A Simple Label Removal Trick for Glass Jars and Bottles
By Simone Smith
Hot Water: The Best Natural Label Remover
I can't tell you how many times I've broken or chipped nails in futile attempts to wrest sticky labels from glass bottles and jars. Perhaps you have suffered similar first world problems yourself... or perhaps you have found yourself in the similarly frustrating position of only being able to partially peel off a jar label and have wasted entire minutes of your life attempting to scrape off what remains using a knife or some other slightly sharp tool.
Let's just say that there are enough small things in this world that can bug us... persnickety labels on jars are the last thing we need. This is why I was OVERJOYED when the honorable gredmondson showed me this trick for getting labels off glass jars and bottles using nothing but hot water.
All you have to do is:
- Boil water
- Pour the water into your jar
- Wait a couple moments, then peel the label off
The hot water melts the glue holding the label to the glass, so you don't have to worry about any paper ripping off and staying with your jar! Hurrah.
I hope you find this trick to be a pleasing and useful as I do!
Photo Step-By-Step... Not that you need it!
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Additional Tips
As you can see from the video and the photo to the right, some label glue leaves behind some residue (this is only sometimes the case).
If you want to get rid of that completely, I recommend soaking the bottle or jar in hot, soapy water, and then scrubbing it away with the abrasive side of a sponge.
Getting Rid of Wax
As gredmondson also showed me, boiling water also does wonders for getting wax drippings off of glass votives! Just pour the boiling water into the votive and walk away.
The wax will melt and float to the surface of the water, making it easy to remove, and leaving your votive looking good as new!
Comments
I'm just shaking my head in astonishment that this looks so easy and I've been struggling to get labels off for so many years!!! Same thing with the cleaning of the glass votives. I've been scraping the wax off!
Thank you so much for this simple advice!!! Voted up and useful.
Thanks for the tip, Simone. So simple but amazingly effective.
I have been doing this for years. Now why didn't I think of writing a hub about it? Way to go, Simone!
Fingernail polish remover does a good job of getting the sticky residue off also.
That's a great tip! I've stupidly poured hot water on the label itself, and then end up scraping off hunks of sticky pulp, much to my own dismay. I've also tossed them in dishwashers, only to have the label peel off and glue to one of my plates or glasses.
I think using your method, you could probably toss the label-free jar into the dishwasher and the remaining residue should wash off nicely.
Love the orange accent, too. ;)
Thanks for the tip. Some of those labels are lots harder to get off than others too. Maybe different glues. Often I throw a bunch in hot soapy water and they do fine, then others I end up scraping. Those are the candidates for the old boiling water trick,
Well, well, the simple things we struggle with in life!
Once I've exhausted myself getting the lid off a jar it's a case of 'to hell with the label'.
People spend great amounts of money on label removers and all we need is hot water. Why am I not surprised? Thanks for the tip Simone.
Hahaa, I shall definitely take that compliment, davenmidtown! Thanks for stopping by :D
I was doing the exact same thing for years, too, Happyboomernurse! I'm glad to have shared this method with you. No more struggling for us!
Isn't it funny, drbj, how most problems have very simple solutions?
I'm going to have to check out this finger nail polish remover trick, homesteadbound! Thanks!
I used to do something very similar, livelonger. I'd let the jars soak in warm, soapy water which loosened the labels a bit... but never really did so neatly @_@
Good point, rebeccamealey!
Hahaa, I've definitely been in THAT position before, LadyLyell! I spent 15 minutes on just one bottle this weekend =___=
Thanks for reading Hyphenbird! Yeah, label removers are not so necessary as I once thought they were!
I usually use a pair of thongs (not my underwear) to lower the jar in the pot of boiling water, leave a few minutes and then remove them, all labels gone! This is much easier.
I have definitely had the same problem. Thanks for the great tip!
Simone, you have given the answer to two things the first getting the label off and the second the reason there has been a tea kettle on the left rear burner of my stove for 20 years. I'm almost afraid to see what lives inside it! LOL, great hub with original content that I had to vote up, 50
Oh, this is definitely easier Emerald Strachan, but I bet that works really well!
Thanks for stopping by, ranomcreative!
AND GO FOR THE KETTLE, 50!! Heck, you might even discover some new life forms.
What a timely ( for me ) hub on label removal...I've been struggling with such all morning ( 5 really neat little jars I want to use for condiments )and after putting them through a dishwashing cycle I'm still trying to clean the stubborn glue off of them...My angry mantra has been " OUT,OUT, Damn Spot "...apologies to William...
After reading and watching this tidy little Hub I'm off to perk my pot and say bye-bye to the glue...But not before I vote your Hub up, up, and away...( I pushed all the buttons also..)....Larry
That doesn't sound like much fun, maven101! I hope this trick helped! Though perhaps with those jars, the labels have been stuck on extra hard after being cycled through the dishwasher. Let me know if it still works!
Simone...Didn't remove most of the glue...Probably, as you have surmised, the dishwashing cycle hardened the glue...
My genius wife suggested I spray some WD 40 on the glue and viola!! it slid right off...My manhood is bruised but intact with the knowledge that I can cook better than her...
Happy and prosperous New Year to you and yours...Larry
Drat! Ah well. But the WD-40 fix is brilliant!! Thanks for letting me know how it worked out. :D
davenmidtown 4 months ago
I hope you take this as a complement... but you make peeling labels off glass jars really interesting!