Bottle Project - Part 1

Almost all centerpieces have some sort of glass/vase. We decided to forgo buying vases/mason jars etc... and decided to re-use what we have: wine bottles. This a two-part post: Part 1 is removing labels, Part 2 cutting the bottles.
Part 1: Remove labels.
We have a project that has been on going for two years. We have a board that we use to rate beers and wine that we encounter. We also save interesting bottle labels just for fun (like Tom's Dixie Dex corn whiskey).
To remove labels: Put hot water in bottle. Soak the bottle in hot water. Wait for about 10 minutes. If you want to save the label, I recommend peeling the back label (if you don't care for it) and start at one corner. Experiment with that one, before peeling the front one. If the back one is not peeling easily, put it back to soak.

Note: this is not always successful. I feel that there are five outcomes:

1. Success. The label is off the bottle, with no residue on the bottle. This is easier with glossy labels. I found that local wines also come off easily.

2. Success. The label is off the bottle but there is residue on the bottle. Use some elbow grease and a kitchen sponge and try to rub off the residue. BFF Laura's mom taught me that the damp corner of a kitchen cloth works wonders to get this off.
3. Same as part 2, except that no matter how much you rub, the residue will not come up. This is great if you don't care for the bottle.
4. Part success. The label tears but you can fix it with decoupage glue. Let it dry after peeling and then try to put it back together.
5. Failure. The label is ruined. The residue will or will not come off.

I think a lot of it has to do with luck - you never know which labels will come off easily. The above picture was a champagne bottle. All three had the same result. You can still read the label (not shown) but it is super thin since most of the label stayed on the bottle. I couldn't get all of the residue off.
Part 2, coming up tomorrow.