Ever lose a batch to infection after bottling and then wash/sanitize the same bottles for a new brew?
Am I playing with fire if I try to reuse previously tainted bottles?
Yeah, the concern with infections is scratches and other places where bugs can hide that sanitizers can't get to. With glass, the odds of such scratches are pretty darn low. As an added precaution, you could always put the bottles through the sanitize cycle on a dishwasher, which would heat sanitize, and as a result cover anything that survived or hid from chemical sanitation.
My recommendation would be to soak the bottles in either oxy clean or PBW over night then rinse thoroughly. When ready to bottle use Star San, do not rinse and do not fear the foam ,just let drip out and bottle. I have been using glass bottles over and over and over again with this process and have never had a bottling infection. Don't forget to sanitize your caps when you bottle
Ever lose a batch to infection after bottling and then wash/sanitize the same bottles for a new brew?
Am I playing with fire if I try to reuse previously tainted bottles?
If all 50 or so bottles of a batch got infected it IS NOT your bottles. Either the beer was already infected or it happened when you where transfering to your bottling bucket. I would throw out your tubing and check the spigot on your bottling bucket. The spigot needs to be taken off and cleaned after every bottling.