Saving labels - suggestions?

I am making my first attempt at soaking off wine labels to save, and it isn't going well. So far, I've had one come off easily in a hot water bath, the outer layer of two others came off in one piece, but the rest would rather become paper mache rather than let go of the bottle like good little labels should. Plan B is to use tape to peel them off. I know there is tape sold for that express purpose, but I don't have any handy, nor have I actually seen any for sale anywhere. Would the heavy-duty clear packing tape work for this? That I have plenty of!

[Jenise]

Peter May and Tom Hill are both experts in label removal, Robert. Be patient, and one of them will be around to help I'm sure.

I've given up on collecting labels. Instead, I collect digiphotos of labels. Much easier.

My wife (I'm far too impatient) will use dental floss to remove super-glued on labels after boiling. They slide right off. Terry Theise seems to be the biggest scoundrel in industrial strength glue usage.

Good timing. I just spent the better part of this afternoon discussing label application with a winemaker here in my neck of the woods.

There is a bunch of different labeling methods: cold glue, hot glue, pressure sensitive, applied ceramic labeling (ACL), pewter etc. and so on.

With some of these methods you may be fighting an uphill battle to get the label off. Certain combinations are meant for the easy removal of the label in order to recycle the bottles more easily. Other methods don't give give rat's behind about recycling. Not that the latter folks don't have a little tree-hugger in them, but, especially with whites, they don't want their labels getting all gushy and coming off when you stick the bottle in the ice bucket and the ice starts to melt leaving the bottle in water.

I ended up trying the clear packing tape on 3 or 4, and it worked fairly well, as long as it got rubbed down tight before trying to peel. I like the digiphoto idea though!

Welcome Robert

Most wine labels these days are self adhesive and can be removed by heating so the glue softens. Method I havemost success with is to fill the empty bottle with boiling water, leave for 5 minutes, and slip a finger nail under a corner and gently peel off.

The sticky clear plastic label removers aren't as quick or effective as they claim, and even when succesful you are looking at the label through plastic. They are quite expensive at around $10 for 10 - 15, and can be obtained from home winemaking stores, specialist wine shops and winery gift shops. If you have packing tape, then why not try it? For best success, rub down firmly and leave for the adhesive to really bond.

Regards

In a recent conversation, a friend suggested putting the empty bottle in the oven and heating it. No temp or time was suggested. Also, slipping a razor or something under the label of a very hot bottle could be problematic at best. I have some of the sticky label removers - they're OK but not great; one benefit is that the label are nicely laminated when you're done.
I like Otto's digiphoto idea. Otto - any distortion with the curve of the bottle and if so, how do you compensate?

[Robin Garr]

Otto - any distortion with the curve of the bottle and if so, how do you compensate?

I'm not Otto, but I do quite a bit of wine-label digitizing, and for me, the best solution is to use a high-quality long lens (or zoom) and shoot from some distance with high-definition settings. This allows me to crop out and edit the label even though it's only a small part of the overall image, and the distance of the shot results in a relatively small proportional variation between the center and the near edges of the label. The far edges don't matter much and can either be cropped out or allowed to blur.

This works great for Web-size photos and even photos for print (newspaper) production, but you'd start running into resolution issues if you wanted to blow one up to very large size.

Here's a recent Web-size example, shot from about 8 feet with a 28x200 AF Nikkor lens at near full zoom on a Nikon D100 digital, which for technical reasons turns the effective focal length into the equivalent of 56x400.

It was shot under natural light in deep shade on a sunny afternoon, using the Nikon's "shade" white balance preset, and cropped with little editing other than minimal brightness-contrast settings in Photoshop 7.0. (I also use the "rotation" tool to get the image level, since I generally end up tilting at a slight angle with the hand-held camera no matter how hard I try. As you can see, it's not as perfect as a flatbed scan, but the distance does minimize the apparant curvature, and the small amount that remains strikes me as more desirable perspective than a flaw.

Nicely explained, Robin. And it saved me the trouble!

[Robin Garr]

Nicely explained, Robin. And it saved me the trouble!

Why thanks, fellow shutterbug. Any time!

I keep thinking we ought to do something more with wine-related photography on this forum. Get people to submit wine-road photos or something. Maybe even a contest!

I keep thinking we ought to do something more with wine-related photography on this forum. Get people to submit wine-road photos or something. Maybe even a contest!

Fantastic idea! Will there be more participants than you, Otto, Paulo, and I?

Count me in, Cynthia!
/Anders

[Robin Garr]

Fantastic idea! Will there be more participants than you, Otto, Paulo, and I?

I bet there will be! Especially if I announce it in the Wine Advisor, too.

Is the idea even good enough to merit a section of its own in WLDG, you think, Robin?
/A

[Robin Garr]

Is the idea even good enough to merit a section of its own in WLDG, you think, Robin?

My concern there, Anders, would be that a separate section might segregate it. I could certainly see setting up a separate set of pages on WineLoversPage.com, though, a sort of wine photo gallery ... we actually have that in a way, in the old "Wine Country Wallpaper" section that includes some downloadable photos designed for use as computer "wallpaper."

There's plenty of room to expand this concept, and again, I wouldn't mind trying to lure in a broader audience than just WLDG, although we could and should certainly start it here.

...I keep thinking we ought to do something more with wine-related photography on this forum. Get people to submit wine-road photos or something. Maybe even a contest!

Well, Robin, you've already done quite a job with your JuliaB collection.

Robin, I think I should go that route, especially since I have a new Canon Rebel XTi with enough resolution to do some serious cropping.

As for a photo contest, I'd be keen on that also. I'd have to make do with scenes from Oklahoma vineyards, however, in the near term.

Thank you, Robin. I'll give the photo angle a try this weekend.

I would post!

I think a combination of all of the above is a good. I start off with boiling water in side the bottle. If that does not work, then it is off to be submerged in cold water overnight....then if that does not work, it's a digital camera for what remains of it and then into the recycling bin.,..

[Robin Garr]

Robin, you've already done quite a job with your JuliaB collection.

Don't forget that world-famous shot of Smokin' Howie! I'm enterin' it first!

[img]http://www.wineloverspage.com/graphics1/smokinhowie.jpg[/img]

[James Roscoe]

I am so ready for NiagaraCool! That picture makes my mouth water! Come on Cyn, you HAVE to come after seeing that shot of Howie by the grill! Air Tran is having a sale too!

Robert,
Been doing it for yrs. Have followed glue technology from the very start. Now at over 60,000 labels.
I simply soak the btls in hot water (it cools off eventually) for several hrs. With todays glue technology, only about 5% use water-soluble adhesive. Most labels come in big rolls w/ a self-adhesive backing (like to stamp from the post office). They're pretty easy to remove.
With a single-edge razor blade, in one of those window-scraper thingeys, you just start peeling off the label in an upward motion, taking off about 1/8"-1/4" at a time, until you've got the label peeled off the btl. It's all in the wrist motion and after the first 10,000 labels, you'll get the technique down!! Some are easier than others. Some stick to the razor like BrerRabbit & the TarBaby.
I lose only about 1-2 labels in 50, as a rule.
Those label-removal sticky things work reasonably well, by actually tearing off the surface of the label from the adhesive part. And they're expensive.
Tom

Robin, last year I showed that picture to a co-worker. He went back on line, printed it out, laminated it and gave it to me. It now hangs on the bulletin board in my office.

However, for my entry, I'd like to submit the 'Official Paul B. Foch Glass".