Easiest, least messy way to remove labels from glass bottles!

Product labels on bottles aren't decals so they are particularly hard to remove but scraping away with a razor or using Goo-Gone can be pain-staking and/or messy.

I recently had several wine bottles soaking in the kitchen sink and thought to myself, "what a waste of water and space". Since the sink is so wide and the bottles have a couple inches+ of girth, I end up having to fill the sink half way!

Then it dawned on me...a fitted container would require far less water! So I dug in my cabinets, found a plastic-ware container and tested it out.

Step 1: What You Need

-Water source
-Glass bottle with label
-Tall (or shaped to fit) container
-Regular dish soap

Check that your glass bottle will fit inside you container. There shouldn't be a lot of wiggle room for the bottle but there should be space enough for water to sit between the bottle and the sides of the container.

Comments

[ryanschwartz]

 Rather than weighting the bottle down, just fill it with water to a level higher than the vessel you're soaking it with.

[MorNuN]

I thought the same, but if you see the attention he put in not wasting water, you can see why he didn't use it.

[NaturalCrafter]

Nice ideas as I used to save wine bottle labels and press them in a book. That was long ago now but a fun memory.

[DragonCMNDR]

I personally use lighter fluid (zippo kind, or equivalent) to remove labels and sticky residue from glass and metal containers. You can soak full labels and they slide right off, and just rub a cloth dipped in the LF to remove extra adhesive.

When soaking, use a fitted container (with a lid, to prevent evaporation) as mentioned in the 'ible, it allows you to reuse the lighter fluid a couple times... (and yes, its still flammable later on too!)

I picked this trick up from the "Things Remembered" chain of personalized merchandise stores, it's how they clean their products from adhesive before engraving.

-- obvious disclaimer! -- Be careful with open containers of lighter fluid, it is extremely flammable, so keep it away from open flames, electric sparks, heating elements, etc. etc. etc. - use common sense.

[Brian.j Edwards]

CRC and WD40, are excellent for removal, just spray on the area and rub in with finger, I then use my fingernail to scrape the glue off once it's had time to work. The disadvantage of these two products is the smell, so silicon spray might be easier on the nose.

Source Link
:
http://www.123-labels.co.uk/faq/learning-centre/how-to-remove-annoying-sticky-labels-from-jars-and-boxes/

[rera]

Try olive oil, it's great for removing labels glue

[CaseyCase]

I use naphtha to remove solvent-based adhesives from bottles and whatnot. Works on stickers, tacky tape residue and so on. Naphtha is much better, less stinky, cheaper than Goo Gone, Goof-Off, etc. Get it at a paint store--it's referred to as VM&P Naphtha.

[mae060669]

Alternatively, you could use a hairdryer to heat up solvent based labels. They peel right off.

[rimar2000]

Not all label are glued with soap-water soluble adhesive!

[baken411]

MY GOODNESS! I needed something to peel off labels easier.  Haven't tried it but wouldn't doubt it to work.