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I'm planning to use recycled Corona bottles to pack some juice I'm producing, but to put my own logo on these bottles, I want to remove the original printed brand. In my city, and even in my whole country there are no recycling plants so there is basically nowhere to get help.

I tried using paint thinner, paint remover, acetone, and brushing, only the last one worked but the bottle was unusable after that.

corona bottle to be cleaned

Fahed
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  • Not sure how, but did you consider painting over it? – Philippe Jul 08 '17 at 00:32
  • I didn't, now I do, but I didn't give up... yet. – Fahed Jul 08 '17 at 01:12
  • I won't post an answer because I've never tried myself, but I've seen people using Star San or any other low pH acid to remove such screen printed labels. Again, other brands not Corona. – rondonctba Jul 08 '17 at 03:41
  • Ok, thanks for the idea, I'll look forma forma an alternetive, since Star San is not available where I live. – Fahed Jul 08 '17 at 04:58
  • If you live in a sunny country then a clear bottle may present some possibility of "skunking" the beer if exposed to sunlight. IMHO it is not a very big problem but might tip the balance against using Corona bottles. It would be better to use a brown or green bottle if much cleaning effort is involved. If you intend to drink you r beer within 3 months of bottling then you may be better off using plastic bottles, the type used for fizzy drinks. They will generally hold carbonation pressure for 6 months or longer but can loose pressure over a year. – barking.pete Jul 08 '17 at 10:53

4 Answers4

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I just wanted to let you know, in case anyone else could find this useful.

Hydrochloric acid alone worked perfectly, the bottle was put into it for less than 20 minutes, and after that it was rinsed with water (almost no rubbing was needed) and everything was removed in less than 10 seconds.

NOTES:

-The part of paint remaining on the top, was not inside the acid.

-The bottle itself was not affected. It's still shiny and without a single scratch after the proccess.

-The paint doesn't disintegrate inside the acid, so the acid could be used multiple times.

-You should use protective equipment. And NEVER EVER mix the acid with bleach... it could kill you (literally).

You can see the result here:

enter image description here

Fahed
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  • Could you share the strength of acid you used for this? – Mr. Boy Mar 07 '22 at 16:46
  • I gladly would, but I don't really know. I just bought the acid by the liter, and I didn't know how to measure that at the time. – Fahed Dec 29 '22 at 12:33
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Soak in StarSan.

Mix starsan as you would normally. Submerge bottles and soak for a day or so. Use a stainless steel scrubber (ball of stainless steel for cleaning pots/pans) to scrub off the paint.

I've done this on 100's of bottles. It's really effortless with the scrubber.

Side note I wouldn't recommend clear bottles for beer or anything hopped. (skunking from light) But they do work good for ciders and the like.

Evil Zymurgist
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  • good to know the is a way :-) Do you know what generic product could be an alternative t StarSan? becuase I don't live in USA. – Fahed Jul 08 '17 at 19:29
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    You may be able to make an acidic soap with dish soap and a use hydrochloric acid to drop the pH to 3.0. This should soften the paint but I've not tried this. – Evil Zymurgist Jul 10 '17 at 01:22
  • would it make a difference if I use just hydrochloric acid, what is the soap for? – Fahed Jul 10 '17 at 15:42
  • @FahedFahed I've heard that the non foaming version of starsan doesn't work as well for paint. The soap should simulate the foaming. This is just hearsay and speculations though. – Evil Zymurgist Jul 10 '17 at 16:44
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I used 5 tablespoons one step cleaner and instead of water I used white vinegar and put about 3 tablespoons of powdered citric acid for good measure. I did add water to top up level to cover over the label. Used a 1 gallon Tupperware that will fit two corona familiar 32oz bottles. Filled bottles with hot water and placed in mix left over night. Next morning there was nothing but a shadow of the ink that wiped off with a paper towel. Be careful and add ingredients slowly, when adding the ingredients. Has a tendency to foam up.

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Todd
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Zep toilet bowl cleaner . Lowes or Home Depot it’s is the commercial strength and mainly hydrochloric acid

The_bottle lady on instagram
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