How to Remove a wine label

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By wineguyrich
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Saving you wine labels is a neat thing to do especially in the age of synthetic corks. You can keep them pressed in a journal or save them to decorate an old table. What ever you choose if done well you will have a nice conversation piece when drinking that cherished bottle of vino or 30 year old scotch….you get the idea. Have some fun! Drink some wine! Stay away from the power tools!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A wine bottle
Liquid Soap
A large container
An oven

Step 1

Fill a large container with hot water and add 1-2 drops of liquid dish soap.
Step 2

Fill the wine bottle itself with VERY hot water and immerse it in the container
Step 3

After about 30 minutes, you'll either have the label floating in the container or loosely clinging to the bottle. If it's not off by then, you usually know it will take anywhere from 2 hours to overnight for the soaking to work.
Step 4

If, after the long or short soak, you find the label has still not come off ... take the bottle out of the jug, dry the bottle and label well.
Step 5

Try baking it in the oven at 100-150 deg for 10-15 minutes.
Step 6

The label will still be very gummy so sprinkle a little flour on it and that will care of it.
Step 7

Then lay it face up on a mat and placed a heavy book on them for a few hours to flatten them out.

Tips & Warnings

There are many ways to save a label off a bottle I use the above two. When floating the label does not work I bake it. I always try floating them off first. Baking will work only if the glue is a sticky type. I don’t know how to tell the difference by looking at it but as you get good at it you can make a good guess as to what method will work for you.
Just remember not to heat the bottle too much.
Remember to use a pot holder to handle the bottle.
Don’t cork the bottle when baking.
Don't cool the heated bottle in water.