General Cycling Discussion - Black residues in water bottles?

What's this stuff that gets in there after a while? Can't rinse it out, gotta use a bottle brush to get it out.

Anybody has a trick to keep this stuff out?

It's usually mold. Put in a tablespoon or two of regular household bleach, fill with water and let soak overnight. In the morning, rinse and air dry. Should take care of the problem.

The best way to prevent mold is to only use the bottle for plain water. Drain and dry after each use. For those of us who use drink mixes, after every ride fill half full with warm water, add a few drops of dish soap, put the cap on and shake well. Drain, rinse and dry.

Once your sports drink ferments in the bottle you might as well toss the bottle.

But if fruit juice ferments in the bottle, your ride can become more, uh, "entertaining", depending on the strength of the resulting elixir.. ;)

Use denture cleansing tablets!! They are antibacterial fizz up to make the mixture move around and they are
made to be used with plastic so it won't harm water bottles, camel back pouches or even just washed out
soda bottles. yes if you are reusing old soda or water bottles you should remove that lock ring deal and sanitize those bottles too!!

Use denture cleansing tablets!! They are antibacterial fizz up to make the mixture move around and they are

+1

I use the denture tabs fors for bottles and camelbaks. Another thing to do is store your bottles in the fridge.

I'm sure denture tablets work good, but if you don't have a denture user in the house, bleach works great.

With bottles that have a large opening, you just need a bottle brush and soap to clean the bottle.