Removing Bottle Labels Experiment (with photos)

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idzy

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Hi All,

I am new to brewing and have been reading a stack of different posts related to how to remove bottle labels and thought I would share some of my findings.

Experiment
The purpose of the experiment was the uncover the absolute best way to remove labels from a range of different bottle brands and sizes. Factors considered were elapsed time, actual effort, and cost.

Equipment and Methods
The equipment and methods that were on trial were:
  • Soak in water
  • Bleach + water
  • Paint scrapper
  • Dishwasher (without soap)
  • Caustic soda (a.k.a. Drain cleaner)
  • Eucalyptus oil
Method
The method I used was to basically work my way down the list, from top to bottom. Although inherently this method has flaws. After now having finished, I feel the results would be the same even if you were to run experiments in parallel, etc.

1. Equipment.JPG
 
Trial
Soak in water
First thing I did was soak all the bottles in the kitchen sink. For a number of bottles, this was enough and removed the labels without too many issues. However there was residual glue stuck where the bottle labels had been, ie. Stone and Wood plastic labels and Coopers Pale Ale paper variety.

Paint scrapper
The next trial was to use a paint scrapper, as has been mentioned. This method was okay, but really was a lot of hard work, time consuming and really just spread the mess out, rather than removing it.

Dishwasher (without soap)
After having almost all labels removed and now dealing with residual glue, I configured the dishwater to allow bottles to be stacked top and bottom drawer (with these little levers on the sides of the drawer). I proceeded to stack about 30 bottles into the dishwasher and ran the heavy cycle for 2 washes, totaling 260 minutes. I opened the dishwasher to find that the bottles were basically in the same state as when I had put them in, however the glue was now converted to a honey-like consistency and it became a real pain to handle the bottles as they would stick to your hands, etc.

It was time to call in the calvalry, so I went down Woolworths and buy some equipment.

I came back with:
  • White King (Bleach)
  • Mechanix (Caustic Soda)
  • Eucalyptus Oil
  • Gloves
  • Scrubbing Pads
Bleach and Water
This method did work okay (read: better than just water), however still did require some scrubbing and elbow grease.

2. Soaking Bottles.JPG
 
Caustic Soda
I decided against my better judgement and risk averse personality to give this a shot. Well the instructions were "2 teaspoons (20g) with 1 litre of water and tip down the drain" which was no help. I had read many people say 5% solution and such things and I believe 20g was a 2% solution for 1 litre. I decided if I was to use 5% theory, that would be 500g, which was the entire tub of Caustic Soda and I am too cheap to do something like that. I decided the magic number was 80g, based on the amount of water I had squirted out of the hose to cover the bottles in the plastic tub (I had no idea how much water there was).

Well after doing some bottling using other bottles, I came back after about 40 minutes and the glue was gone on most and where it wasn't on others it just needed to be wiped off the bottle.

I wiped all the bottles, tipped the solution down the outside drain (hopefully help some blockages and then filled again to the top to dilute the residual caustic solution.

There were 4 bottles of the lot that did not have their glue removed. I was quite shocked by this and cannot think of any reason for this.

3. Caustic Soda.JPG
 
Eucalyptus Oil
This was saved for last as it was my least preferred method for a number of reasons.
  • The bottles need to be dry
  • The bottles need eucalyptus oil applied individually
  • The bottles then need to be rubbed with a cotton ball (or my wife's makeup pads).
The results initially seemed really good and the sticky residual glue came off with a bit of rubbing. However, after rinsing the bottles under hot water and trying to remove the oil from the bottle (read: pain in the bum), I noticed that the bottles still had some sort of coating on them. It is hard to explain, but it was as though the glue was not completely removed, they felt a little waxy.

4. Eucalyptus.JPG
 
Findings and conclusion
It was clear that there isn't a one size fits all method for cleaning bottles and it has proven to be a time consuming and painful task.

There is no doubt that a combination of soaking in water to remove labels and then Caustic Soda solution to remove glue are the best methods for a broad percentage of bottles. Or at least in my mind.

The Caustic Soda was easily the best and most effective method. It really did counter the adhesive qualities of the glue and made it just wipe straight off. Combined with soaking the bottles to remove labels first. This will be my method in the future. I will never go near the dishwasher will labelled bottles and consider this method the most time consuming and a red herring.

I hope someone finds my fumbling around with these methods helpful!

5. All clean and ready for beer.JPG
 
I find a long soak in starsan/water mix, and an old credit card as a scraper works best.
 
Here is the absolute best way to do it, bar none:

1. Get yourself a plastic dustbin and plonk it somewhere.

2. Fill it with a weak bleach solution.

3. Rinse your empties and put them in the bin.

4. Empty the bin on brewday when you need your clean bottles. The labels will all have slipped off and can be collected up and thrown away.

5. Rinse the bottles in clean water. They are already sanitised and spotless and have no trace of paper or glue on them.

6. Remember to pass this tip on to some other young brewer when you are old and fat and kegging.

:beer:
 
Hot water and homebrand napisan left to soak for as long as you want, then a metal scourer to get the glue off. A little bit of elbow grease required but not that much really. i find the metal scourer doesn't scratch the glass unless you really give it a hard rub :p
 
I'm seconding this method. I've had no label defeat me when up against a good soak with hot water and napisan. Labels slide right off with minimal scrubbing after to remove glue residue.
 
Thanks for the write up! Very helpful.

I too use hot water + napisan and a paint scraper for good results. I've found doing them in small batches of 4-6 bottles helps my sanity levels lol
 
Myt method is:
Soak in water. Remove labels. If labels don't come off easily, throw the bottle away.
 
I soak in hoter water / cheap arse napisan for 24 hours or so.
Most labels have either come off on their own or wash off under the tap, quick rub with a chux and a rinse, all good.
Some labels don't come off first go, but they will after 2 or 3 cycles.

Anybody been able to remove a Corona label........
 
You know if you defeat the Coopers glue, they will just make better glue right?

Have you noticed the back labels come off easily with a warm water soak, but the front labels stay on? Surely Coopers do this to retain branding (and therefore free advertising) on their tallies (which as we know are specifically manufactured to support their homebrew products).

Anyway, good write up mate. I found the easiest way to get rid of labels was to give my bottles away and replace them with kegs :)

Al
 
That would require me to have a corona bottle... And that's not allowed in my house.
 
hot water, napisan, soak for 24hrs - 48hrs. Scourer. Too much effort = bin
 
Hot water + sodium percarbonate (active ingredient in napisan).
Soak for 30 mins & labels will generally slip straight off. Quick rub with something - fingers, sponge, the label itself - and the remnant glue also dissolves.
Hell, a 10 min soak is normally enough.

Any part of the label with metallic ink on it (eg: front coopers label) will impair the solution from soaking through to affect the glue. Extra time (try 30 mins) is normally enough. Otherwise strip the first layer of paper off after the initial soak then soak again for 10 mins. Remaining thin scraps of paper & glue should rub straight off.

Added bonus: sod perc will sanitize the bottles simultaneously.

Let the heat & chemicals do the elbow grease stuff. Leaves more time for brewing & drinking!
 
mmmm. I like my bottles frosted because they're cold !


Is it considered poor form to not de-label your bottles ?
I used to, but now can't be bothered.
I know what I am drinking after all.
 
I wouldn't worry unclebarrel, I don't think the label has an adverse affect on the flavour. I'm sure there are plenty of sinners that are too lazy to de-label. I am one of them. All is well if the label came off while I was washing and rinsing for sanitary purposes, if it didn't, well so be it.
 

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