DIY Custom Wine Lables: Part I Removing the Originals

Customized wine lables on "2-Buck Chuck" from Trader Joes

We decided to customize our wine labels for two reasons. 1) Like many couples, we wanted our wedding to be an expression of who we are 2) We were on a tight budget and could not afford super expensive wine. We bought a few cases of 2-buck chuck from Trader Joes and added our own labels.

I looked and looked online for instructions for removing wine labels and tended to find posts for removing label after drinking  the wine, which entailed using hot water. Using cold soapy water, we got the labels off without ruining the wine.

Step 1: Soak wine bottles in cold soapy water in a bucket or sink for several hours. Make sure that the labels are thoroughly water-logged and the glue is gooey. I soaked the labels overnight.

Soak wine bottles in a bucket full of warm soapy water.

After a good, long soak, the top part of the label falls off in the water.

 

After a good long soak, the top layer of the label often falls off in the water

Step 2: At this point, I simply scraped the soaking label off with my fingernails or finger tips. The label will be quite soft and gooey. I found that if I used a sponge too soon, my sponge would become clogged with pulp and lose its efficacy.

 

Use your fingers to scrape most of the label off

Step 3: Use an old sponge to remove the rest of the label.

 

Use an old sponge to remove waterlogged label

Final Step: Once the label is removed, rinse the bottle in cool water to remove soapy residue. Dry with a towel and return to wine boxes or set aside. Your bottles are now ready for your custom labels.

 

Once you rinse your bottles, dry them with a towel