Cleaned bottles are gritty. Any ideas?

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DPB

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I just cleaned and sanitized some bottles and noticed a gritty film all over the first 40 or so I cleaned. I soaked all bottles in PBW for a couple of days and noticed a silvery dust floating in the water and on the bottles. I removed the labels, rinsed the residue off as best I could and sanitized the bottles in bleach for a couple of days. Now there is a gritty film all over the bottles that doesn't seem to come off.

I cleaned and sanitized all my other bottles in the same fashion with no gritty film. Should I rewash and sanitize, use the dishwasher to clean or throw away the bottles?

Hopefully this is the last I have to deal with cleaning recycled bottles... it's a pain.

Thanks
 
I would just throw them in the dishwasher with the heated dry option. Also, make sure that you are not using any detergent when cleaning them in the dishwasher. If there's still stuff on the inside, you may want to use a bottle brush to remove some of the debris. If it's still there after all of that, maybe another soak in an Oxyclean solution for 24 hours will do the trick.
 
Thanks, hopefully the dishwasher will work.
 
I had the same issue with a batch of bottles I soaked in Oxy for a few days. It was almost like it crystalized on some of the bottles. I soaked them star san and scrubbed them with a brush and it came off.
 
I quit using OxiClean for this reason. It's the minerals in our well water. I use PBW for a limited period (an hour or so) for label removal or cleaning, I have no problems. To get that film off, try an acid wash of vinegar & water.
 
I use oxi and follow that up with a spritz of diluted starsan to counter the minerals and alkalines. Then put them away for later use and respray with starsan just before using.

I noticed that the area around the neck was clean, and the inside was clean, but the outside where I did not rinse with starsan had a dry film. So I think it must be working.
 
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