How to remove labels from wine bottles?

Many people experience intrinsic pleasure in preserving wine labels for making a collection in a scrapbook or making a wine collage. Many wine enthusiasts use them to give wine tasting rooms an aesthetic and personal touch. While others like to go creative in reusing wine bottles to produce creative artwork to give an artistic and attractive look to their homes, some are curious to know how to do it.

Whether you want to make a collection of labels or wish to utilize used wine bottles for producing innovative pieces, you will need to successfully remove the wine labels from the bottles without damaging the bottle or the labels, depending on what you what to preserve.

It is a daunting task to peel off the labels without ruining them up or damaging the bottle. This is indeed a difficult task to achieve if you fail to use the correct method depending upon the quality of the bottle and the type of adhesive and label used. Scrubbing the label with sharp tools might give scratches to the bottle and wreck the sticker. This article is the perfect guide for you to smoothly execute this task without causing damage to the wine bottle, the label, and of course yourself!

Aspects To Consider Before Beginning To Remove The Labels

1. First of all, if you intend to preserve the labels, you need to ensure that you keep the bottles in a safe place without any risk of damage. Since you know right, where do the bottles find a home after parties?
2. Secondly, you need to adopt an appropriate removal method after considering the type of the label. There are porous ones, which you can remove using wet methods, and then there are nonpermeable plastic labels, which require physical and heating processes.
3. You also need to consider the type of bottle and adhesive used. Like if it’s a traditional glue, surfactant and water-based method will come to the rescue.

Ways to remove Labels from Wine Bottles

1. Using Label Lift

If you wish to strip off the label intact, a label lift will work wonders to keep it in a wine journal or make a wine collage. You can purchase your label lift online or from a local store for an effortless peel that leaves no residue behind. Check this amazing label lift available on amazon.

Directions

1. Gently apply the label lift using your hands or a soft brush for hassle-free application.
2. Rub it for a few minutes with light pressure with your fingers or a soft brush.
3. When you feel the label coming out, gently peel it off.
4. Use it for your artistic pleasures after trimming any unclean edges using scissors.

2. Heat

The application of heat can remove labels carrying sticky glue.

Things you need:

An oven, a utility razor, oven mitts, and a head pad.

For this method, you need to follow the following directions:

1.  Pre-heat the oven to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Now, place the wine bottle into the pre-heated oven for about five minutes. Remember to put the bottle with its front label on the upper side. Also, don’t forget to use oven mitts to handle the bottles and protect your working surface.
3. Now, put the bottle on a heating pad and while keeping an excellent grip on the bottle, slide the razor under the label gently and very carefully.
4. Now, pull the label gently off the bottle surface. And there you go!

How to test the label’s adhesive?

• Use a small utility razor, and using it on a small corner of the label, wedge the razor slowly at an acute angle.
• If the razor sticks to the label, this implies that such type of a label can get more easily removed using heat.
• On the other hand, if the razor feels resistance while removing the label and does not stick to the glue, it is a dry glue, and the label is water-soluble. For such labels, use water to remove them.

3. Sodium Percarbonate Or Hydrogen Peroxide

These chemicals have oxidizing properties, and they help get rid of those stubborn sticky labels quite effectively. These ingredients are readily available at any nearby local store.
You can also use Oxiclean, an oxidizing cleaner that works equally effectively by loosening adhesive grip.

Directions

1. Soak the wine bottles into hot water for a few hours.
2. After a few hours, replace the cold water with more hot water and add sodium percarbonate/hydrogen carbonate/Oxiclean into the hot water.
3. Soak it for a few more hours and check if you can easily remove the stickers using a butter knife.
4. Finally, when you find the label stripping off smoothly, gently pull it off to get a clean wine bottle ready to be reused.

4. Hot Water

Using hot water is one of the best and most effortless methods for peeling off labels crease-free and unblemished, without causing harm to its lamination too. This is best suited for empty wine bottles.

Things you need

A kettle, water, a knife, and another container for immersing the bottle.

Directions

1. Firstly, heat about 2 litres of water in a kettle or on the stove.
2. Now, slowly pour hot water into the empty wine bottle.
   Note: You may consider immersing the bottle into a container filled with the same hot water to avoid any harm to the bottle due to the sudden temperature difference.
3. Now, wait for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, keep checking the bottle to see if the label has detached from the bottle surface.
4. Finally, use a knife to peel the label off the bottle gently. Try it yourself! You’ll find it works like magic.

Note: You can also mix a tiny amount of vinegar and oxidizing cleaner into hot water and then soak the wine bottle into the mixture for quite some time till it gets easily peeled off.

Important:
After using any of the above-stated methods, remember to strip off the label very slowly and gently. Pulling the label suddenly will create creases and will ruin the sticker.

Conclusion

Removing wine bottle labels without damaging the label and the bottle might seem like a daunting task. But, following a suitable method will make it a cakewalk, when done patiently and correctly. You might need to follow more than one of the above-stated methods or might even need to try them more than once to get those flawless stickers for your journal or wine collage and those crystal clear bottles to be reused in your gardens kitchens or as storage containers in your kitchen.

Also, check how to remove wine stains?