Plenty of people like cutting glass bottles to make decorative trinkets for their homes. Cut glass bottles can be made into tumblers, pen holders, candle holders, bird feeders, and lots more wacky and weird stuff.
If you fancy crafting the glass bottles you have lying around, you’ll have to cut them first. But don’t worry, it’s not a difficult or arduous process —cutting glass bottles is very simple, and it’s a surprisingly speedy job.
In this guide, we’ve unpacked three simple methods for cutting glass bottles, making things very quick, easy and understandable. The easiest way to cut a glass bottle is to use a proper glass cutter, but for people who don’t have one (and don’t want one), we’ve included some other options, too.
How to Remove a Label From a Glass Bottle
Woah, hold up cowboy!
Before you do any cutting, you want to remove the sticky label from your glass bottle. Nobody wants a vase with a big wine bottle label on it.
Step 1)
Sometimes, surprisingly, this can be one of the most irritating parts of the job, but it’s easy enough if you know how. Here’s how to get the label off your bottle without leaving any irritating residue, stickiness, or white marks:
Step 2)
Fill a sink with very hot water. Place your bottle in the water, and leave it for ten minutes (or a little longer). If you’re lucky, you’ll easily be able to peel off the sticker as soon as you’ve finished this step.
Step 3)
If you’re not lucky, you’ve got more work to do. If water alone hasn’t got everything off, use steel wool, a wire brush, or a coarse sponge to scrub the stubborn stuff away. Nail varnish remover can also help.
If you prefer, you can remove your sticker after you’ve finished cutting (and use the sticker as a useful straight-line cutting guide), but most people do the sticker-removing first, just to make sure they definitely have a clean, neat, tidy bottle to cut.
Next up, we’ve outlined how to cut glass using a But if you don’t have one, we’ve offered two other great methods later in this guide.
How to Cut Glass Bottles Using a Glass Cutter
That big tool pictured above is a glass cutter. And it makes the job ridiculously easy.
When you buy a glass cutter, it’ll usually come with instructions on how to use it, so you should always follow the specific instructions included with your cutter. But generally, here’s how to use a glass cutter to cut a glass bottle:
1) Make Your Mark
Wrap some easily-removable tape around the circumference of the bottle to mark where you want to cut. This straight, even line will help you to make a straight, even cut.
2) Cutting Time
Take your glass cutter, and score along the tape you’ve attached to the bottle. Score as straight and continuous as you can, so that you don’t have any (or many) rough edges when your bottle is chopped.
During this stage, you only need to score the bottle relatively gently —it doesn’t need to be a very thick cut.
3) Get Watering
Now it’s time for some water. Hold your bottle over an empty sink.
Rotate your bottle as you pour boiling water over the score (or scores) you’ve made. When you’ve completely rotated the bottle, do the same thing again, but this time with cold water.
Then do it again with boiling, then do it again with cold, etc., etc. Repeat this process until the bottle starts making some noises. When it does, it’ll be ready to fall away. At this point, you can either keep going with the water approach, or you can gently snap the bottle using both hands.
Pro-Tip: don’t run the boiling water for too long. If you do, it might crack the bottle unevenly. Be patient and alternate properly instead.
4) Even Things Out
You’ll probably have some jagged edges on your cut bottle, especially if it’s your first time.
But don’t cry, don’t throw that bottle away, and don’t smash it against a wall. These jagged edges are easy to fix.
All you need to do is file them down. Depending on how well-finished you want your bottle to look, you can either use some sandpaper or a suitable drill bit.
If you want to properly remold the edges for a professional-grade finish, you’ll need to use a kiln, but (for most people) a hand finish is absolutely good enough. Just make sure you file away any dangerous sharp edges, as you don’t want to cut yourself (or anyone else) on your brand-new creation.
A note here: some glass cutters use oil; some don’t. If you buy a quality one, there’s little difference, as all the good blades are made of reliable stuff.
How to Cut Glass Bottles Without a Glass Cutter
Glass cutters offer the best, easiest and most efficient way to cut glass. But if you don’t have one, you have two other great options. They are:
Cutting Glass Bottles With a Drill Bit
Using the method we’ve outlined above, you can try the exact same thing, but without a glass cutter. You can use anything similarly sharp, like a drill bit or a tough craft knife.
If you try this, make sure you’re being doubly-safe and doubly-careful, as it’s more dangerous than using a proper glass cutter.
Oh, and be aware you’ll probably end up with lots of rough edges, which you’ll then need to flatten out.
Cutting Glass Bottles With String
Yep, you didn’t read that wrong —it’s possible to cut glass bottles with string.
First, you need to get some thick string. Wrap it tightly (a few times) around the place you want to cut the bottle before cutting the string and tying it in a tight knot.
When you’re done, pour alcohol or acetone on the string, making sure it’s properly soaked. Get a rag or paper towel and wipe all the alcohol or acetone off the bottle, so that only the string (and nothing else) is wet.
Next up, get a bowl of cold water, or fill your sink with cold water. Hold your bottle above it, then light your string on fire (preferably with a long-length lighter so you don’t burn your hands off).
Keep turning the bottle, so that the heat is distributed evenly. When the fire is almost out, drop your bottle into the cold water, and it’ll crack exactly along the line where the string was.
For a great visual guide on using string to cut glass bottles, try this video.
How to Stay Safe While Cutting Glass Bottles
Whatever approach you’re using in your pursuit of decorative bottles, stay safe. Don’t be a dingus. You don’t want to hurt yourself like the woman in the picture.
Always make sure you’re wearing gloves (and goggles where necessary), and always make sure you’re handling your equipment safely and sensibly.
If you’re using the string approach, for example, the alcohol and acetone are (obviously) flammable. Make sure you’re careful with them, and make sure you don’t get them on any of your clothes.
Types of Glass Bottles You Can Cut
Any household glass bottles can be cut, from wine bottles to soda bottles to water bottles (and everything in between).
But the easiest ones to cut are usually small clear bottles, which tend to have thinner glass.
If you have a particular bottle you want to use and you haven’t had much practice, do a couple of practice runs first, on glass bottles you aren’t bothered about ruining.
Things You Can Make Out of Cut Glass Bottles
Since you’re reading this article, you probably already have plenty of great ideas. But if you’re looking for inspiration, here are loads of fun and practical things you can make from cut glass bottles:
- Ashtrays
- Candle sticks
- Lights
- Lanterns
- Vases
- Carafes
- Storage jars
- Wind chimes
- Decorations
- Spice and herb jars
- Planters
- Drinking glasses
- … and loads more!
The above is only a few examples. Glass bottles, glass jars and plastic bottles can be used for all sorts of craft things. This video has lots of stuff you can do with glass bottles without even having to cut them. And for something a little different, this video has some excellent plastic bottle hacks.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully our helpful how-to guide has provided you with the necessary expertise (and maybe even some creative inspiration) to start making all sorts of wonderful knickknacks out of cut glass bottles. We’re sure you’ll enjoy this fun and fulfilling hobby.