Wine Label Removal

First off, I'd like to take a moment to say I'm so very sorry! I did that last post (Wine Label Anniversary Project) and had no clue so many people would be so interested! Since I didn't expect it to be so gosh darn popular, it didn't occur to me to explain how to properly remove wine labels so they remain pretty and intact.

Heat your oven to 175 degrees.

Yes, you heard me right. We're not soaking, or using fancy "removers." We're using good old fashioned heat.

Once it's heated (which should take all of a minute and a half), put the empty, corkless wine bottle in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Remove with a pot holder, and begin to peel slowly from one corner, being very careful not to go too fast or it will rip. Once you've got it removed, the sticky side will actually still be sticky, and you can now stick it to a piece of plain white computer paper. These collect really easily and you can keep them in a file until you're ready to cut them out and Mod Podge them to something fun!

The reason this works is because the heat melts the glue that adheres the label to the bottle. Based on my experience - and you can see that I have a LOT of experience - this method will work for about 90% of wine bottles from US-based winemakers. It gets a little trickier when we go country hopping. Old world wine countries (Italy, France, etc) sometimes tend to use more of a cement than a glue. For these, I've got nothin'. Sorry! But other countries with newer production methods (Australia, Chile) tend to lean toward the glue, which works great for this method.

If you're doing something similar with beer bottles, same rules apply.

Good luck! If you do something using wine labels, I'd love to see pics!