So i know theres been a few post on reusing glass bottles here, but recently tried something and thought id share. Buddy of mine brews his own beer. He has a labeling process and sometimes reuses bottles that he has used only for his personal use. I asked him how he goes about cleaning and removing labels from the bottles. He told me to use one teaspoon for every two cups of water and let them soak. Well today I'm off work and needed to clean about 30 30ml glass bottles. I boiled them in water as usual then added the baking soda. I let them sit in the solution for about 45 min. It works far better than anything else Ive done. The film that tends to adhere to the sides of the bottles (from the label glue in the water maybe?) was gone. This method also cleared red hot cinnamon like a dream. So if your cleaning out some glass bottles give this a shot.
- One teaspoon for ever two cups of water
- Fully submerge in solution for 30 to 60 min
- Best label removal / deodorizing method Ive tried yet
One teaspoon of what? Twice in your post you say one teaspoon with no qualifier. I assume you mean one teaspoon baking soda because you do mention that once as well? Or do I just fill a sink with water and toss in 30 bottles and 30 teaspoons
Lol, toss them all in the sink and I throw a spoon at them for every couple of glasses of water added, obviously.
Sorry Im kinda a noob, thanks for making it clear. Will try this tonight
Use Avery Removable Labels. They come right off, no residue, no mess.
The bottle blasters for brewing also work great for cleaning. There is a product that removes labels as well but its fairly expensive. 8 oz beer bottles can be used with a capper to store things but i wouldnt reccommend it. Even if you label it poison someone could still think "100mg VG nicotine? Thats a weird beer name" and drink it.
When I clean recycled bottles for homebrew I use an oxyclean soak in warm/hot water, then a thorough rinse in cold water. This would be too intense for just cleaning de-labeled juice bottles though, which I normally use a sink of warm water with a cap of bleach in, then rinse and air dry over night. I'll try out the baking soda idea next time I have labels to remove, thanks!
A little bit of lighter fluid on a cotton ball or Paper towel works great for removing sticky residue. Lighter fluid such as Ronsonol for Zippos is what I use. After you rub and wipe with the cotton ball or paper towel, just rinse with hot water. Hope it helps.
What do you do with the droppers? I would assume if you put them in the water with the bottles the rubber top would melt but I would also think you want to clean the glass part of the dropper as well to get the old flavor out of it.