Cleaning labels

[Irie Jan]

Ice lolly sticks!

Yeah I have used lolly sticks b4 as well as the milk cartons cut into strips. Eventually the milk bottle strips went soggy and the biro markings came off This year I have bought some plastic plant lables with the pencil in the pack.

[Alison]

Have no immediate solution for removal, but sure many of the advisories above would work - but for the 'start' of the process....

What about a chinagraph pencil to mark the labels - waterproof and should not fade even in the brightest sunshine? I remember these from my younger days - don't know how readily available they are these days - but for those who've never heard of them - they are a hardened crayon (wax) inside a 'pencil' of wood or sometimes paper container. Can be sharpened to quite fine for writing but not as fine as a pen. Original use would have been to mark up prices on china and glass, and other shiney objects in shops, long before the days of sticky labels - hence name!

This wax 'ought' to be able to scrape off with a finger nail or scourer I'd have thought.

Yeah, that's the sort of pencil I use. It does take a bit of scrubbing to come off though and you definitely can't do it with a finger nail. Good soak and a bit of a scrub usually works well though and they don't fade during the year.

[stupot]

Methylated sprits/ alcohol / paint stripper - when I worked on in labs used to pinch some 100% alchohol *hic* anthying that doesn't dissolve in water usually dissolves in alcohols. Nail polish remover works as it has acetone in it. ** removes white coat and boddy glasses **

[pipscariad]

Ice lolly sticks!

I use those too (although as the children get older the supply goes down ), also plastic lids cut up and written on with pencil. If you're anywhere near an Ikea, the wooden sticks that they provide for stirring drinks are nifty too .

[sagegreen]

Wouldn't use permanent marker pens: a 'gardening pencil' (mine was .10p from a gardening centre and has lasted years) is fine. My grandad who had a hugely long, productive garden plus an allotment used to spit on a label and give it a rub with an old cloth!! Nail varnish, vinegar? Nah!

[rustylady]

I found that pencil doesn't last on labels in the garden. Must be the constant rain and infrequent sunshine. I clean my labels with a green scouring pad or a Brillo.

[falkon]

use disposable plastic spoons or knifes as labels