mold inside water bottles
10-27-12 | 04:09 PM
#4
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From: Orlando, FL
Bikes: Specialized Roubaix SL3, Lynskey Cooper CX
You're probably not killing the mold sufficiently so it keeps growing back. Soak in water with bleach, then put in washer. Don't let your bottles sit too long with moisture.
10-27-12 | 04:20 PM
#6
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From: Orlando, FL
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10-27-12 | 04:35 PM
#10
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From: Vancouver, BC
Are you putting sugar or other drink mixes in the bottles? I just use water and never get mold. If you're using drink mixes try rinsing them out when you get home and don't leave empty bottles with sugar solution in them.
10-27-12 | 04:49 PM
#11
Full Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 478
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From: Flat Rock, NC
Been there done that. Its got to crawl up the side before I worry about it. Anyway
Fill a bottle half way with water, bleach, a splash as opposed to a dribble will do and dish washing soap, a drop or 2. Put the top on and shake until the bottle is fill of foam. Open the spout and squirt a little out. Close the spout and left sit out overnight. Next day take off the top, and stuff a paper towel down into the bottle. Stick a long spoon in and scrub the inside of the bottle with the paper towel. Run it through the dishwasher. Otherwise you'll taste the bleach.
You can keep your bottles in the fridge, the cold will prevent the mold from growing. Or you could just empty your bottles after each ride. Yeah just like me. Mold tastes better than bleach. But must sanitize.
Fill a bottle half way with water, bleach, a splash as opposed to a dribble will do and dish washing soap, a drop or 2. Put the top on and shake until the bottle is fill of foam. Open the spout and squirt a little out. Close the spout and left sit out overnight. Next day take off the top, and stuff a paper towel down into the bottle. Stick a long spoon in and scrub the inside of the bottle with the paper towel. Run it through the dishwasher. Otherwise you'll taste the bleach.
You can keep your bottles in the fridge, the cold will prevent the mold from growing. Or you could just empty your bottles after each ride. Yeah just like me. Mold tastes better than bleach. But must sanitize.
10-27-12 | 05:05 PM
#12
Keeping water bottles in the refrigerator helps to minimize undesired growth. However, if you use sweetened drinks, they will still develop an undesired culture over time -- but not a quickly as if they were left out. It also helps if you empty and rise them out before putting them in the refrigerator. When they do get moldy, wasing them with bleach, as mentioned earlier, is the best solution.
10-27-12 | 05:17 PM
#13
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Bleach ... and a bottle brush.
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10-27-12 | 05:40 PM
#17
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+1.
10-27-12 | 07:05 PM
#19
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From: Australia
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Put sand in the bottle and shake it around with a little water. Alternatively why worry about a little mold? It will just toughen up your immune system. There's mold everywhere.
10-28-12 | 10:26 AM
#23
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10-28-12 | 10:28 AM
#24
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Bleach X10
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"When I hear another express an opinion, which is not mine, I say to myself, He has a right to his opinion, as I to mine; why should I question it. His error does me no injury, and shall I become a Don Quixot to bring all men by force of argument, to one opinion? If a fact be misstated, it is probable he is gratified by a belief of it, and I have no right to deprive him of the gratification."
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10-28-12 | 01:56 PM
#25
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From: Mid-Missouri
As someone mentioned, clean it with bleach. In the future, come home, fill it full of water, and store it in the fridge. It's what I've always done, and I've never gotten mold. The thing you don't want to do is leave it with a tiny bit of water in the bottom, sitting in the cage on your bike for 3 days between rides.