Road Cycling - How do you clean your water bottles?

Every Spring I replace my water bottles because last year's have become too grungy. This year I thought I'd try sanitizing them with a water & bleach solution. It worked well in all the places the solution could reach. However, the innards of the spouts are as mucked up as ever. I tried pulling them apart, but it looks like something important will snap. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Rob

I put them straight into the dishwasher after a ride

I fill my kitchen sink up with water and bleach and jsut let them soak in the over night.

I just wash them with the rest of the dishes. They don't sit around that way and get all mucked up to begin with. Soak 'em in hot soapy water, shake 'em a little', blow some of that hot soapy water out of the spout, rinse, repeat. I've got bottles that are three or four years old now. I'd have more that were older, but the dishwasher usually claims one or two a season. When I had a dishwasher, that is.

What about a water bottle that I get a "plasticky" taste from the water? Is that a throw-away candidate?

Chi, I have that problem with new bottles or Camelback bladders. Some bleach water should help it. Just make sure you rinse well or you'll have a bleach flavor in place of your plastic flavor.

Plasticiser usually comes out after a few weeks of regular use. I leave new bottle to soak, and chuck the water away.

I've got a brush thingy with a sponge on the end that I use for the WBs. Plus, in the handle, it has a smaller brush for getting at the nooks and crannies. It came from Wal-Mart or somewhere.

You can disassemble the spouts... just pull harder. And even if you did damage them, you were going to replace them anyway, eh? Yes, there's all sorts of grunge that builds up in there that you can't get rid of any other way.

I've had this bottle for a while now, like 2 months, maybe longer. It's a Performance bottle made by Specialized and it's never done this b4, just started recently ... I did neglect from using the bottle for like a week because I got a bigger one recently. Maybe that's it?

Here is an 'ol school' trick.

Put a little bit of rice and water and close the top and just shake to your hearts delight. This usually cleans up everything and doesn't leave a bleach taste.

Originally posted by stewartp
I put them straight into the dishwasher after a ride

Me too! :)

Make sure you empty out your bottles after your rides and let them dry out. leave the spout open too. If you mix stuff in your bottles you need to rinse them after the ride too and then let them dry out.

Once a month or so I throw mine in the dishwasher.

Originally posted by roadbuzz
I've got a brush thingy with a sponge on the end that I use for the WBs. Plus, in the handle, it has a smaller brush for getting at the nooks and crannies.

I've got a similar tool used for cleaning baby bottles. It obviously works quite well on water bottles given their similarity.

Thanks to all for the good ideas. The one that I hadn't thought about at all was the dishwasher. Do you think it will help after the spout has become kind of dangerous looking (from the perspecitive of food poisoning)? Well, I'll try it out and let everyone know.

Thanks again,
Rob

Originally posted by stewartp
I put them straight into the dishwasher after a ride

Either I do that, or I put a little soap and warm water in them, shake it around (with the cap on), then rinse the hell out of it. Nothing worse than drinking soap-flavored water.

Originally posted by stewartp
I put them straight into the dishwasher after a ride
Ditto.

Nah. Washing them just takes out all the yummy plasticky-moldy flavor.

about 30ml of miltons followed by some hot (not boiling) water. Bye bye germies.... I can almost hear them scream

put the bad boys in the freezer. add some mouthwash and rinse. now that is minty fresh!!!

I wouldn't keep a plastic bottle for too long. Especially those with rough surface, like they sell "specifically" for bike frames.

To me, it's a lot easier to use a ex coke bottle, then replace it with same, clean one...

I just wash them with my dishes. A trick I learned is to use one of the round toilet bowl brushes (unused for the toilet mind you) You have to force it in past the pinch point but when you get it in there you can really scrub it out extremely well.

Just throw them in with the rest of the dishes.

I make sure to let 'em dry thoroughly after use. (I have several bottles, so I'll reach for a dry one.) Every so often, I wash 'em with the rest of the dishes. I never put plastic cups or bottles in the dishwasher just because my mom never did... :)

In reference to the plastic taste of water bottles - there seem to be some that you just cannot get the taste out of. I have about 4 that are greyish plastic that are several years old (from various bike shops / rides) and still taste like plastic.

Last year I purchased a 'polar bottle', insulated bottle. Works quite well (freeze the whole thing) and no taste at all. Gotta wash it right after you are done, it will mold fast for some reason.

I also have a 'Ultimate Sports Flask', it is clearish-whitish with a loop built into the cap. Also no taste at all.

I like the idea of the throw-away coke bottles, that works well also but looks rather, um, 'cheap'. But no great sweat if you lose one.

....I HATE the taste of plastic.

I read this in Bicycling Magazine a few years ago:

1. Take a handfull of regular uncooked rice, (not the minute rice), a couple tablespoons of baking soda and dump into empty water bottle.

2. Get tap water as hot as you can, for most of us after the water heats up it will burn, that is adequate enough. Fill bottle about half full with hot tap water.

3. Shake bottle with baking soda/rice mixture in it until your arm gets tired, about 3 min.

4. Open spout on bottle squirt water down drain, this is to clean the inside of the spout.

5. Pull cap off of bottle empty and rinse with cold water. You may need to shake cold water around in the bottle to get all of the baking soda rinsed out. But even if you do ingest baking soda it won't harm you like bleach can.


I used to do this all the time until I bought my camel bak's. It worked great.