Remove A Label With Peanut Butter

Here's a handy household tip: Did you know you can remove labels using peanut butter? "But why are you telling me this, m3rma1d? Did I take a wrong turn and stumble onto the Heloise blog?" Nope! This is a handy household tip for African violet growers because by removing labels from plastic containers, we can make awesome little miniature greenhouses for our leaf cuttings and rootless suckers!

Of course, you may already remove labels using some kinda commercial product such as Goo Gone®, but not everyone has that handy--or maybe you wanna try something different. Oh yeah I've also heard you can use rubbing alcohol, but didn't I just say maybe you wanna try something different? Also, this is a great way to use up an old jar of peanut butter that's gone rancid. The jar I use for removing labels tastes awful 'cos it's like 6 or 7 years old--But it smells great, so it's still an enjoyable experience (altho I usually have to pop a Reece's miniature to calm my craving after smelling it!)
  
So, on with the tutorial! All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

First, get a jar of peanut butter, a butter knife, and a container with a label you want to remove. I especially wanted to remove this label so that I could get rid of any evidence that I had that organic hippie stuff in my home. (a friend brought it over here I swear--I just wanted baby spinach & spring mix, I NEVER said to get the fancy organic crap!)

Next, start spreading on the peanut butter! Just a nice even thin layer.

Here's what the nice even thin layer should look like when you're done. Now you gotta be patient and let this sit overnight. Tik tok tik tok... That reminds me of a song!

After letting the container sit with the peanut butter overnight, start peeling the label off.

 NOTE: For fairly large labels and/or for labels with a "glossy" coating, you may find that the very center may not come up and you need to re-spread with peanut butter and let it sit overnight again. (the label in these pictures is both large and had a glossy coating, so I had to do just that.)

Once you get all of the label removed just use soap, water, and a sponge to remove all the peanut butter. You don't HAVE to use a pink sponge and pink soap, it just makes you cooler if you do.

Whoohoo! Now you have a miniature greenhouse to put on your growing shelf for your leaf cuttings and rootless suckers to go into. The high humidity is important for them since they have no roots, and also you won't have to remember to water as often! Do remember to water when the soil gets dry, just don't make them soggy or they will rot quickly! On the opposite end of that, don't be fooled by condensation that may appear on the container and think everything has enough water. You can have lots of condensation and the soil can still be dry, so be sure to check at least once a week!

In addition to leaves and suckers, I also find that anytime a plant isn't acting it's usual self, I can put it in a container such as this for a few days to perk it up. I dunno what the whole technical scientific explanation is, I just call it "hospital time" and leave it at that. Hmmm speaking of "hospital", that reminds me of another song!


Yeah I really did go from Ke$ha to Jonathan Richman in a single blog post. That's me! And at least now you have a little entertainment while you're waiting for the peanut butter oils to seep into the label glue. You're welcome.