Removing bottle labels

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roger the dog

Removing bottle labels

Post by roger the dog » Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:10 pm

The first batch I brewed (Wherry) was put in the King Keg apart from 4 bottles worth. They were badger First Gold bottles & the labels came straight off with a 1/2 hour soak in hot water. I'm trying to clean a few more bottles from various beers for the next batch (Fixby Gold) but the same method hasn't worked.

Just wondered what the best method for removing labels is.

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Garth
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Post by Garth » Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:03 pm

I think I know which type of paper labels you mean, the method I use is soak them in water until you can scrape the paper off with a blunt knife, then soak them again, overnight if possible in cold water, not hot, this saturates and destroys the glue, it will go a whitey colour when it's ready, then it's back to scraping with the knife again.

Some people think it's a unreasonable waste of their time doing this and sometimes I would agree, but when you've got as many bottles as me you'd understand. I have never bought an empty one....

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Andy
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Post by Andy » Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:56 pm

For labels which leave a sticky residue I get a scrubby and put a few drops of white spirits on it. Soon shifts the gunk :D
Dan!

maxashton

Post by maxashton » Sat Mar 24, 2007 10:49 pm

I find soaking the bottles with hot water and soda crystals works a treat. Leave em in there for a couple of hours and the labels just sort of slide off.

roger the dog

Post by roger the dog » Sat Mar 24, 2007 11:30 pm

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give them a go (just bought some soda crystals today)

Glug

Post by Glug » Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:54 am

Sorry but why bother! as long as the insides are clean.
I just ignore them after they have been through the pre bottling cleaning process a few times they come of anyway.
Plus you have the added advantage of slipping some home brew to those friends who insist that "its all s**t and would never touch the stuff " disguised as a pucker brew. Amazing how they realy enjoy it when they think its the real thing!

maxashton

Post by maxashton » Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:17 pm

It's all about presentation. I like plain bottles.

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Post by Glamrox » Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:05 pm

I find a metal scouring pad works well at getting rid of the stubborn residue

parkerwitton

Leave them

Post by parkerwitton » Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:24 pm

Why have all the labour and hassle I agree with Glug as long as the inside is clean nowt to wherry about!!! pardon the pun. Mine don't last long enough to look at the labels and when I do it is all a haze!!

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Garth
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Post by Garth » Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:54 pm

maxashton wrote:It's all about presentation. I like plain bottles.
me too, you untidy lot.... :lol:

and I don't have to hide the fact that it's homebrew, my friends willingly empty my cupboards for me... :D

sparky Paul

Post by sparky Paul » Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:06 pm

Andy wrote:For labels which leave a sticky residue I get a scrubby and put a few drops of white spirits on it. Soon shifts the gunk :D
Spot on. For labels applied with hot melt glues, white spirit is the preferred solvent - I've used gallons of the stuff when refurbishing glue stations from labelling machines.

The pre-gummed labels can be trickier to remove...

J_P

Post by J_P » Sun May 06, 2007 5:10 pm

Hey Roger

One other alternative is to only buy bottles of beer that you know the labels come off easily that's what we're doing :lol:

Out with the summer lightening, and old empire and in with anything from Wychwood, TTL, most Badger beers as these guys use water soluble glue! I leave mine in a bin of soapy water overnight and most of the labels have come off by themselves.

I'm currently trying to drink enough beer to get sufficient bottles to put my Fixby Gold in, it's a dirty job but someone's got to do it :lol:

roger the dog

Post by roger the dog » Sun May 06, 2007 5:23 pm

I'll try this J P, the last lot I did were soaked in a hot soda crystal solution, strangely this worked for some bottles & not for others, even though they were the same brand :?

I've collected enough now for a full 5 gallon batch but just can't be ars*d to clean & sanitize 40 odd bottles at a time so I've been filling about 6 ~ 8 & kegging the rest.

parkerwitton

Bottles

Post by parkerwitton » Mon May 07, 2007 10:48 am

I use Pet bottles and I think they are brilliant, cheap easy to obtain and do the job.
Buy the bairns some bottles of pop either 500 litre (buy some for four for a fiver at Morrisons) or 1 litre and off you go....easy to clean and no worry about pressure....you can easily make your own lables if you so wish to clag on. All I have is a code nos. which tells me what ale and when bottled.

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Re: Bottles

Post by Garth » Mon May 07, 2007 1:34 pm

parkerwitton wrote:Buy the bairns some bottles of pop either 500 litre (buy some for four for a fiver at Morrisons) or 1 litre
jeez, how much pop are the bairns drinking? :D

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