Sometimes wine bottles are real masterpieces of glass-blowing craftsmanship. There are also labels that, for one reason or another, you want to keep. It is often necessary to separate the label from the glass, but this is not always easy.
How do I clean the bottle?
If your goal is to get a clean bottle of wine without traces of labels and glue, for example, for making an original vase, composition, container for storing liquids or even a ship in a bottle, then you don't have to worry about the safety of the label. The most famous and popular way is to soak the bottle in warm water for several hours, after which the label should peel off easily. However, this option only works if the manufacturer has used a water-soluble adhesive. You can also wrap the bottle in a wet cloth. Remains of glue and labels can be easily removed with a sponge or brush. As a last resort, you can use a glass scraper, but be careful not to scratch the surface of the bottle.
In stores, you can find special tape for removing labels, used by wine tasters to keep tasting albums.
Unfortunately, recently more and more manufacturers are using so-called non-drying glue for sticking labels. He is not afraid of water, so even the longest soaking will do nothing. However, do not despair, as this glue is sensitive to high temperatures. Pour boiling water into the bottle, and literally in half a minute the label can be removed without any effort. Alternatively, you can heat the bottle with a hair dryer or oil heating radiator. Of course, traces of glue will still remain, but they can be wiped off with a fat cream or vegetable oil, soaking a piece of cloth in it.
The label, peeled off by heating, may well be glued into the album on your own "native" glue, the layer of which will remain on the inside of the sticker.
Can the label be saved?
If you are faced with the task of preserving the integrity of the label as much as possible, then everything is a little more complicated. Instead of soaking, which can severely damage the label, it is better to hold the bottle over steam, having previously wrapped the neck with a towel so as not to burn yourself. Another option is to use solvents or gasoline to gently wet the label until it is completely saturated. Once the gasoline has evaporated, you will most likely be able to remove the label effortlessly. Naturally, this method only works with paper stickers. Plastic labels will have to be soaked with gasoline from the inside, picking up the sticker by the corner. However, such labels, glued to non-drying glue, as a rule, can be carefully peeled off without any preparation at all.
