General Rules of Chatzitza
1. The halachos of chatzitza apply to toiveling dishes the same way they do to tevila of a person, as set forth in Shulchan Aruch (יו"ד סי' ר"ב, ערוה"ש שם ס"ג ). The rule is that a chatzitza on the majority of a dish that one is makpid on is a chatzitza d’oraisa. There is a gezeira d’rabanan on a chatzitza on the minority of a dish that one is makpid on or the majority of a dish that one is not makpid on.
2. “Makpid.” It is considered a hakpada if the chatzitza generally bothers people, even if it does not bother him personally (שו"ע שם ס"ב, ט"ז סי' קצ"ח סק"ג ). If it bothers him, it is a chatzitza even if it does not generally bother people (ט"ז סי' קצ"ח סק"ג, ש"ך שם סק"ב ). Even if one toiveled a dish with a chatzitza, he must remove it and toivel the dish again with a bracha [if it is the type of dish which requires a bracha] if he had a hesech hada’as from the first bracha.
3. Minority and not makpid. One should try to remove a chatzitza from a dish before toiveling it even if he is not makpid and it is on the minority of the dish (או"ה, רמ"א סי' קצ"ח ס"א, חכ"א כלל ע"ג סי"ד ). However, if he already toiveled it, he does not need to toivel it again. Also, if he cannot get it off, he may toivel it with its chatzitza (שו"ע סי' ק"כ סי"ג ).
4. Inspecting the dish. Often, when one goes to toivel a dish at a mikva, he finds dirt or stickers and does not have the tools or materials to remove them. Therefore, it is advisable to inspect dishes for chatzitzos or dirt before leaving home to the mikva. Some say one is halachically required to inspect the dish before toiveling it (חוט שני הל' שבת ח"א עמ' רי"ט ).
Stickers, Labels
5. New dishes are generally clean but often have all sorts of stickers. Any stickers generally removed before use, e.g., price tags, barcodes, etc., must be totally removed prior to tevila.
6. Stickers generally left on. There are some stickers that are typically left on, e.g., a sticker with the name of a reputable company on a crystal dish which is left on to show it off (שו"ת חיי הלוי ח"א סי' נ"ז ); a sticker on a kettle, warning to beware of the heat or the like; a decorative, flowery decal on an urn which does not cover its majority; or labels on a coffee jar or a wine bottle one is toiveling to refill (see Chukai Chaim 93, par. 9), even if he is filling it with a different type of food. One does not need to remove these before tevila since they are usually left on (ספר מבית לוי יו"ד עמ' קנ"ד ס"י, בעל חשב האפוד הליכות חנוך עמ' קי"ד ). The tevila works even if one eventually removed the sticker or it fell off.
7. However, if the sticker got partially removed before the tevila and no longer enhances the dish, it must be entirely removed before tevila since, in such a case, people are makpid.
8. Glue residue. Often, when removing a sticker from a dish, some glue remains, sometimes clear, sometimes blackish. Since people are makpid on this, one must make sure to remove all the glue before tevila [this can be done with nail polish remover, Goo Gone, acetone, or paint thinner].
9. If, after toiveling, one found a very small amount of glue which did not come off and is either so small that people are not makpid or on the underside of the dish, where people are not makpid, he does not need to toivel it again. Similarly, if one did everything he could to remove glue from a dish prior to toiveling, but an amount smaller than people are makpid on remained, he may toivel it as is (above, 3).
