# Removing Wine Labels



## BreezyCooking (Feb 16, 2007)

Will someone tell me why oh why wine distributors offering rebates insist that one send them the bottle label??!!??  Isn't the coupon & the purchase receipt enough?

Back when I was just a tot, my mother literally "wallpapered" the basement with different wine & liquor labels that easily floated off their bottles during a brief sojourn in the sink or bathtub.  These days, I can soak a bottle for DAYS in hot water & nothing happens except the label disintegrates.

So I now have a rebate that has a mailing deadline of tomorrow & no idea how I'm supposed to get this label off without shredding it.

Anyone have any ideas?


----------



## buckytom (Feb 16, 2007)

i'm not sure if it will work breezy, but lighter fluid is good at dissolving gums and cement.

i'd use the highly refined kind, like you'd put into a zippo lighter. i think it's called ronsonol.


----------



## Half Baked (Feb 16, 2007)

Maybe Goo-Gone would take it off in one piece? 

Oh yeah, back in my hippie days, we all had coffee tables covered with bottle labels and then decoupaged (sp?).  Those labels would slip off the bottles even if you were just playing with them.  I guess we have better glue these days.


----------



## Uncle Bob (Feb 16, 2007)

Finger nail polish remover might help.


----------



## Andy M. (Feb 16, 2007)

I haven't done it for  couple of years, but the last time I did, I laid the bottle on its side and placed a folded wet paper towel on the label.  After a half hour or so, it lifted right off (The label, and the paper towel).


----------



## Toots (Feb 16, 2007)

I have often wanted to save the label so I could remember a good wine - doesn't the couple who do the Wall Street Journal Tastings article do this?


----------



## Candocook (Feb 16, 2007)

If it is going to come off, just put it down in water and submerge it. It should float off. Most do.


----------



## TATTRAT (Feb 16, 2007)

Hairspray, or rubbing alcohol.

Heck, bug them, send them the whole darned bottle back!


----------



## Katie H (Feb 16, 2007)

Saw this product or a similar one on Martha Stewart's television program some weeks ago: Wine Label Remover.

Check it out.  It might be what you are looking for.


----------



## buckytom (Feb 17, 2007)

TATTRAT said:
			
		

> Hairspray, or rubbing alcohol.
> 
> Heck, bug them, send them the whole darned bottle back!


 
hmmm, a dremel tool could be used to score the glass around the label, then tap, tap tap. send them the entire section of the bottle. it'll cost you in shipping weight, but it's a moral victory...


----------



## Candocook (Feb 17, 2007)

There is also a product called Resolv-it, which may be Goof-off in a tiny bottle, that removes labels. Great for getting that gummy residue off.


----------



## Snoop Puss (Feb 17, 2007)

Oddly, I find hot water on the inside works well. Seems to melt the glue a bit without disintegrating the label.


----------



## StirBlue (Feb 17, 2007)

When the bottle sweats the label will not peel off very well.  If I do not catch a label on a cup or dish...etc before I wash it, it will likely be on there forever.  
   My best way of getting a label off a bottle in one piece is to put hot water in the bottle and allow some time for the glue to loosen up.  (I do not use boiling water) For a wine bottle you may need a funnel.  
   Sometimes I have to do this two or three times before it works.  If I need the label, I put it on a piece of plain paper as it will reglue itself to whatever it touches.  
   Rebates are becoming so unpopular because you never know what they will ask for.  A lot of times, it is the upc code.  I lost my rebate on jeans because I did not send the tag with the horse logo (buy 3 pair & get the 4th free rebate offer).  
   If a company offers a rebate, it should be processed at the service counter when & where you purchased the product.  
   When I am making a rebate purchase, I have it put on a separate order so that I can have a receipt for my other purchases.  I also make a copy of the sales receipt.  
   Automotive stores are really big on rebates.  One only knows what they would require for a rebate.  
   The quickest processed rebates are the ones where the company is going to send you a product.


----------



## Jeekinz (Feb 21, 2007)

I'm not too sure about the labels, but I can suurrre remove that wine.


----------



## Jeekinz (Feb 21, 2007)

On a serious note: I have a wine label book that I use for personal reference.  It comes with label removers.  LabelOff Wine Label Removers - IWA | International Wine Accessories


----------



## YT2095 (Feb 21, 2007)

there`s 2 sorts of adhesive really, Polar and Non polar, the hot cloth works for the water based types, long chain alkanes work for the non water based types, I find Lighter petrol or ligroin works, Toluene or Xylene is also good and WD-40 is Fantastic and smells much nicer than all those listed. but remember.... DO IT OUTDOORS!!!!!


----------



## Oleo (Jan 4, 2008)

I'm surprised no has mentioned straight ammonia.  I used to do quite a bit of homebrewing and therefore needed to remove the labels from many cases of beer bottles.  I would submerge the bottles in a mix of about two cups of Ammonia in the bathtub in warm water, and labels would literally float off the bottles sometimes within minutes.  Alternatively, depending on whether or not your goal was to preserve the label, you could score it several times and then spray with Windex/or other ammonia based glass cleaner.  The ammonia will definitely soften/disolve the glue.


----------



## elaine l (Jan 4, 2008)

I can't say for sure but once I asked for the label in a restaurant.  The bartender steamed it off.


----------



## Bigjim68 (Feb 19, 2008)

The adhesive (label off) removers work quite well.  I keep labels of wines I like and dislike.  At the wine store, they are pricey, but sometimes can be found in discount style stores much cheaper.  They do not remove the label, but split it the front from the back, and leave the front attached to the remover.


----------

