Heat Shrink Tops

[bthompson]

Anyone here use heat shrink tops? Why or why not? How do you get them on short of the $250 shrinker? They seem more decorative than anything, but would be nice since they seem pretty cheap.

 

[Repsolal]

Purely decorative
a pot of boiling water will work
just dip them in for a few seconds

 

[bthompson]

Purely decorative
a pot of boiling water will work
just dip them in for a few seconds

Sweet. Thanks for the quick answer.

 

[Tom]

If you look hard you can find then as low as .01 to .08 each

 

[bthompson]

If you look hard you can find then as low as .01 to .08 each

Yeah, I saw some pretty cheap ones which would work fine.

 

[mmadmikes1]

you can get a cheap heat gun at Lowes or Home Depot for $40 . Use the low setting . I had one for Paint removel already and it works great.I dont put shrick wraps on right away, if corks leak to can see it if it isnt wraped

 

[Wade E]

They actually saved me from a very big mess in my wine room as I forgot to *** sorbate or the sorbate didnt work and all my corks were bulging out and those shrinks actually held the corks on. Only 1 out of 15 corks blew thanks to those shrink wraps. I use the expensive tool but paid $179 for mine but I have a bad back and standing over bottles does not do good for my back. That tool does each 1 in about a second flat.

 

[Luc]

Purely decorative

Wrong !!!

the is a little bug called cork-moth or cork-weevil.
It lays it's eggs on cork or oak.
The larvae will drill the cork in search for food and there goes the wine.

Do a search on cork-moth or cork-weevil. Or look here:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2009/01/capsules-shrink-wraps.html

Indeed a pan of boiling water will do the trick.

AND they are decorative.

Luc

 

[Wade E]

Most shrink wraps have breather holes in them. Can the little bugs get the eggs past those breather holes?

 

[kiljoy]

I use my wife's hair dryer for the caps. I only use a real heat gun for industrial heat shrink in electrical applications.

 

[cody.c.freeman]

How do you get them on short of the $250 shrinker?

I remember seeing the amazing actors from the WinExpert DVD using steam from a tea kettle to put them on. I haven't tried it myself, nor would I want to endure a screaming tea kettle for that amount of time, but to each his own.

 

[Tom]

Boiling water is the cheapest and best as far as I am concerned.

 

[Madriver Wines]

The wife has a professional hair dryer that works great. I tried steam and made a mess and it didnt shrink very well. I will have to try Tom's suggestion. I have heard of using boiling water but have never tried it.

 

[Tom]

TRY SOMETHING NEW
"Think out of the box"

 

[mmadmikes1]

tried boiling water, tried hairdrier, stream was ok, but my heat gun on low kicks ***. Maybe I'll try using a magnifing glass out in the sun. In other words, if aint broke , i aint fixing it

 

[Wade E]

I love my plug and play toy.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

Most shrink wraps have breather holes in them. Can the little bugs get the eggs past those breather holes?

no need for the "breather holes"

http://www.wine-pages.com/features/amorim-cork.htm

^found this article interesting

 

[kiljoy]

I've not done boiling water, would't the cap fall into the water when you turn it upside down to stick it in? Or are you just using the steam?

 

[Tom]

No.
Put your finger on the label furthest from the water. As soon as you start to dip in boiling water you can let it go. Just get some used to thats all.

 

[TheTooth]

I bent a coat hanger into an "L" shape like this: _______________|

I hold the long part against the big part of the bottle, and the little bend on the end holds the wrap against the cork/neck. Then I just dunk it in the boiling water.