I've started using the plastic containers for vitamins and mixed nuts and cheeses from Costco but some labels come off easily while others fall into a million pieces.
Is there a TRICK to removing the label from these jars?
Maybe a mechanical technique (I try to peal from all edges, sloooooowly, stopping as soon as I get a tear).
Or better yet, some secret solvent?
Warmth softens the adhesive. Just don't make it so hot the label melts.
Many come off easy after soaking in the sink with med-hot water and a little soap. Some of the others require goo gone or something like it to remove the residue. The mixed nut jars are the absolute worst. Maybe they will read this and modify the glue. -:)
If the warm water and a little soap works you are way ahead by recycling and not buying storage containers at the BORG. If you factor in the cost of a solvent, I am not so sure you come out ahead.
I find the peanut butter jars to be the best overall size and easy removal for storing stuff on the truck. Compared to buying storage containers at Wally World I eat the peanut butter for a net cost of about 50 cents a jar. Pretty darn cheap lunch.
Soak the label with a dab of vegetable oil. Another method is peanut butter. The oils soak the label and wash off -- after awhile.
Veg oil, PB, goo-gone, goop hand cleaner. Kinda like stripping wallpaper- you need to scuff the surface so it can get down into the paper. I always try a dry peeling first, though. It all depends on how tight the labeling machine was set that day, how well the glue was applied, how well the mold release was washed off the bottles, how hot the container got in transit. Sometimes you get lucky.
Permanent labels are often removed with Rubber Cement thinner. At least that's what's used to remove permanent labels on books.
Yup - mineral spirits. Soak the labeled container in dishwater first. If after a bit of rubbing the paper part of the label comes off but there is still a sticky patch, pour a small amount of mineral spirits (aka paint thinner) on a paper towel (or rag) and rub the sticky patch until it's gone. That almost always does the trick.
Susan
Nope, what works varys with the glue originally used.
I only use the glass jars myself and some of the labels come off with a single cycle thru the dishwasher, and some dont.
Fraid not.
Yes, you basically need a higher molecular weight solvent like kerosene for the aggressive glue that doesnt come off in the dishwasher.
There are some commercial solvents that work, but they arent that cheap.
And they arent all suitable for plastic containers either, particularly not acetone/nail polish remover.
Susan Bugher wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:
Won't the dishwasher throw the label around in little pieces sticking to everything else? Marina
WD-40 works on many of them
Many (most) of the types of plastic these bottles are made from do not act favorably to solvents of any kind, and tend to take on a foggy patina when solvents are used - not desirable, in my opinion, especially with the clear bottles.
I have the most success in removing the labels by filling the bottle/container with water, to act as a heat sink, then gently applying heat from an electric heat gun.
Don't concentrate the heat blast in one spot for too long, lest you warp the plastic bottle, but rather, keep the gun moving over all surfaces of the label, stopping often to see if the adhesive is ready to give up the label.
Joe
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That's where I'd start, certainly...
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I'd suggest a combination approach.
1) peel, as you mentioned 2) soak overnight in hot water 3) Scrape labels with fingernails to remove what you can 4) if you can get under the foil or paper, let the bottles dry out. Then spray with WD-40 and scrape with fingernails. Wipe off the resulting sludge with paper towelsThe idea is to mix techniques. Mechanical, water, mechanical, solvent, mechanical.
I do that. Read quickly, and words some how change around a bit. "dishwater" implies a pan in the sink. I'd not want to use "dishwasher" which is a mechanical device with spinning sprayers.
Nope, most labels that do come off, come off in one piece.
Nope, they end up on the removable filter at the bottom of the dishwasher in my case.
dpb wrote
fall into a million pieces.
The problem is that the jars I prefer are currently those whose labels dont come off in a single cycle in the dishwasher.
Its just the glue they chose to use.
I should have added that with the ones that dont come off by themselves, what can work with some glues is to put them thru the dishwasher and then open the dishwasher at the end of the hot rinse cycle and help the label off with some sort of scraper, like a putty knife etc, and then get the residual glue off with a cheap high molecular weight solvent like kerosine or turpentine and then give them another cycle to get the remains of the solvent completely removed.
Corse thats a lot easier with glass containers than with plastic containers.
Some just dont bother about the labels, use them with the labels on.
hers fall into a million pieces.
I use Naptha as an all-purpose solvent when soap and water are not enough. Works well even on most plastic containers, just clean it off promptly after removing the labels. As others have said, you need to break thru the surface barrier of the label to get at the glue, this is true also when using Naptha.
hers fall into a million pieces.
I use Naptha
*** Try here:
Umm, how about just putting a new label over the top, like most of us do?
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