Comments on: Shake What Your Mama Gave You: How To Clean Your Water Bottle

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:13:00 +0000

The combination of vinegar and baking soda was perfect! I used a brish to finish it off and Wham! Just like new.

By: Darryl

Darryl — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:42:43 +0000

Thanks for including this. I’ve read about using bleach, but have been a little leery of using it myself. There is no doubt that it would cleanse things out, but I’d prefer using a more natural method than chemicals. To each their own and I hope some readers will give it a try.

By: sonofabike

sonofabike — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:56:16 +0000

I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned simple household bleach as a cleaning solution. I’ve been using Specialized Big Mouth bottles (BPA-free) for years and have been using a diluted bleach solution (1/2-tbsp for each 24 oz. bottle filled w/ h20) and simply let the bottle soak for 1-2 hrs. Half the time upright, half the time upside down, cap on and spout closed. Rinse well, air dry upside down, caps off. No rigorous shaking necessary!

For bottles that didn’t contain any mixed sport drink (just plain water), a prompt wash w/ light dishwashing detergent solution is enough. Some shaking required.

By: Darryl

Darryl — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:26:40 +0000

Yeah, some bottles can get pretty nasty. I know that I am going to commit to clean bottles from now on.

By: Clive Chapman

Clive Chapman — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 06:57:27 +0000

Like you I never give this any thought. I just bung my bottles (plastic BTW) in the dishwasher and have never had any dramas.

I have seen the odd cyclists bottles doing a pretty good impression of a petri dish with new forms of penecilin in them though…

By: Darryl

Darryl — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:43:38 +0000

Thanks for sharing this information, Lee.

By: Darryl

Darryl — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:42:43 +0000

Excellent information, Richard. You sure do know your stuff. I was actually just going to come on and leave a comment about BPA. I found the same information in that any bottles older than 2008 should be tossed.

By: Myron

Myron — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:32:34 +0000

Awesome post! I’ll use this info for many years to come.

By: VitaminLee

VitaminLee — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:26:36 +0000

Screw Bottom eh? Gotto look into this, I keep learning new things from you guys. Thanks for the info Richard

By: Richard Masoner

Richard Masoner — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:23:39 +0000

Aluminum and some of the plastic bottles (e.g. Polar) are dishwasher safe. I’m not too convinced just shaking the bottle gets them all that clean, but then I’m not too concerned about the germs either — I always completely air dry the bottles, and I almost never use anything other than water.

The plastics used for squeezable water bottles are almost always LDPE plastic, which has never used BPA. CamelBak’s Chill Jacket is an exception — they’re made with polyprop but it’s still BPA free (they don’t have the bad taste of LDPE).

For athletes, you’ll find BPA in older Nalgene water bottles (and their knockoffs) as well as in (ironically) SIGG aluminum bottles manufactured before 2008 (the bottles have plastic liners).

Finally, there’s the Clean Bottle with a screw bottom so you can actually clean the inside of the bottle.