Best label removal hack EVER

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

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!!!

 

[KCCam]

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.

 

[reeflections]

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.

 

[DizzyIzzy]

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

 

[GaDawg]

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.

 

[rustbucket]

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.

 

[GaDawg]

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.

 

[KCCam]

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.

 

[NoQuarter]

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.

 

[Jal5]

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.

 

[montanarick]

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.

 

[PandemoniumWines]

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

 

[Chuck E]

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.

 

[Venatorscribe]

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.

 

[Yooper🍷]

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.

 

[Sage]

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

 

[cmason1957]

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.

 

[montanarick]

 

[KCCam]

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!!

 

[cmason1957]

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.