Removing bottle lables

[malcmackenzie]

Hi all

Does anyone know a good way to get lables off old wine bottles.

It seems to me they are bonded on to not come off !!!!!!

Malcolm

[coastie]

hot water and daz wash powder in a bowl works for me hard to remove glue spray with wd40 and wipe off with kitchen roll
coastie

[malcmackenzie]

Mmmmmmmmmm genius.

Thanks

[Rich]

Some labels do seem to be welded on.. I tend to recycle those the more traditional way now.

But, I find a stanley knife blade inserted into a slit in a cork works great to clean moist labels off. (use the cork as the handle for the blade, which can then sit flat onto the bottle)

Everyone seems to develop their own way of cleaning up bottles, so find a way you're happy with and carry on!

[lockwood1956]

Moved thread to here...the new winemakers area was not the right place for it...you will get more responses here I hope

[Canonmillbilly]

In the old days, most of the glue was from rendered animal hide, bones etc.

That stuff is water soluble and the labels just slip off in warm/hot water.

I've been scraping the hard-to-shift glue with a knife these days.

Like the WD40 tip, will give that a try.

Otherwise, 60p per bottle in the Plymouth HBS isn't too bad to save on elbow grease and build up a collection of uniform bottles (looks nice on the eye)

I've noticed that it is the more expensive wine bottles that tend to have the hide glue. So, the solution is, when scavenging bottles, emply good taste

[TStarr]

Having soaked bottles in warm water - anything playing hard to get off usually runs scared at the sight of White Spirit - just wipes the glue off, beats scrapping for hours. Gawd knows what glue they use, or why - seems total overkill.

[Sasquatch]

Problems with labels, has anyone tried ammonia?
When we had to do march outs in the mob and it came to cleaning the cooker we used to get all the trays/racks etc and put them in a bin bag together with a cloth soaked in ammonia, seal it up and 24hrs later the baked on grease would just rub off with a damp cloth. So I was just thinking if it can do that to grease I am sure it will do it with adhesive......or not?QUACK! Will have to try it sometime..

But if it doesn't, try it when wanting to clean off baked on grease items.....you will be amazed

[mcblades]

A lot of labels will come off if you heat the glue without wetting the label (especially kenridge labels). Fill the bottle with v.hot (boiling if you like) water. leave for 10 minutes and the label peels off (usually). Any that don't get orange oil treatment if I am desperate for bottles or binned if not.

[Cellar_Rat]

I use a hair dryer for these. After a while you will be able to spot what label needs what solution (soak / heat / white spirit)

[wayne]

The method I use is to fill the bottle with very hot water, then soak in very hot water with either washing up liquid or oxy action for about an hour or so, the label either peels right off or needs coaxing off with a plastic medicine spoon. If there's any residual glue I use white spirit to remove.

Hope it helps

Wayne.

[ToulouseLePlot]

1. soak: I use a bottle-chiller, it takes little water, little space and keeps the hot soapy water warm (meanwhile there's hot soapy water in the bottle)
2. scrape with curved-bladed knife, I inherited an ex-RAF survival (shroud-cutting) knife which is perfect but also see some pruning knives have a similar blade
3. "sticky-stuff remover" (tm) from my old-fashioned local hardware store for that daft glue that resists 1&2

4. I bought a box of blank labels for the 'puter printer that stated it was water-soluable gummed backing, OK but not brilliant. I see some people use plain paper and stick on with milk.