bottle safety

houseman · Aug 27, 2008

Does anyone have a good method of securing bottles on shelves so they can't fall off? My wife recently told me to gather up all the bottles I had "displayed" around the house and put them on shelves in the garage. They look great, but the shelves themselves aren't the greatest. Until I can build something better I'm looking for a way to secure them to the shelves so there is no (or at least less) risk of a fall.
I thought about double-sided tape, but I'm afraid I might end up with sticky, messy bottle bottoms. Any other ideas out there? Or does anyone use tape on their bottles?

digdug · Aug 27, 2008

I used fishing line in front of each shelf for mine. Someone on the forum gave me the idea. It has worked so far. On taller shelves/bottles I use two fishing lines. Here is a photo with one line. I drilled holes in the side of the cabinets. Attached a shelving clip, with a hole in it. Used a fishing swivel and tied the line to one end, the other connects into the clip.

digdug · Aug 27, 2008

You can see it a liitle better in this photo. Sorry I don't have any close up shots of the hardware.

digdug · Aug 27, 2008

Here is a picture of the shelf support. I found mine at Lowe's, but Home Depot also carries them. About 10 or 12 to a bag. The bag tells you what size hole to drill to place it in the side of the cabinet. Then I place the swivel into the hole on the clip end. They come in nickel, brass and chrome. You could probably paint them if you wanted them to blend in. I also used the same clip to mount my shelves to.
I built the shelving units with 2 by 6" for frame. Used 1 by 6" for the shelves. In some smaller areas I used 2 by 4" frames with 1 by 4" for shelving. I have room for about 1200 bottles. They were easy to build, just make sure they are squared. I used flat L brackets on the back to keep it square. The hardest part was making a jig to drill all the holes for the shelves. I think I drilled somewhere around 4000 holes! But that allows me to move shelves when I have a lot of short bottles, etc.
A couple coats of paint and some trim moulding and it looks good. I would also recommend not to make them over 4' or 6' long. I tried doing an 8' unit. It was too hard, heavy to work with, the shelves may begin to bow at 8' too.
When my wife banished my bottles to the basement, I built these shelves in a couple of weekends.

houseman · Aug 29, 2008

Thanks for the idea digdug. Looks like you have a good thing going there! Unfortunately, my shelves are open-ended. They're basically just boards attached to brackets screwed into the wall.
I was thinking hard about this the other day when I realized I could just take an old wire shirt hanger, cut it into the right length for a bottle, make a large loop in one end for the neck of the bottle, bend it down along the back of the bottle to the shelf, make a small loop in the other end and attach it down to the shelf with a screw or staple. It's visible on the front of the bottle but it's not too bad. It only takes about 30 seconds to make one and another 30 to attach it to the shelf in the right place. Each bottle will have its own custom shelf mount!

Tony14 · Aug 29, 2008

sounds like an interesting idea! Post a pic when your done

cc6pack · Aug 30, 2008

Tim

I've had good luck with the double-face tape. I've had these bottles on display for several years with no problem.

glass man · Aug 30, 2008

Only trouble with double faced tape is be sure it is not put on something that is only wood veneered as the tape will pull the veneer right off . Found that out the hard way.

whitefish · Aug 31, 2008

Have you ever tried museum gel?
It's a clear gel putty you can roll into balls and stick them on the bottom of your bottles. As they sit on the shelf the putty flattens to a thin invisible seal that keeps your bottle stuck to your shelf. When your ready to move your bottle you give it a little twist and it comes off the shelf, you can then roll the putty off the shelf and bottle and reuse it again and again. I have used it on wood shelves without any staining problems, and also use it on glass and tile. I bought some off the net from amazon.com. about $4.00 for 4 oz but this goes a long way.
As a test I have literally stuck some of my "junk" bottles on a shelf and turned it upside down without them coming undone.
Museums and collectors use this stuff especially in areas like California and Nevada were earthquakes happen.

glass man · Aug 31, 2008

COOL WHITEFISH! Can the gel be bought at a local store like wal-mart,lowes,or home depot?

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