cleaning used glass bottles

[captin-ahab]

Score........free bottles

All the college kids moved out today from a local town. My buddy junks for a living and he grabbed me a whole truck bed full of likker bottles . No kiddin a full truck bed....hundreds of em!!! All the bottles have lids and all of them are glass (most of em vodka, wiskey, or tequilla). I got enough glass bottles to last me a looooong time .

I am boxing them up now for a later date. Sure for now they will just sit im my basement , but over time i will find a use for them. When i need some I just go grab a box with 10-15 bottles in em and clean them out. all bottles are one fith gallon size or larger.

How do i clean them out to use?

Im sure soap is out of the question

Edit: about 90 percent of them are vodka....apparently school kids love vodka..lol

[Dnderhead]

id git something like brewery wash its cheep, and works leaving no off flavors as soap does. some is caustic and others have been buffered.

[captin-ahab]

id git something like brewery wash its cheep, and works leaving no off flavors as soap does. some is caustic and others have been buffered.

Never hear of it...thanks man..... ill get some.

[Ayay]

If the bottles still have a trace of vodka inside and are otherwise clean then all they need is a soak and rinse with hot water out of the tap. This usually gets the labels off too.

For bottles that have laid out in the bush for years, are covered in mud and dried algae, I soak them in strong laundry detergent then scrub with a bottle brush. Needless to say the bottle must be special to go to all the trouble but it works. Three rinses in clean water will get rid of the detergent.

[Dnderhead]

I myself whould recommend, that you wash,disinfect bottles unless you know where they came from, I have found all kinds of "unknown substance" in abandoned bottles. that stuff that they use in breweries/bars for cleaning instantly kills all bacteria , it is just a mater of having a bucket full and rinsing them,
in it,

(don't drink the yellow vodka)

[heynonny]

Try adding a tsp or so of "dishwasher" soap to each bottle and let 'em soak for a period of time. Clorine bleach will work in the same way, not as fast, but there's your disinfectant, , -hey-

[900footjesus]

I soak all manner of used bottles in Oxiclean Free (the unscented kind) for at least 24 hours. Everything comes out, no muss or fuss. Most labels come off too. Buy a jet bottle washer if you can, makes loads of difference. This also works for gunk in carboys too.

[hstuurman]

After a mechanical cleanup with a brush, and then use `Chemipro Oxi`http://www.brupaks.com/chemipro%20oxi.htm.

[maheel]

yeah soak in unscented bleach for a 1st clean (diluted of course)
then hot water wash / few rinses
then some sort of brewing cleaner / sanatiser

i would give each a visual inspection and have a quick "sniff" of each if suspect just dump it and move on......

[LearJet]

I put them in my dishwashing machine upside down. Done.

[marc83]

If you remove the labels after a good scrub,you can sterilese in the oven,out there i know but some people do this to bottling jars when making preserves etc.

[olddog]

Just rinse out with "Milton" solution, if it's good enough for babies bottles, it's good enough for mine. It"s cheaper than brewshop steraliser, yet they recommend it for home brew etc.



OD

[lacedspirits]

I've worked at a microbrewery and I can assure you our cleaning chemicals aren't cheap. I would recommend acetone for label removal, a 10% iodine/hot water solution for wash water, and 10% vinegar/hot water solution for the rinse. Iodine isn't cheap but it's the cheapest sanitizer in my brewery and it won't leave a residual taste on glass.
ls

[Danespirit]

Now this is a old thread, found by HD google search. Got a good idea, i thought i would like to share with you.
For what it's worth, here is how i clean bottles of unknown origin or with unknown residue in them:
There are many ways to clean for example mason jars.
Mostly you can reach inside and use a scrubbie, which is fine...but what if you can't reach in there and a bottlecleaner brush can't do the job either..?
I have a really nice one gallon glassbottle, i wanted to use when running a strippingrun.
Unfortunatly there was some residue in it..chalk at the bottom and some spots on the sides.
Wrapping my head around how to clean out the gunk i came across yet another good use for foreshots..
Simply put some rice in your bottle and fill foreshots in, seal it.
You don't want to use a corks or similar intended for capping your spirits, as all the disolved gunk will soak into it and contaminate it.
Let it stay in there for half a hour and start shaking it.
The rice will act like grinding material and the foreshots will disolve the gunk inside.
Silica as you know it from the small packages in shoes or whatever they want to protect from moist, also work like a charm.
To my surprise, it even took out the chalk at the bottom...so no need for acetic acid or the like.
Edit: Remember to flush it with dishwasher and water , before use..!

[S-Cackalacky]

Thanks for the tip! I have some old 1/2 gallon jugs with a milky white residue in the bottom. I'll give this a try.

[bitter]

+Danespirit

For labels I use a curved paring knife to peal them before soaking in hot water. Then those scrubbers pads to get any residue glue with hot water.

For the inside I have done rice but I found something even better. Goto the hardware store and find a length of very fine stainless chain. It needs to be pretty fine size wise. less then 3/16" in diameter works best. I use about a 1-2' length. put int he bottle with fores and swish and swirl it around. Its amazing how well the fine chain scrubs at dried on messes in old bottle.

My last step after washing with hot water is I use starsan... leave a little in each bottle and then put the top on. When its time to use the bottles, I rinse with plain water from my ro unit to clean the last bit of starsan out.

B

[Bushman]

+Danespirit

For labels I use a curved paring knife to peal them before soaking in hot water. Then those scrubbers pads to get any residue glue with hot water.

For the inside I have done rice but I found something even better. Goto the hardware store and find a length of very fine stainless chain. It needs to be pretty fine size wise. less then 3/16" in diameter works best. I use about a 1-2' length. put int he bottle with fores and swish and swirl it around. Its amazing how well the fine chain scrubs at dried on messes in old bottle.

My last step after washing with hot water is I use starsan... leave a little in each bottle and then put the top on. When its time to use the bottles, I rinse with plain water from my ro unit to clean the last bit of starsan out.

B

Nice idea for cleaning inside of bottle, for the outside I soak in hot water first to loosen it then use the tool my wife has for cleaning the glass oven top. It has a handle and you add a razor blade to it. Usually most of the glue and everything is removed at this point. For the rest I smear a little peanut butter on the outside and let it sit then wipe off with a paper towel before washing.

[rad14701]

I have successfully used small stainless steel lathe turnings with detergent water or spirits to clean jars and bottles... Easy to rinse and reuse... Check with a local machine shop to see if you can get a small amount... I never even clean the turnings before their first use, but doing so will remove oils and grime if you're picky...

[Snackson]

I use Oxy Clean Free which is similar to PBW. Soak your bottles in a warm water solution and the next day labels will come off. The insides will get cleaned as well. From there, Star San which is phosphoric acid is great at sanitizing, but not necessary. Hot vinegar soak would work too or even bleach, just rinse well between and afterwards.

[gemcutter]

leave the labels on and don't fill them all the way....if you don't know why well you must be a victim of the public school system

[cranky]

Having dealt with antique glassware for many years I have often used denture tablets to clean inside bottles and other things. Probably for our purposes the suggestions above are fine but some of the methods can etch the glass causing cloudiness which is not a good thing in that antique or special decanter or bottle. Just thought I would mention it.

[ksarrow]

If its college town they are most likely this year's party fodder. I'd say that them as used beer bottles and make sure the threads and caps get a good wash. Outside may want to mist down with a disinfectant. A case of mono or something might be hanging and keep labels nice.