Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of questions?

I live in the UK but the wine bottles I recycle from family and friends come from the world over, old world and new
world. Some are screw tops and some held corks.

My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably readily available in the UK) are good at removing
label glue. About 50% come off with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem to resist my nails, chisel (!)
water and just about anything else. I've managed to get it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but its very
expensive and not particularly efficient. I was thinking maybe petrol used carefully or something would be the optimum
cheap solvent. Any ideas?

The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top wine bottles? I have corked a dozen or so bottles
which were previously screw tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to be thinner. I am using a portuguese
floor standing bottler with commercial corks which are a tad larger than some of the home bottling corks. I was
wondering if I should be wary?

Jim

hi jim! re Q #1 : we've used a trisodium phoshate (TSP) cleaner as a
soak-off with reasonable success. HOWEVER, real TSP may or maynot be
available to you. In boston, our EPA now only allows us faux TSP which is
somewhat OK. Otherwise, repeated hot water soaks and a single edged
razorblade to follow will take them off with some effort. follow up with an
acetone wipe to remove glue residue. Nail polish remover is reasonably
cheap!

#2: we've had no real experience w/ screwtops except to drink from them
( nostra culpa) but 3 out of 4 of us feel that you may be flirtin' with
disaster, vis a vis shattered bottles. HTH regards, bob.



"jim" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of questions?
>
> I live in the UK but the wine bottles I recycle from family and friends
> come from the world over, old world and new world. Some are screw tops
> and some held corks.
>
> My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably readily
> available in the UK) are good at removing label glue. About 50% come off
> with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem to resist my
> nails, chisel (!) water and just about anything else. I've managed to get
> it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but its very expensive and not
> particularly efficient. I was thinking maybe petrol used carefully or
> something would be the optimum cheap solvent. Any ideas?
>
> The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top wine
> bottles? I have corked a dozen or so bottles which were previously screw
> tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to be thinner. I am using
> a portuguese floor standing bottler with commercial corks which are a tad
> larger than some of the home bottling corks. I was wondering if I should
> be wary?
>
> Jim
>

Thanks Bob. I sense eventually my corking thin necks with fat corks is going to result in a casualty. I'm a
bottle-tramp, I get given as many screw top bottles as corked :S and it's hard to refuse them when they've worked so
far. The first litre wasted will probably cure me of that way of thinking. Thanks for the advise on corking I will try
to take it

Brutal as it sounds, the wallpaper scraper or broad chisel is great for getting the gross paper off. If nail polish
remover is good for getting the glue residue off, that's a fairly cheap route - and it feels so much safer than petrol,
heh heh.

Cheers for the advice, Jim


"bobdrob" > wrote in message . ..
> hi jim! re Q #1 : we've used a trisodium phoshate (TSP) cleaner as a soak-off with reasonable success. HOWEVER, real
> TSP may or maynot be available to you. In boston, our EPA now only allows us faux TSP which is somewhat OK.
> Otherwise, repeated hot water soaks and a single edged razorblade to follow will take them off with some effort.
> follow up with an acetone wipe to remove glue residue. Nail polish remover is reasonably cheap!
>
> #2: we've had no real experience w/ screwtops except to drink from them ( nostra culpa) but 3 out of 4 of us feel
> that you may be flirtin' with disaster, vis a vis shattered bottles. HTH regards, bob.
>
>
>
> "jim" > wrote in message ...
>> Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of questions?
>>
>> I live in the UK but the wine bottles I recycle from family and friends come from the world over, old world and new
>> world. Some are screw tops and some held corks.
>>
>> My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably readily available in the UK) are good at removing
>> label glue. About 50% come off with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem to resist my nails, chisel
>> (!) water and just about anything else. I've managed to get it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but its very
>> expensive and not particularly efficient. I was thinking maybe petrol used carefully or something would be the
>> optimum cheap solvent. Any ideas?
>>
>> The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top wine bottles? I have corked a dozen or so
>> bottles which were previously screw tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to be thinner. I am using a
>> portuguese floor standing bottler with commercial corks which are a tad larger than some of the home bottling corks.
>> I was wondering if I should be wary?
>>
>> Jim
>>
>
>

Hi, Jim.
For #1 - I have found ammonia added to the water will soak off 30-40% of
the labels if soaked for 24 hours - just floating next to the bottle.
30% come off easily with a razor blade (like you scrap painted windows
with), and 30% still take some effort, but much easier than just with
water.

Hope that helps.

#2 - I haven't tried corking a screw top, just throw the bottle away,
though I realize over time, more and more will be screw tops. sigh. i'll
watch for others to reply.

DAve


jim wrote:
> Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of questions?
>
> I live in the UK but the wine bottles I recycle from family and friends come from the world over, old world and new
> world. Some are screw tops and some held corks.
>
> My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably readily available in the UK) are good at removing
> label glue. About 50% come off with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem to resist my nails, chisel (!)
> water and just about anything else. I've managed to get it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but its very
> expensive and not particularly efficient. I was thinking maybe petrol used carefully or something would be the optimum
> cheap solvent. Any ideas?
>
> The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top wine bottles? I have corked a dozen or so bottles
> which were previously screw tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to be thinner. I am using a portuguese
> floor standing bottler with commercial corks which are a tad larger than some of the home bottling corks. I was
> wondering if I should be wary?
>
> Jim
>
>

Jim,
there is another wine label glue that is made with white, latex glue. I
have dubbed it; 'the wine label glue from hell'. Labels simply do not soak
off. If I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I did this),;
1. set your oven to 250 Fahrenheit, no higher and no lower. Those
engineers out there can convert this temp for you, if you need help.
2. place empty, uncorked bottles on rack in your oven. Allow about 10-15
minutes to heat. Remove from oven with oven mitt (yes, I have to say this as
some guy out there once asked me!).
3. while holding wine bottle with oven mitt, use a small paring knife to
remove label. It should peal off easily.
4. allow wine bottle to completely cool, to the touch. Do _NOT_ put
immediately into water. Unless you like crackle finishes on your bottles,
and don't mind fragility.

If somebody out there could do a search of the archives and double-check
on the temperature setting and time in the oven, I would appreciate it.

Joanne -
amidst the tumbleweeds of Arizona


"jim" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of questions?
>
> I live in the UK but the wine bottles I recycle from family and friends
> come from the world over, old world and new world. Some are screw tops
> and some held corks.
>
> My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably readily
> available in the UK) are good at removing label glue. About 50% come off
> with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem to resist my
> nails, chisel (!) water and just about anything else. I've managed to get
> it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but its very expensive and not
> particularly efficient. I was thinking maybe petrol used carefully or
> something would be the optimum cheap solvent. Any ideas?
>
> The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top wine
> bottles? I have corked a dozen or so bottles which were previously screw
> tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to be thinner. I am using
> a portuguese floor standing bottler with commercial corks which are a tad
> larger than some of the home bottling corks. I was wondering if I should
> be wary?
>
> Jim
>

Jim:

1) Commercial wine labels. I HATE 'EM <grin>. Basically the solution
perseverance. Everybody had good suggestions, BUT some
labels...mutter mutter. Buy new!!! Support your local retailer
(especially if you live near my store).

2) Screw top bottles. I hate 'em (note not capitalized). Nearly all
screw top bottles can be corked. I run a Brew on Premises and I see
lots of different bottles, including screw tops. So far only one has
broken when being corked. Many more cork finish bottles have broken.
But that just represents the ratio of cork finish to screw top.

There seem to be three sizes of mouth openings on screw top bottles.
a) a good size - most bottles that I see
b) slightly larger - probably less than 10% of the bottles - corks fit
but I worry about how good a seal
c) very large opening - these are easy to spot. I have only seen 3 or
4 of these bottles in 5 years.

I DO NOT USE screw top bottles for my personal wine. WHY? Because
I'm not convinced that you will get a good seal with a cork or a used
screw top.

If the wine will be consumed short term (less than 3 months?), go for
it.

Lastly...bottles break, Doesn't matter which ones they are.

Steve

"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> Jim:
>
> 1) Commercial wine labels. I HATE 'EM <grin>. Basically the solution
> perseverance. Everybody had good suggestions, BUT some
> labels...mutter mutter. Buy new!!! Support your local retailer
> (especially if you live near my store).
>
> 2) Screw top bottles. I hate 'em (note not capitalized). Nearly all
> screw top bottles can be corked. I run a Brew on Premises and I see
> lots of different bottles, including screw tops. So far only one has
> broken when being corked. Many more cork finish bottles have broken.
> But that just represents the ratio of cork finish to screw top.
>
> There seem to be three sizes of mouth openings on screw top bottles.
> a) a good size - most bottles that I see
> b) slightly larger - probably less than 10% of the bottles - corks fit
> but I worry about how good a seal
> c) very large opening - these are easy to spot. I have only seen 3 or
> 4 of these bottles in 5 years.
>
> I DO NOT USE screw top bottles for my personal wine. WHY? Because
> I'm not convinced that you will get a good seal with a cork or a used
> screw top.
>
> If the wine will be consumed short term (less than 3 months?), go for
> it.
>
> Lastly...bottles break, Doesn't matter which ones they are.
>
> Steve

Steve,
I have been growing grapes and making wine for more than 55 years. I crush
between 1 and 4 tons per year.
2 X 55 = 110 tons
110 X 150 = 16500 gals
16500 X 5 = 82500 bottles
I use an old, old Italian corker. I have dropped my share of bottles, but I
don't ever remember of breaking a bottle while driving a cork.
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA
www.geocities.com/lumeisenman

jim wrote:
<snip>
> My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably
> readily available in the UK) are good at removing label glue. About
> 50% come off with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem
> to resist my nails, chisel (!) water and just about anything else.
> I've managed to get it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but
> its very expensive and not particularly efficient. I was thinking
> maybe petrol used carefully or something would be the optimum cheap
> solvent. Any ideas?
>
> The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top
> wine bottles? I have corked a dozen or so bottles which were
> previously screw tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to
> be thinner. I am using a portuguese floor standing bottler with
> commercial corks which are a tad larger than some of the home
> bottling corks. I was wondering if I should be wary?

I keep a plastic pail filled with water on the back porch. It will hold
about 4 bottles. I fill the bottles with hot water to help loosen the
label initially and to keep the bottles from floating, hand cork them
and let them soak for a few days in the pail. I scrape the labels off
with a stainless steel scraper. Most of the labels usually scrape off
easily, some require extra effort.

I cork the random screw top bottles that I get with 9x1.75 corks with no
problems to date.

Steve

Thanks everyone for the tips!

Joanne, that white label glue is my worst enemy too. I do not have a proper oven at the moment (its a long story about
a tiny kitchen and postponed renovations), I'll try it at someone else's house or in a few months!

Cheers again, Jim

"jmreiter" > wrote in message news:jtx2h.6580$ul5.5460@trnddc03...
> Jim,
> there is another wine label glue that is made with white, latex glue. I have dubbed it; 'the wine label glue from
> hell'. Labels simply do not soak off. If I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I did this),;
> 1. set your oven to 250 Fahrenheit, no higher and no lower. Those engineers out there can convert this temp for you,
> if you need help.
> 2. place empty, uncorked bottles on rack in your oven. Allow about 10-15 minutes to heat. Remove from oven with oven
> mitt (yes, I have to say this as some guy out there once asked me!).
> 3. while holding wine bottle with oven mitt, use a small paring knife to remove label. It should peal off easily.
> 4. allow wine bottle to completely cool, to the touch. Do _NOT_ put immediately into water. Unless you like crackle
> finishes on your bottles, and don't mind fragility.
>
> If somebody out there could do a search of the archives and double-check on the temperature setting and time in the
> oven, I would appreciate it.
>
> Joanne -
> amidst the tumbleweeds of Arizona
>
>
> "jim" > wrote in message ...
>> Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of questions?
>>
>> I live in the UK but the wine bottles I recycle from family and friends come from the world over, old world and new
>> world. Some are screw tops and some held corks.
>>
>> My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably readily available in the UK) are good at removing
>> label glue. About 50% come off with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem to resist my nails, chisel
>> (!) water and just about anything else. I've managed to get it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but its very
>> expensive and not particularly efficient. I was thinking maybe petrol used carefully or something would be the
>> optimum cheap solvent. Any ideas?
>>
>> The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top wine bottles? I have corked a dozen or so
>> bottles which were previously screw tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to be thinner. I am using a
>> portuguese floor standing bottler with commercial corks which are a tad larger than some of the home bottling corks.
>> I was wondering if I should be wary?
>>
>> Jim
>>
>
>

On Nov 2, 6:05 pm, "jmreiter" > wrote:
> Jim,
> there is another wine label glue that is made with white, latex glue. I
> have dubbed it; 'the wine label glue from hell'. Labels simply do not soak
> off. If I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I did this),;
> 1. set your oven to 250 Fahrenheit, no higher and no lower. Those
> engineers out there can convert this temp for you, if you need help.
> 2. place empty, uncorked bottles on rack in your oven. Allow about 10-15
> minutes to heat. Remove from oven with oven mitt (yes, I have to say this as
> some guy out there once asked me!).
> 3. while holding wine bottle with oven mitt, use a small paring knife to
> remove label. It should peal off easily.
> 4. allow wine bottle to completely cool, to the touch. Do _NOT_ put
> immediately into water. Unless you like crackle finishes on your bottles,
> and don't mind fragility.
>
> If somebody out there could do a search of the archives and double-check
> on the temperature setting and time in the oven, I would appreciate it.
>
> Joanne -
> amidst the tumbleweeds of Arizona
>

Joanne, how can one tell if the label was attached with the latex glue?

Thx,

Pp

ahhh -- but the REAL question Lum; how much wine do you DRINK every year?
2 x 150 = 300 gallons
300 x 5 = 1500 bottles

4 bottles a day.

Love your style .....



> I crush between 1 and 4 tons per year.
> 2 X 55 = 110 tons
> 110 X 150 = 16500 gals
> 16500 X 5 = 82500 bottles
> I use an old, old Italian corker. I have dropped my share of bottles, but
> I
> don't ever remember of breaking a bottle while driving a cork.
> Lum
> Del Mar, California, USA
> www.geocities.com/lumeisenman
>
>

Ric,
My kids seldom help with the making, but they always help with the drinking.
Lum

"Ric" > wrote in message
. ..
> ahhh -- but the REAL question Lum; how much wine do you DRINK every year?
> 2 x 150 = 300 gallons
> 300 x 5 = 1500 bottles
>
> 4 bottles a day.
>
> Love your style .....
>
>
>
> > I crush between 1 and 4 tons per year.
> > 2 X 55 = 110 tons
> > 110 X 150 = 16500 gals
> > 16500 X 5 = 82500 bottles
> > I use an old, old Italian corker. I have dropped my share of bottles,
but
> > I
> > don't ever remember of breaking a bottle while driving a cork.
> > Lum
> > Del Mar, California, USA
> > www.geocities.com/lumeisenman
> >
> >
>
>

Lum:

Presumably you are careful with your bottles. Customers in a BOP are
not always that careful. Several bottles have been caught prior to
corking that were cracked in the neck area. I am certain that
inserting the cork would have caused the crack to open up. WHY am I
certain? Cause I've seen several that it has happened to. The crack
usually looks like a hair hanging down. FYI, these were cork finish
bottles.

BTW I run a small BOP. Bottle probably over 50 batches a month for 5
years now. 50 x 30 X 12 X 5 = 90,000 bottles. using a compressed air
driven corker.

As always glass is breakable. Take care of your bottles (as Lum does)
and you will have no problems.

BTW, none of the broken bottles were my personal bottles. Unless you
count the empty I dropped on the concrete floor

Steve

>Steve,
>I have been growing grapes and making wine for more than 55 years. I crush
>between 1 and 4 tons per year.
>2 X 55 = 110 tons
>110 X 150 = 16500 gals
>16500 X 5 = 82500 bottles
>I use an old, old Italian corker. I have dropped my share of bottles, but I
>don't ever remember of breaking a bottle while driving a cork.
>Lum
>Del Mar, California, USA
>www.geocities.com/lumeisenman
>

P,
in good light, hold the bottle so that the front label is away from you.
Look through the glass at the glue backing on the label. If you see "lines"
of glue, then it is a "soaker" and the label should come off in hot water.
If the glue is uniformly throughout the back of the label, chances are it is
coated with the wine-label-glue-from-hell.
Also, after pealing off the label and letting the bottle cool, you can
use an orange-based product called goo-gone to get rid of any residue left
on the bottle. I then wash the exterior in warm sudsy water. After that
process is finished, I wash in cleaner/sanitizer product.

Joanne - amidst the tumbleweeds of Ari(d)zona

"pp" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
>
> On Nov 2, 6:05 pm, "jmreiter" > wrote:
>> Jim,
>> there is another wine label glue that is made with white, latex glue.
>> I
>> have dubbed it; 'the wine label glue from hell'. Labels simply do not
>> soak
>> off. If I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I did this),;
>> 1. set your oven to 250 Fahrenheit, no higher and no lower. Those
>> engineers out there can convert this temp for you, if you need help.
>> 2. place empty, uncorked bottles on rack in your oven. Allow about
>> 10-15
>> minutes to heat. Remove from oven with oven mitt (yes, I have to say this
>> as
>> some guy out there once asked me!).
>> 3. while holding wine bottle with oven mitt, use a small paring knife
>> to
>> remove label. It should peal off easily.
>> 4. allow wine bottle to completely cool, to the touch. Do _NOT_ put
>> immediately into water. Unless you like crackle finishes on your bottles,
>> and don't mind fragility.
>>
>> If somebody out there could do a search of the archives and
>> double-check
>> on the temperature setting and time in the oven, I would appreciate it.
>>
>> Joanne -
>> amidst the tumbleweeds of Arizona
>>
>
> Joanne, how can one tell if the label was attached with the latex glue?
>
> Thx,
>
> Pp
>

Good point Steve.
Thanks,
Lum

"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> Lum:
>
> Presumably you are careful with your bottles. Customers in a BOP are
> not always that careful. Several bottles have been caught prior to
> corking that were cracked in the neck area. I am certain that
> inserting the cork would have caused the crack to open up. WHY am I
> certain? Cause I've seen several that it has happened to. The crack
> usually looks like a hair hanging down. FYI, these were cork finish
> bottles.
>
> BTW I run a small BOP. Bottle probably over 50 batches a month for 5
> years now. 50 x 30 X 12 X 5 = 90,000 bottles. using a compressed air
> driven corker.
>
> As always glass is breakable. Take care of your bottles (as Lum does)
> and you will have no problems.
>
> BTW, none of the broken bottles were my personal bottles. Unless you
> count the empty I dropped on the concrete floor
>
> Steve
>
> >Steve,
> >I have been growing grapes and making wine for more than 55 years. I
crush
> >between 1 and 4 tons per year.
> >2 X 55 = 110 tons
> >110 X 150 = 16500 gals
> >16500 X 5 = 82500 bottles
> >I use an old, old Italian corker. I have dropped my share of bottles,
but I
> >don't ever remember of breaking a bottle while driving a cork.
> >Lum
> >Del Mar, California, USA
> >www.geocities.com/lumeisenman
> >
>

Thanks again for all the ideas. I used WD40 on the outside of the bottles today and cleaned glue off 19 bottles in
about 35 minutes. They already had the label paper scratched off and had been soaked for 12 hours. I washed them off
outside and in then dried them off with an old towel.

Pretty good results and no taint inside bottle - though I know its not the ultimate solution. It seems to work on the
hard glue and latex types. The odd extra squirt helps clean the gunge off.

Jim

"Steve Landis" <sdotlandisatcomcastdotnet> wrote in message ...
> jim wrote:
> <snip>
>> My first question is: What cheap chemicals/products (preferrably
>> readily available in the UK) are good at removing label glue. About
>> 50% come off with hot water and plenty of elbow grease. Others seem
>> to resist my nails, chisel (!) water and just about anything else.
>> I've managed to get it off with a solvent cleaning spray I have but
>> its very expensive and not particularly efficient. I was thinking
>> maybe petrol used carefully or something would be the optimum cheap
>> solvent. Any ideas?
>>
>> The second question is has anyone had any problems corking screw top
>> wine bottles? I have corked a dozen or so bottles which were
>> previously screw tops with no problems, but the neck glass seems to
>> be thinner. I am using a portuguese floor standing bottler with
>> commercial corks which are a tad larger than some of the home
>> bottling corks. I was wondering if I should be wary?
>
> I keep a plastic pail filled with water on the back porch. It will hold about 4 bottles. I fill the bottles with hot
> water to help loosen the label initially and to keep the bottles from floating, hand cork them
> and let them soak for a few days in the pail. I scrape the labels off
> with a stainless steel scraper. Most of the labels usually scrape off
> easily, some require extra effort.
>
> I cork the random screw top bottles that I get with 9x1.75 corks with no
> problems to date.
>
> Steve