How to remove original brown bottle labels

[Azorean Brewer]

OK, I was just sitting here sipping a German Helles lager that I bottled (uh let's see, what does my label say) ah yes 11-12-01, wow has it matured nicely, look at how creamy the head is ... wait I'll hold it up to the montior so y'all can see it LOL ... Anyway I have "discovered" a great way of removing even the most stubborn original bottle labels.

Start by putting on a good pair of rubber gloves, and fill a big pot 1/3 of the way with hot water, add 1 teaspoon of "One-step" cleanser and one teaspoon salt, stir it up.

Next fill your bottles with hot water and lay them into the water in your pot. Continue until you have as many bottles laying down as possible, raising the water level as you go to keep the bottles submerged. My pot will hold 12 - 12 oz. bottles. Once you have as many bottles as you can fit and all the bottles are covered place the lid on the pot and place the pot on a burned set it on medium. Allow it to set there for 30-45 min.

Next shut off the burner and leave it there overnight. When you uncover the pot your labels should be floating on top of the water and the glue will be saturated and soft from the water, all you will have to do is "wash/wipe" the out side of the bottle with a regular wash rag and the old glue will come right off.

To put on your new labels, use "Glue Stick" which is a mucous-based glue that will come right off by running the bottle under hot water, it should peel off instantly. Good luck,

Paul.

[Mesa Maltworks]

An easy, no-heat way to remove any label (except screened ones) is simply to submerge the bottles in an ammonia/water solution and let sit over night. This proceedure is a technique borrowed from those used in the industry to remove labels from returnable bottles, although they use a warm water sprayer so that they come off virtually immediately. The bonus is that the ammonia also does a nice job of cleaning the bottles as well, although you still have to brush & rinse them to get rid of any residue from the labels or the glues.

[Push Eject]

Somewhere I once read an emphatic article that recommended using milk as the adhesive for one's labels.
I must admit I didn't try it.
Anyone?
Cheers!

[jayhawk]

I have found the quickest way to remove labels is to submerge and soak in hot water for 1 to 2 hrs and then use a scraper (the straight edge of a butter knife works well) and a small amount of elbow grease. The label and glue come right off. If you have a big sink it would be easy to knock off 48 355ml bottles in 3 hours max. No need to soak overnight or use harsh cleaners or rubber gloves.

[Sven]

To bad this wasn't posted last week. I just inherited about a dozen St. Peter's bottles. The green, 23.9 ounce, medicine bottle/flask type. Those labels are adhered with super-glue! I had them sitting in a sink with enough TSP to kill an elephant and it still took HOURS of elbow grease to get the labels off.

[dartedplus]

I just put warm water and clorox in a bucket and let it sit overnight...or a couple of days...what you will end up with is a bunch of floating label and the glue come off with a wet rag. Rarely is elbo grease needed

[jayhawk]

Where I come from a little elbow grease goes a long way in gettin' a job done.

[l48shark]

What is the concentration of ammonia per gallon of water? Also, do you know a way to make waterproof labels (other than laminating them, which would probably be a hassle and expensive)? The ink on the ones I print with my PC will run if placed in a cooler with ice.
Cheers,
Ford

[andytv]

Fortunately I've moved onto corny kegs so I don't have to deal with the bottle labels anymore, but heres what we used to do; I kept a cooler hidden away in my kitchen with a water/clorox solution. After pouring a beer, I'd dunk the bottle,and leave it in the cooler, therefore softening the label and preventing any sediment from becoming permanent. If you keep the cooler closed, the clorox has trouble evaporating and only needs freshened up about once every week or so. When I remove the bottles, the label falls of, and there is no buildup of gunk inside. I would then rinse breifly w/ fresh water and put the bottles in a secondary cooler with "clean" water/clorox solution. On bottling day, I'd put them in a dishwasher that had been run for one cycle w/o soap. After the final cycle, the bottles are spotless and warm (let them cool before filling). With this process, we have never had a bad beer attributable to unclean bottles.