But, Val, I can relate to one thing you said. I, too, paid $2,600 for my first computer. It was a Gateway, and I am still using its keyboard because I am used to the feel of it, kinda like the old-fashioned typewriters. Any of you have memories of those?....................Like Archie Bunker: those were the days...........................................Dizzy


I remember in the late 70s my boss writing a business case to buy a fax machine. Also remember the constant chattering of a telex machine. Crickey - tech has moved a long way in such a short time


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## sour_grapes (Aug 3, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> I am old enough to remember when there was* no *_*such thing *_as a computer,



The first computer was ENIAC, in 1945. (First electronic, general-purpose computer, that is.) I used to walk by it every day! (Of course, it hadn't been used since 1955, but there is kind of a "shrine" to it to this day.)


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## Jal5 (Aug 4, 2020)

For some reason I cannot stand the smell of goo gone! Can’t use it on my Wine bottles. I stick to heatgun then will try the baking soda and oil on leftover glue.


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## Darrell Hawley (Aug 4, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> To Val, KC and others commenting on the "good ole days" with early computers. * I have you ALL beat...*............I am old enough to remember when there was* no *_*such thing *_as a computer, *nor* cell phones for that matter. We had to search for a pay phone to call someone, and cashiers in super markets had cash registers, and they actually "counted out" your cash............noone counts today (have you noticed?) But, Val, I can relate to one thing you said. I, too, paid $2,600 for my first computer. It was a Gateway, and I am still using its keyboard because I am used to the feel of it, kinda like the old-fashioned typewriters. Any of you have memories of those?....................Like Archie Bunker: those were the days...........................................Dizzy


And paying $100 for 512K memory so I could get to 1 gig of memory. A real speed demon after that.


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## NoQuarter (Aug 4, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> To Val, KC and others commenting on the "good ole days" with early computers. * I have you ALL beat...*............I am old enough to remember when there was* no *_*such thing *_as a computer, *nor* cell phones for that matter. We had to search for a pay phone to call someone, and cashiers in super markets had cash registers, and they actually "counted out" your cash............noone counts today (have you noticed?) But, Val, I can relate to one thing you said. I, too, paid $2,600 for my first computer. It was a Gateway, and I am still using its keyboard because I am used to the feel of it, kinda like the old-fashioned typewriters. Any of you have memories of those?....................Like Archie Bunker: those were the days...........................................Dizzy


All our cars and trucks had a C.B. and an 8 track player, we rarely had to search for the pay phones except to call our parents. We used to hang out at the soda shop in back of the Rx drug store after school, and back in the woods at the lake on weekends. F.M. radio was what changed our world., and maybe vietnam....


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## DizzyIzzy (Aug 5, 2020)

sour_grapes said:


> The first computer was ENIAC, in 1945. (First electronic, general-purpose computer, that is.) I used to walk by it every day! (Of course, it hadn't been used since 1955, but there is kind of a "shrine" to it to this day.)


I guess I should have been specific in stating that for "everyday, personal Use"


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## sour_grapes (Aug 5, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> To Val, KC and others commenting on the "good ole days" with early computers. * I have you ALL beat...*............I am old enough to remember when there was* no *_*such thing *_as a computer, *nor* cell phones for that matter.





DizzyIzzy said:


> I guess I should have been specific in stating that for "everyday, personal Use"



FWIW, I don't believe that _any_ of the computers mentioned upthread could be described as being for "everyday, personal use." They were all large mainframes or so-called "minicomputers" (about the same as an apartment-sized fridge).


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## Darrell Hawley (Aug 6, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> To Val, KC and others commenting on the "good ole days" with early computers. * I have you ALL beat...*............I am old enough to remember when there was* no *_*such thing *_as a computer, *nor* cell phones for that matter. We had to search for a pay phone to call someone, and cashiers in super markets had cash registers, and they actually "counted out" your cash............noone counts today (have you noticed?) But, Val, I can relate to one thing you said. I, too, paid $2,600 for my first computer. It was a Gateway, and I am still using its keyboard because I am used to the feel of it, kinda like the old-fashioned typewriters. Any of you have memories of those?....................Like Archie Bunker: those were the days...........................................Dizzy


Were you also on the "Party line" for your house phone ? I believe we had 5-6 neighbors that all shared 1 line (back in my younger days). And of course neighbors would NEVER pick up the phone to listen to your conversation.


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## cmason1957 (Aug 6, 2020)

sour_grapes said:


> FWIW, I don't believe that _any_ of the computers mentioned upthread could be described as being for "everyday, personal use." They were all large mainframes or so-called "minicomputers" (about the same as an apartment-sized fridge).



The Micro PDP 11-73 was at least rack mountable, it was a bit deeper than a PC of the day, but only about 5 or 6 inches. Other than that, I agree, most of them were at least as big as a small fridge.




Darrell Hawley said:


> Were you also on the "Party line" for your house phone ? I believe we had 5-6 neighbors that all shared 1 line (back in my younger days). And of course neighbors would NEVER pick up the phone to listen to your conversation.



I remember being on a "Party Line" for the house phone. Different rings for each neighbor. I seem to remember that my first wife's parents had just been able to get a private line a few years before we got married in 1979. They lived somewhat out in the boonies, probably 15 or 20 miles from the nearest big town.


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## sour_grapes (Aug 6, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> The Micro PDP 11-73 was at least rack mountable, it was a bit deeper than a PC of the day, but only about 5 or 6 inches. Other than that, I agree, most of them were at least as big as a small fridge.



Yeah, I had a rack-mounted PDP-11 (couldn't tell you which model). When I pictured it in my mind's eye, I think I was including the size of the rack! (Of course, the rack had ancillary stuff like disks to fill out a lot of the space.)


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## wpt-me (Aug 6, 2020)

A company that I worked for used PDP-11 for making systems measuring yarns, making micro-mesh.

Bill


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## Sage (Aug 6, 2020)

You used old computers and 8 tracks to remove labels????


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## KCCam (Aug 6, 2020)

Darrell Hawley said:


> Were you also on the "Party line" for your house phone ? I believe we had 5-6 neighbors that all shared 1 line (back in my younger days). And of course neighbors would NEVER pick up the phone to listen to your conversation.


My wife was. She lived on a farm just outside the city. Didn’t have full phone service for quite some time.


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## KCCam (Aug 6, 2020)

Sage said:


> You used old computers and 8 tracks to remove labels????


Have to apologize to @Val-the-Brew-Gal, sorry Val. I started this (but it is fun, right?) by saying I used to use a *computer monitor *to help remove labels (although they were floppy disk labels, the same rules apply). All these people talking about computers and 8-tracks... sheesh! This is supposed to be about *CRT monitors. *

Seriously, though, I have been trying very hard not to feed this frenzy. It’s just really difficult for us old farts, I mean geezers, not to share our 5-mile trek, through the snow, to school everyday when we were tots, and it was uphill both ways! Right guys?


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## Chuck E (Aug 6, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Have to apologize to @Val-the-Brew-Gal, sorry Val. I started this (but it is fun, right?)
> Seriously, though, I have been trying very hard not to feed this frenzy. It’s just really difficult for us old farts, I mean geezers, not to share our 5-mile trek, through the snow, to school everyday when we were tots, and it was uphill both ways! Right guys?



Right!


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## cmason1957 (Aug 6, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Have to apologize to @Val-the-Brew-Gal, sorry Val. I started this (but it is fun, right?) by saying I used to use a *computer monitor *to help remove labels (although they were floppy disk labels, the same rules apply). All these people talking about computers and 8-tracks... sheesh! This is supposed to be about *CRT monitors. *
> 
> Seriously, though, I have been trying very hard not to feed this frenzy. It’s just really difficult for us old farts, I mean geezers, not to share our 5-mile trek, through the snow, to school everyday when we were tots, and it was uphill both ways! Right guys?



And the snow was often so deep we had to jump from fence post to fence post or we would get lost in the drifts.


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Aug 6, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> I remember being on a "Party Line" for the house phone. Different rings for each neighbor. I seem to remember that my first wife's parents had just been able to get a private line a few years before we got married in 1979. They lived somewhat out in the boonies, probably 15 or 20 miles from the nearest big town.





Darrell Hawley said:


> Were you also on the "Party line" for your house phone ? I believe we had 5-6 neighbors that all shared 1 line (back in my younger days). And of course neighbors would NEVER pick up the phone to listen to your conversation.



I can remember the party line too. My husband and I were married in '84 and we had one for a couple years after that yet.


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## KCCam (Aug 6, 2020)

Val-the-Brew-Gal said:


> I can remember the party line too. My husband and I were married in '84 and we had one for a couple years after that yet.


Whew, obviously Val doesn't mind this spin-off.


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Aug 6, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Whew, obviously Val doesn't mind this spin-off.



Not at all! As a computer/technology nerd myself, I love the stories.


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## Old Corker (Aug 7, 2020)

I never used a party line but worked for an engineering firm in the early eighties who did design work for the phone co. Southern Bell in that part of KY if I recall. We would walk for miles measuring the distance between poles the company could order cable to replace the two wire party lines. The Bell engineer I worked with told me they would put up to 32 households on a single pair of wires.


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## jgmann67 (Aug 8, 2020)

Eventually, I got to the point of only having to clean my own wine bottles. I peel off what’s left of the capsule and then soak in oxi clean and hot water for about an hour. The labels typically fall right off. I give the bottles a good shaking to clean the inside; rinse until the water doesn’t have any suds in it; rack and put them away when they’re dry.

I might try the oven bit, just to say I did. But, I’d still have to clean the bottles. Does baking the bottle have a negative impact on cleaning it later?


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Aug 8, 2020)

I've tried


jgmann67 said:


> Eventually, I got to the point of only having to clean my own wine bottles. I peel off what’s left of the capsule and then soak in oxi clean and hot water for about an hour. The labels typically fall right off. I give the bottles a good shaking to clean the inside; rinse until the water doesn’t have any suds in it; rack and put them away when they’re dry.
> 
> I might try the oven bit, just to say I did. But, I’d still have to clean the bottles. Does baking the bottle have a negative impact on cleaning it later?



I've tried soaking in OxyClean but with many wine brands I still end up having to scrape with a razor blade and put in a lot of elbow grease. The oven method has worked so much better for me. I was afraid that it would be harder to clean the inside after baking but it was actually easier. I soak them in water for a several minutes and I'm done. Occasionally I'll have a really dirty bottle and I just soak it in OxyClean for a while or use my drill powered bottle brush.

As for my own bottles, I use a gelatin based homemade glue so the labels slip right off in hot water!


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## jgmann67 (Aug 8, 2020)

Alright. I’ll give it a go. Report on results.


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## familynerone (Aug 8, 2020)

For residue... a homemade substitute for 'Goo Gone' that is food safe, can be made by mixing coconut oil with baking soda. It works really well.


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## hounddawg (Aug 8, 2020)

KCCam said:


> I tried the oven, but still had trouble with a bunch. I tried a heat gun, but was worried, and read reports, that excessive heat could cause residual stress in the glass.
> I will say that the *absolute best *thing for removing any kind of adhesive is *NAPHTHA. *Otherwise known as Coleman fluid. It’s cheap ($10/gallon) compared to all the other things I’ve ever tried, but* extremely flammable*. It dissolves adhesives like water dissolved sugar. I wear rubber gloves when using it.


yup that and lacquer thinner, both work really good, both extremely flammable, and a good set of chemical restraint gloves and very good ventilation a must, in a closed in area that's hot the flash point is very low and the fumes can ignite at low flash points that can be catastrophic , causing a flash explosion.
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Aug 8, 2020)

um, when i went to school it was uphill both ways,
Dawg


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## jgmann67 (Aug 8, 2020)

jgmann67 said:


> Alright. I’ll give it a go. Report on results.



can’t say I like the results.Hot water and icy still top of my list.


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## Chuck E (Aug 9, 2020)

I mostly use boiling water. Pour it in the bottle and wait a few minutes. Temperature sensitive labels peel off cleanly, and the hot water cleans the inside of the bottle. Remaining glue residue comes off with Goo Gone.


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## Jal5 (Aug 9, 2020)

That oven trick produced too much fumes for me. I may try the boiling water idea though.


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## bstnh1 (Aug 9, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> um, when i went to school it was uphill both ways,
> Dawg


In the snow, too, ... right?


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## KCCam (Aug 9, 2020)

bstnh1 said:


> In the snow, too, ... right?


Duh, and bare feet.


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## hounddawg (Aug 9, 2020)

bstnh1 said:


> In the snow, too, ... right?


were in school together, yup snowed in july and august up hills both ways, lol
Dawg


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## bstnh1 (Aug 10, 2020)

I started out, as many do, with a supply of used bottles from a local winery. Eventually, all those labels (a thousand or so) were removed - mostly with a hot water soak. I have made only kits and 99.9% of those have been Winexpert bought from Labelpeelers along with labels. The labels they sell are either 100% vinyl that you can simply peel off by hand leaving no residue or they're a paper based label that comes off super easy with a little hot water and a razor blade scraper.


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## jgmann67 (Aug 10, 2020)

Finished processing my bottles last night. Started around 8:30, finished at 12:30. Soaked and delabeled 9 cases of bottles. With what I already had downstairs, I have enough to bottle 24 gallons of wine with 5 or so cases left over.


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## JoP (Aug 10, 2020)

Chuck E said:


> I mostly use boiling water. Pour it in the bottle and wait a few minutes. Temperature sensitive labels peel off cleanly, and the hot water cleans the inside of the bottle. Remaining glue residue comes off with Goo Gone.


I place the bottles in a 200 degree oven for 20 minutes, most labels will peel off easily


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## robert81650 (Aug 11, 2020)

I agree with JoP...............................


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## DizzyIzzy (Aug 14, 2020)

Darrell Hawley said:


> Were you also on the "Party line" for your house phone ? I believe we had 5-6 neighbors that all shared 1 line (back in my younger days). And of course neighbors would NEVER pick up the phone to listen to your conversation.


Yes, party lines I remember well.! When I first moved to Ohio from Pasadena, CA (where I had a personal line), I learned party lines *ONLY *were offered. I became upset, voiced a strong concern to the phone company, and believe it or not, they installed the first private line on my road. The squeaky wheel does get the grease!...................................Dizzy


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## DizzyIzzy (Aug 14, 2020)

Val-the-Brew-Gal said:


> I've tried
> 
> I've tried soaking in OxyClean but with many wine brands I still end up having to scrape with a razor blade and put in a lot of elbow grease. The oven method has worked so much better for me. I was afraid that it would be harder to clean the inside after baking but it was actually easier. I soak them in water for a several minutes and I'm done. Occasionally I'll have a really dirty bottle and I just soak it in OxyClean for a while or use my drill powered bottle brush.
> 
> As for my own bottles, I use a gelatin based homemade glue so the labels slip right off in hot water!


Val, would you be willing to share the receipe for your homemade glue?..................................Dizzy


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## DizzyIzzy (Aug 14, 2020)

jgmann67 said:


> Alright. I’ll give it a go. Report on results.


I did NOT have good results with the oven..........................Dizzy


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## bstnh1 (Aug 14, 2020)

Darrell Hawley said:


> Were you also on the "Party line" for your house phone ? I believe we had 5-6 neighbors that all shared 1 line (back in my younger days). And of course neighbors would NEVER pick up the phone to listen to your conversation.


Yep ... party line with the old black table top phone with the fabric covered cord, fuses instead of those new falootin' circuit breakers, the wringer washing machine, the coal fired furnace, the push reel lawnmower, oleo in the cellophane bag with the little yellow ball that you had to squash and mash up to make it yellow like butter, no tv, not even with tubes. And ... no flu, no Lyme Disease.


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## bstnh1 (Aug 14, 2020)

KCCam said:


> Have to apologize to @Val-the-Brew-Gal, sorry Val. I started this (but it is fun, right?) by saying I used to use a *computer monitor *to help remove labels (although they were floppy disk labels, the same rules apply). All these people talking about computers and 8-tracks... sheesh! This is supposed to be about *CRT monitors. *
> 
> Seriously, though, I have been trying very hard not to feed this frenzy. It’s just really difficult for us old farts, I mean geezers, not to share our 5-mile trek, through the snow, to school everyday when we were tots, and it was uphill both ways! Right guys?


Right! Not only uphill both ways in The snow, but below zero with a 20 mph wind driving that icy snow into you face and down your neck.


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## hounddawg (Aug 14, 2020)

bstnh1 said:


> Yep ... party line with the old black table top phone with the fabric covered cord, fuses instead of those new falootin' circuit breakers, the wringer washing machine, the coal fired furnace, the push reel lawnmower, oleo in the cellophane bag with the little yellow ball that you had to squash and mash up to make it yellow like butter, no tv, not even with tubes. And ... no flu, no Lyme Disease.


sandals or sneakers, uh,,, just wondering what jesus wore when you babysat him, ,, lol,,
Dawg


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Aug 14, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> Val, would you be willing to share the receipe for your homemade glue?..................................Dizzy



Sure! 

Basic Waterproof Glue

* 6 tbsp water
* 2 packets unflavored gelatin (1/2 oz.)
* 2 tbsp white vinegar
* 2 tsp glycerine

Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin until it is dissolved. Add vinegar and glycerin and stir well. Let the mixture cool slightly and pour into a jar and seal tightly. To Use: This glue needs to be applied while warm. Apply to surfaces using a brush.

I make a double batch and put it in a glass jar with a lid. When I'm ready to label my wine, I put the jar in a bowl of hot water and wait until the glue becomes liquid. I brush it on the back of my label and affix it to the bottle. You have a good 15-30 seconds to move it around and get it in the right spot before the glue starts to cool too much.

To remove labels later, just place the bottle in hot water for a few moments. Depending on the paper you use, they will either slip off or can be easily removed with your fingernail.


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## DizzyIzzy (Aug 15, 2020)

bstnh1 said:


> Yep ... party line with the old black table top phone with the fabric covered cord, fuses instead of those new falootin' circuit breakers, the wringer washing machine, the coal fired furnace, the push reel lawnmower, oleo in the cellophane bag with the little yellow ball that you had to squash and mash up to make it yellow like butter, no tv, not even with tubes. And ... no flu, no Lyme Disease.


I can't believe there is another living human being that remembers the oleo bag with the yellow/orange button in the middle!! It was *MY *job to squish it all together so that it looked like real butter. To this day I will not eat margarine,( or in the old days called oleomargarin). Our first TV was 13" with a magnifying glass in front of it. We used to put cards in the window saying, ICE, COAL, etc., and yes, we had an iceman who had a huge claw that latched onto a hunk of ice and put it in the top of our "icebox". It was also my job to empty the bottom tray of water as the ice melted......................and we still had *the Milkman* who delivered in an aluminum box at our back door................I remember the rollers of the wringer machines how everything came out flat-as-a-pancake, many times breaking buttons on shirts/blouses................................Those were the "good old days". You and I must be the same age to remember those things...............................Dizzy


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## DizzyIzzy (Aug 15, 2020)

Val-the-Brew-Gal said:


> Sure!
> 
> Basic Waterproof Glue
> 
> ...


Thanks Val, you are a peach.......................................................Dizzy


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## hounddawg (Aug 15, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> I can't believe there is another living human being that remembers the oleo bag with the yellow/orange button in the middle!! It was *MY *job to squish it all together so that it looked like real butter. To this day I will not eat margarine,( or in the old days called oleomargarin). Our first TV was 13" with a magnifying glass in front of it. We used to put cards in the window saying, ICE, COAL, etc., and yes, we had an iceman who had a huge claw that latched onto a hunk of ice and put it in the top of our "icebox". It was also my job to empty the bottom tray of water as the ice melted......................and we still had *the Milkman* who delivered in an aluminum box at our back door................I remember the rollers of the wringer machines how everything came out flat-as-a-pancake, many times breaking buttons on shirts/blouses................................Those were the "good old days". You and I must be the same age to remember those things...............................Dizzy


i remember the milkman, and milk in jars with the cardboard pull tabs on the milk, but yawl got me beat, 
Dawg


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## raspberry (Aug 15, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> i remember the milkman, and milk in jars with the cardboard pull tabs on the milk, but yawl got me beat,
> Dawg


I still have the ice tongs


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## hounddawg (Aug 15, 2020)

raspberry said:


> I still have the ice tongs


cool...
hehe i got the washing machine with them finger stealing rollers, and in good working condition. my night stand by the bed is a old short potbelly two burner wood stove,
Dawg,


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## raspberry (Aug 15, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> cool...
> hehe i got the washing machine with them finger stealing rollers, and in good working condition. my night stand by the bed is a old short potbelly two burner wood stove,
> Dawg,


that is cool the milk bottles work great with wine making also half gal qt pint and half pint


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## KCCam (Aug 15, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> i remember the milkman, and milk in jars with the cardboard pull tabs on the milk, but yawl got me beat,
> Dawg


I barely remember milk being delivered in the glass bottles and put into the cubby hole beside the back door that had a door that opened from the outside, and one on the inside. I still have some of those bottles too.


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## hounddawg (Aug 15, 2020)

KCCam said:


> I barely remember milk being delivered in the glass bottles and put into the cubby hole beside the back door that had a door that opened from the outside, and one on the inside. I still have some of those bottles too.


can you remember the cafes with pigeon holes and you put the amount in then open them little glass doors to get what you want, man i was so young then  but not anymore, you people are driving me to drink,,,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Aug 15, 2020)

pardon me i think now i'm needing my rumitize medicine,,,
Dawg


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## sour_grapes (Aug 15, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> can you remember the cafes with pigeon holes and you put the amount in then open them little glass doors to get what you want, man i was so young then



Horn and Hardart's, baby! Originated in Philadelphia: Horn & Hardart - Wikipedia


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## hounddawg (Aug 15, 2020)

sour_grapes said:


> Horn and Hardart's, baby! Originated in Philadelphia: Horn & Hardart - Wikipedia


i never knew the name, i was still being lead by the hand when mom would take me there, dad had moved us up north for a short spell because of lack of work in the south back then, 
Dawg


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## bstnh1 (Aug 16, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> I can't believe there is another living human being that remembers the oleo bag with the yellow/orange button in the middle!! It was *MY *job to squish it all together so that it looked like real butter. To this day I will not eat margarine,( or in the old days called oleomargarin). Our first TV was 13" with a magnifying glass in front of it. We used to put cards in the window saying, ICE, COAL, etc., and yes, we had an iceman who had a huge claw that latched onto a hunk of ice and put it in the top of our "icebox". It was also my job to empty the bottom tray of water as the ice melted......................and we still had *the Milkman* who delivered in an aluminum box at our back door................I remember the rollers of the wringer machines how everything came out flat-as-a-pancake, many times breaking buttons on shirts/blouses................................Those were the "good old days". You and I must be the same age to remember those things...............................Dizzy



It's almost impossible to find anyone who remembers squishing those little orange balls to make the oleo turn yellow like butter. In school we had our recess and lunch milk in those little glass bottles with the paper cap you had to pull out with the little tab. We didn't have an iceman, but we did have the milk delivered and left in the insulated aluminum box on the steps. We put a bright orange sign in the window if we wanted the dry cleaner to stop and pick up some things to be cleaned. And we had a "rag man" come by in his truck every so often yelling "rags .... rags". If you had any rags, you ran out and gave them to him. I never did figure out what he did with all those rags. We also had a fishmonger who came by in his truck by on Fridays with fresh fish. You could stay outside and play all day and into the night and your parents didn't have to worry about you getting abducted, etc. You could leave your toys in the front yard and they would still be there in the morning. You were lucky with that big 13" TV. Ours was a 9" tabletop model but still good for watching "I Remember Mama"! I wonder if I'll still remember all this stuff when I get old!!!


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## wpt-me (Aug 18, 2020)

All those things bring back lots of memories. Like when it got to cold and the cream in milk bottle would freeze ,and the cap popoff.

Bill


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## Mike53154 (Jan 9, 2022)

Use a hair dryer! Heat the label starting at one side and peel lable off as you move the heat from the dryer across the lable. Easy peezy


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## She’sgonnakillme (Jan 28, 2022)

Goo Gone is a must for making quick work of the residual glue


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## Busch (Feb 13, 2022)

I've been wanting to post this out there for folks that say they hate struggling with reusing wine bottles because they don't like all the fuss with scraping the label off...* I can clean off 2 bottles in about 5 mins flat *with these 2 things!! But need to soak the bottles for at least 2 days. Use the
flat razor blade tool (I got at Harbor Freight for $2), then a little bit of Goo Be Gone (a little goes a long way) over the labeled area, then finally just sponge off the bottle to get off the Goo Be Gone and viola! Done. Please give it a try and reuse those wine bottles!


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## szap (Feb 14, 2022)

Has this worked with all the different material wine labels?


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## Busch (Feb 14, 2022)

I've tried it on different bottles but don't know about ALL the different labels. Sorry can only speak for the few I have done thus far, but it only be about a $8 investment to try...


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## Denden5136 (Feb 14, 2022)

I pop mine in the oven for a few minutes like the original post suggests. I did 12 bottles the other day in about 10 minutes. I actually put the bottles in after I finished baking bread (delicious sourdough) and the remaining heat was plenty, so I cleaned 12 bottles more or less for free. Heat, peel, let cool. If there is leftover glue, a light wash with soapy water will remove the rest. Just use potholders for the hot bottles!


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## szap (Feb 14, 2022)

We have used the razor and goo gone but not soaked them for a couple days. Do you just soak them in cold water?


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## Busch (Feb 14, 2022)

szap said:


> We have used the razor and goo gone but not soaked them for a couple days. Do you just soak them in cold water?


Yes any temp water to saturate the paper. Just leave them for a day or so tho


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## Busch (Feb 14, 2022)

szap said:


> We have used the razor and goo gone but not soaked them for a couple days. Do you just soak them in cold water?





Denden5136 said:


> I pop mine in the oven for a few minutes like the original post suggests. I did 12 bottles the other day in about 10 minutes. I actually put the bottles in after I finished baking bread (delicious sourdough) and the remaining heat was plenty, so I cleaned 12 bottles more or less for free. Heat, peel, let cool. If there is leftover glue, a light wash with soapy water will remove the rest. Just use potholders for the hot bottles!


I had seen your post and liked it, but don't use my oven often. So I just threw them in a tub and walked a way for a day or two then cleaned them up


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