Most stubborn labels to remove, any suggestions?

Northern Brewer General
21

[quote=“estimac”]I have a dozen bottles from Shorts Brewery Huma-Lupa-Licious that now have a horrible rubbery label residue that I can’t seem to budge. I’ve soaked them in PBW (that only dissolved the ink into a filmy mess). I then scraped the labels off as best I could, and tried acetone and then mineral oil for the hell of it. Neither of those things worked. I think in the distant past I tried that Goof-off stuff and that sort of worked, but I have none of that on hand and don’t want to waste money on this mess.

Anyway, before I just throw these bottles out (even though I NEED them!), any ideas? Lighter fluid?[/quote]

Why throw the bottles away? I don’t get it. What does it matter if the bottles are completely label free when you put your beer in them? Unless you are definitely putting them into a competition or gifting them in a special pack it seems like a waste.
Granted, I do try to get the labels off as much as possible, but some just do not cooperate. I could really care less though.
Anybody else agree with me?

22

I always do the OxyClean soak and some labels just still don’t come off after that.

I had some Shorts bottles and they were the worst. I’m definitely returning them all to the store for deposit money from now on.

I did have luck getting some Shorts labels off with VM&P Naphtha, but it still took a lot of work and rubbing with a solvent-soaked paper towel. I’m not sure if that would work better than the Acetone that you already tried, but I did google “vm&p naphtha vs. acetone” and found some evidence that the former might be expected to do a better job.

23

I don’t know if it is available in Mi.,but as far as commercial beers go I really like some of the New Glarus beers and their labels are really easy to remove.

24

[quote=“HummelBrew”]Why throw the bottles away? I don’t get it. What does it matter if the bottles are completely label free when you put your beer in them? Unless you are definitely putting them into a competition or gifting them in a special pack it seems like a waste.
Granted, I do try to get the labels off as much as possible, but some just do not cooperate. I could really care less though.
Anybody else agree with me?[/quote]

No, I don’t agree. If the labels are left on it can be misleading, even for me, and that sticky glue residue is not at all something I want on my fingers when I’m pouring a beer. I’ve got cases and cases of empties with perfectly cooperative labels waiting to be removed, there is just no need for me to mess with these difficult ones at all.

25

[quote=“geocool”][quote=“HummelBrew”]Why throw the bottles away? I don’t get it. What does it matter if the bottles are completely label free when you put your beer in them? Unless you are definitely putting them into a competition or gifting them in a special pack it seems like a waste.
Granted, I do try to get the labels off as much as possible, but some just do not cooperate. I could really care less though.
Anybody else agree with me?[/quote]

No, I don’t agree. If the labels are left on it can be misleading, even for me, and that sticky glue residue is not at all something I want on my fingers when I’m pouring a beer. [/quote]

What is so misleading about it? It will have a plain cap on it so you can use a sharpie on the cap or make a label out of some avery 3/4" round labels. I guess I have better things to do than make sure all remnants of commercial labels are off my homebrew bottles.

26

If a normal person sees a bottle with a commercial label on it, they are not going to say “wait, the cap is different, this must be homebrew.” I might even get it confused, and even if I don’t, I don’t care to deal with “I’ve got four bottles cold but they’re the ‘just for me’ bottles, not the ‘clean for guests’ bottles.” If you’ve obliterated the label enough so that it no longer looks like commercial beer and doesn’t have anything sticky on the bottle, then that’s fine, but if I see it I’m going to wonder what other parts of the process did this guy also decide weren’t necessary?

27

[quote=“HummelBrew”][quote=“geocool”][quote=“HummelBrew”]Why throw the bottles away? I don’t get it. What does it matter if the bottles are completely label free when you put your beer in them? Unless you are definitely putting them into a competition or gifting them in a special pack it seems like a waste.
Granted, I do try to get the labels off as much as possible, but some just do not cooperate. I could really care less though.
Anybody else agree with me?[/quote]

No, I don’t agree. If the labels are left on it can be misleading, even for me, and that sticky glue residue is not at all something I want on my fingers when I’m pouring a beer. [/quote]

What is so misleading about it? It will have a plain cap on it so you can use a sharpie on the cap or make a label out of some avery 3/4" round labels. I guess I have better things to do than make sure all remnants of commercial labels are off my homebrew bottles.[/quote]

^ Mark im with you on that. i dont even attempt to peel labels sometimes. so sue me i dont have a problem giving a six pack to some one that has stickers all over it. i just tell them its not what the label says. sometimes i write up a nice description and print it out and stick it in the beer pack give away. im not trying to impress anybody with my packaging skills just deliver them some homebrew that i hope they will pour into a glass anyway.

if you want perfectly clean bottles buy a few cases they are not that expensive.

to the original post : the times i have peeled labels hot water with amonia was helpful but in my opinion there is no easy button its still requires soaking and scrubbing.

28

Easy labels (most german beers, dogfish head, southern tier, anchor) come off in a 30 minute soak of hot oxy clean.

29

+1

i drank a LOT of bells when I was building a bottle collection. Easiest and cleanest labels to remove. A 10 minute soak in hot water and–if they don’t already just peel off–a little elbow grease with a scratch pad.

30

[quote=“cjtboy”]Goo gone is amazing at this kind of thing. you can pick it up at the drug store for like $5. I was just using this over the weekend for this very purpose.

[/quote]

Does it destroy the label? I save the labels of the hard to find ones and put them on my door in the brewery

31

Wow! Looks like I stirred up a turd here, but I’m glad I’m not alone with this crap! Ok, to address all of the suggestions/issues raised:

1.) Give up on this and recycle the bottles.
I live in Hicksville and I have no idea where I could recycle these as we do not have curbside recycling. Since the labels are destroyed, I cannot return them for the Michigan 10-cent deposit on each bottle.

2.) Buy bottles.
As mentioned, I live in BFE and have no HBS anywhere near me, no restaurant that serves beer in bottles that I could use, and CL is just as impractical for me b/c of living in BFE, so I’m stuck with collecting bottles from beer we have consumed, which isn’t the end of the world!

3.) Use a blade/window scraper/razor
I dare not mix sharp window scrapers/razors with this project as I once did a wicked awful thing to my left hand being very stupid while skinning a deer and don’t want a repeat.

4.) Leave the labels on.
I want the labels removed because over time they start to shred when exposed to sanitizer, and I’ve had bits of label get inside the bottle and stick. :x So now I’ve gotten the label off and have this gooey film to contend with.

5.) Why destroy the label, don’t you want to collect the labels for decoration?
All of the Bell’s beers come off easily in water and would work. I see no way possible to do that with these labels, which are stickers as someone mentioned. During the soaking the ink actually lifted off the label in a gossamer film, which is quite the mess as you can imagine.

I’m going to try the ammonia soak first. My DH did find a can of Goo Gone in the garage, so I’ll try that if needed. My other thought is mineral spirits. I imagine I’ll need the green scrubby as well with either one. I’m bottling 2 batches this weekend and need to do a bottle inventory to see if I can brew 2 more batches soon. I’m hoping to have amassed 300 bottles. Oh, yeah, kegging… Someday I hope to do that but that isn’t in the budget right now (plus I have no room for such a setup). Also, I like to give beer to friends, take it to gatherings, camping, etc., so I’ll never not have beer in bottles. :smiley:

Oh, and I’m never ever ever ever going to de-label a Short’s bottle again.

Thanks again, guys, for the advice and commiseration. :cheers:

32

[quote=“estimac”]Wow! Looks like I stirred up a turd here, but I’m glad I’m not alone with this crap! Ok, to address all of the suggestions/issues raised:

1.) Give up on this and recycle the bottles.
I live in Hicksville and I have no idea where I could recycle these as we do not have curbside recycling. Since the labels are destroyed, I cannot return them for the Michigan 10-cent deposit on each bottle.

2.) Buy bottles.
As mentioned, I live in BFE and have no HBS anywhere near me, no restaurant that serves beer in bottles that I could use, and CL is just as impractical for me b/c of living in BFE, so I’m stuck with collecting bottles from beer we have consumed, which isn’t the end of the world!

3.) Use a blade/window scraper/razor
I dare not mix sharp window scrapers/razors with this project as I once did a wicked awful thing to my left hand being very stupid while skinning a deer and don’t want a repeat.

4.) Leave the labels on.
I want the labels removed because over time they start to shred when exposed to sanitizer, and I’ve had bits of label get inside the bottle and stick. :x So now I’ve gotten the label off and have this gooey film to contend with.

5.) Why destroy the label, don’t you want to collect the labels for decoration?
All of the Bell’s beers come off easily in water and would work. I see no way possible to do that with these labels, which are stickers as someone mentioned. During the soaking the ink actually lifted off the label in a gossamer film, which is quite the mess as you can imagine.

I’m going to try the ammonia soak first. My DH did find a can of Goo Gone in the garage, so I’ll try that if needed. My other thought is mineral spirits. I imagine I’ll need the green scrubby as well with either one. I’m bottling 2 batches this weekend and need to do a bottle inventory to see if I can brew 2 more batches soon. I’m hoping to have amassed 300 bottles. Oh, yeah, kegging… Someday I hope to do that but that isn’t in the budget right now (plus I have no room for such a setup). Also, I like to give beer to friends, take it to gatherings, camping, etc., so I’ll never not have beer in bottles. :smiley:

Oh, and I’m never ever ever ever going to de-label a Short’s bottle again.

Thanks again, guys, for the advice and commiseration. :cheers: [/quote]

There is not a single restaurant or bar that you cant get bottles from? You can get bottles but bars and restaurants cant? Where exactly are you located?
No homebrew clubs, or people you know outside the area to bring a case of bottles. A lot of poeple live far away from LHBS and set up times to get stuff

33

[quote=“grainbelt”]There is not a single restaurant or bar that you cant get bottles from? You can get bottles but bars and restaurants cant? Where exactly are you located?
No homebrew clubs, or people you know outside the area to bring a case of bottles. A lot of poeple live far away from LHBS and set up times to get stuff[/quote]

The closest LHBS to me is 30 miles away – quite a distance to get some bottles what with the price of gas on top of paying $1 per EMPTY bottle (If I’m going to ‘buy’ bottles, I will spend a bit more and have beer in them!). I also have to consider the hassle factor of setting up a pickup as you described if I’m somehow involved in a brewing club. Most of the bars/restaurants that are within 20 miles of me think Bud Light in a bottle is high-end. If they have a good beer it tends to be on tap. Seriously - ask what they have in a bottle and they will say, and I quote, “Oh, we have all the beers: Molson, Labatt’s, Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, Killians.” :roll: I also have to keep in mind that restaurants are playing the 10-cent-a-bottle deposit game with their distributor as well, so that means involving a manager in order to keep the financial books in order, which is usually too much to ask and risks counting on other people that don’t give a crap about my little projects.

So your suggestion is a good one, and in the future if I need to really load up on bottles I will keep it in mind!

I have almost enough bottles, just trying to salvage these last few. :slight_smile:

34

One of the most vexing problems I dealt with cleaning off gooey glue from bottles was that it doesn’t come off, it moves. I found really soapy water using dish soap (as in slimy soapy) and a scratchy pad. The pad scraps the goo off and the soap keeps it from sticking to the bottle again. It isn’t easy but it does work.

Leinenkugel bottles were the worst bottles I ever had to remove labels from. They just wouldn’t budge. I actually resorted to a drill and a wire wheel brush.

Paul

35

[quote=“estimac”][quote=“grainbelt”]There is not a single restaurant or bar that you cant get bottles from? You can get bottles but bars and restaurants cant? Where exactly are you located?
No homebrew clubs, or people you know outside the area to bring a case of bottles. A lot of poeple live far away from LHBS and set up times to get stuff[/quote]

The closest LHBS to me is 30 miles away – quite a distance to get some bottles what with the price of gas on top of paying $1 per EMPTY bottle (If I’m going to ‘buy’ bottles, I will spend a bit more and have beer in them!). I also have to consider the hassle factor of setting up a pickup as you described if I’m somehow involved in a brewing club. Most of the bars/restaurants that are within 20 miles of me think Bud Light in a bottle is high-end. If they have a good beer it tends to be on tap. Seriously - ask what they have in a bottle and they will say, and I quote, “Oh, we have all the beers: Molson, Labatt’s, Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, Killians.” :roll: I also have to keep in mind that restaurants are playing the 10-cent-a-bottle deposit game with their distributor as well, so that means involving a manager in order to keep the financial books in order, which is usually too much to ask and risks counting on other people that don’t give a crap about my little projects.

So your suggestion is a good one, and in the future if I need to really load up on bottles I will keep it in mind!

I have almost enough bottles, just trying to salvage these last few. :slight_smile: [/quote]

30 miles dont seem bad to me for something you only have to go get once. I would assume that is probably an average distance for most people. I drive about 15 to 25 depending on which one I go to. (until the new NB opens up) You could be there and back than the time spent on stubborn bottles

36

I should have added that the HBS is in a cluster of an area, so Google says it will take about an hour to get there. yuck. Thank God for NB online.

When all is said and done, I’m better off (and happier!) spending $10 a 6 pk on some Bell’s at the mom-n-pop grocery store 5 miles away from me, which gives me some bottles that clean up easy, PLUS some delicious beer to drink while I’m doing it. :wink:

All this hoopla over how to get the rubbery gook off of 12 empty bottles!! :shock:

37

You’ll pay a hefty price, but for stubborn labels I use Aircraft Decal and Adhesive Remover. Yet to find anything that it won’t remove.
Note: This is powerful stuff and can strip paint, can damage rubber and plastic. Use only outdoors and wear gloves.

38

[quote=“Baratone Brewer”]You’ll pay a hefty price, but for stubborn labels I use Aircraft Decal and Adhesive Remover. Yet to find anything that it won’t remove.
Note: This is powerful stuff and can strip paint, can damage rubber and plastic. Use only outdoors and wear gloves.[/quote]

Dayum, you’re loaded for bear!

Okay - just tried the Goo Gone Xtreme, and it worked! However, I also got a bit of a headache from about 15 seconds of exposure, so this will be an outside job.

39

I use a wire grill brush, and it works great.

24hour soak in hot oxyclean solution, then wire brush, green scrubby, rinse.

It’s a bit of a hassle, but I like having clean bottles, and once they’re clean, they’re good for the rest of their lives.

40

To remove self adhesive labels I find that peeling them off works best
Gary