Peeling labels from empty prescription bottles

C

Camper6

Well-known Member
Location
Northwestern Ontario Canada
I re use precription bottles for various uses. Bolts,nuts,screws ,seeds, cutting starters, etc . I have found a way to easily peel them.

Open up the container. Heat water about coffee temperature so you can handle it.

Fill the bottle to the top of the label. Let it sit so that the glue melts behind the label.

Dump the water and peel the label all in one piece. Also a good way to crunch up the label for disposal. This might not work on all glues. There is another way also. Put the empty container in the freezer and peel it off after a couple of hours.
Be careful with hot water especially with a microwave.
 

Thank you, I use the little bottles for all kinds of things. My wife does also, but she will only use the easy open bottles.
 
Appreciated the helpful hints on label removal, These days we all need to be concerned about identity theft, and an unpeeled label on a prescription vial broadcasts your name and other personal info best kept confidential. Labels can be hard suckers to peel, and applied black marker can usually be read through.
 
Camper6 said:
I re use precription bottles for various uses. Bolts,nuts,screws ,seeds, cutting starters, etc
Click to expand...
Yup

I use them for the odd screw sample when going to the hardware store to match up
Beats putting a lone screw in a pocket

Good tips on label removal
Can't remember what I've used in the past...maybe mineral spirits (?)
 
Camper6 said:
I re use precription bottles for various uses. Bolts,nuts,screws ,seeds, cutting starters, etc . I have found a way to easily peel them.

Open up the container. Heat water about coffee temperature so you can handle it.

Fill the bottle to the top of the label. Let it sit so that the glue melts behind the label.

Dump the water and peel the label all in one piece. Also a good way to crunch up the label for disposal. This might not work on all glues. There is another way also. Put the empty container in the freezer and peel it off after a couple of hours.
Be careful with hot water especially with a microwave.
Click to expand...
Thanks - much less messy than the WD-40 that I use!
 
I have empty supplement bottles for various uses. I finally found a way to deal with the prescription bottle labels. I tried washing them in the dishwasher...name still showed and the bottles were sticky when the label came off. I tried nail polish remover, remnants of the name still showed. I had a big bag full of bottles here. I finally saw an ad about an identity protection stamp. Now it just takes seconds to ready the bottles for disposal. I use nail polish remover to take the gloss off the bottles, then roll the stamp. I've learned never to dispose of anything with my name on it.
https://www.amazon.com/Vantamo-Iden...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
 
I was at garage sale with my daughter just last week and someone had like 200 different size Rx bottles and a price tag of $2-3.00 I think. I almost bought them and then I asked myself "Why?" I'm done collecting or accumulating stuff.

They only allowed two people at a time. Then the cops came and closed them down.
 
Why would anyone even think they could have a garage sale at this time? We have a stay-at-home order from the Governor here in PA as does most states. My daughter wanted me to go along to the doctors with her, only because it's so far to travel. (Foot doctor) I spotted the sign and couldn't believe it, but there it was. Out in the country, but still, the law is what it is.
 
Camper6 said:
It depends on the pharmacy. I pointed out some glues are different. The bottles cannot be recycled here. Re use or dispose. I know one thing. After you take them off and scrunch them they are impossible to read.
Click to expand...

I use CVS, and their labels would always peel off easily, which made me happy because I want them off before I throw the bottle in the trash. But a few months ago I could barely get them off at all, and it frustrated me beyond belief.

So the next time I went to CVS I commented on who changed the glue? The pharmacist was well aware of it, and said that they were annoyed with it too because sometimes they also want to peel them off and cannot.

So apparently, some bureaucrat deep within the bowels of CVS thought this was a great idea and probably bought ten years' worth of the "new and improved" labels.

I told the pharmacist: "Just because we have space-age glue, doesn't mean that it's appropriate for all uses." He laughed and agreed.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
 
Old Dummy said:
I use CVS, and their labels would always peel off easily, which made me happy because I want them off before I throw the bottle in the trash. But a few months ago I could barely get them off at all, and it frustrated me beyond belief.

So the next time I went to CVS I commented on who changed the glue? The pharmacist was well aware of it, and said that they were annoyed with it too because sometimes they also want to peel them off and cannot.

So apparently, some bureaucrat deep within the bowels of CVS thought this was a great idea and probably bought ten years' worth of the "new and improved" labels.

I told the pharmacist: "Just because we have space-age glue, doesn't mean that it's appropriate for all uses." He laughed and agreed.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Click to expand...
Being able to Peel them off easily at the pharmacy invites mistakes.
 
What I do with the pesky ones: peel off as much of the paper as I can, then use Goo Gone to get the rest of it all off. Goo Gone is a great product for all sorts of nasty labels on things. It's kinda toxic, though, so you use it sparingly in a well-ventilated area, and wash your hands well afterwards.
 
I soak the bottles in hot soapy water overnight. Then peel off as much of the label as I can while it's wet. Then I use cream peanut butter and a scrubber to get the remaining sticky stuff off.
 
Fiona said:
What I do with the pesky ones: peel off as much of the paper as I can, then use Goo Gone to get the rest of it all off. Goo Gone is a great product for all sorts of nasty labels on things. It's kinda toxic, though, so you use it sparingly in a well-ventilated area, and wash your hands well afterwards.
Click to expand...
Try my method. Get it while it's hot. The previous method I used because it worked was to put the vials in the freezer. The label peeled right off. But then they changed glues. So I experimented and found this method.
 

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