Old Dirty Bottles

So, A guy who works for me gave me some bottles. He has a friend that used to homebrew, but can't do it anymore. Anyway, the bottles had all manner of dead bugs, cobwebs and urine smell in them. I put them in the dishwasher and ran the pots and pans cycle twice, but there's still some gunk left in a few.

If it were you, would you toss the whole batch and just not take the chance? I'm running them through the pots and pans cycle one more time, but the thought of a dead bug in my beer doesn't sound good at all...

Any other suggestions? A good long soak in some oxyclean? Fire? Brimstone?

Oxiclean for a day or so. Then I would rinse and Oxiclean with hot water again. I would probably bake the bottles in the oven for awhile to kill the nasties.
Edit: Yes another first response to one of your threads!

A good soak in oxyclean or bleach. Glass can always be cleaned. The dishwasher is good when the bottles are already fairly clean. A bottle brush and a little elbow grease go a long way too.

Oxyclean, and a bottle brush if you need it.

Eskimo Spy said:

If it were you, would you toss the whole batch and just not take the chance? I'm running them through the pots and pans cycle one more time, but the thought of a dead bug in my beer doesn't sound good at all...

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Dead bugs are amenable to removal by one of those jet bottle washer thingies (which are awesome and <$10).

Duh, I forgot about my jet bottle washer! I'll soak them for a long while in oxyclean, then blast them with the jet washer, and if there's still any gunk, then go to town with a bottle brush, ending with a wash in the dishwasher on anti-bacterial wash.

Oh, one more thing. Is it a bad idea to wash the bottles in the dishwasher using normal dishwasher detergent? We have those concentrated little packages that you drop into the dishwasher, are these a no-no? Thanks.

If you use the Oxyclean/jet bottle washer/sanitizer method, there's no reason to use dishwasher detergent. If you don't completely remove the detergent film from the bottles, you will be leaving a "head killer" in them. Just do the first parts you are wanting to do and you'll be fine.

I've had some funky bottles before and after an overnight soak in PLC (Powder line cleaner) all of the nasties broke free and were floating on the surface of the water, or rinsed right out. Some of the bottles had labels on them and they came right off also.

Well, I just discovered that SWMBO washed them with said detergent packet, so should I follow my original plan, then run them through the dishwasher with nothing but water on the ant-bacterial program?

I got 3 cases of old heavy duty pints that were in a similar situation...these were too cool to pass up...I soaked them for a week in oxyclean (til the labels finally peeled off), then jettbottle washed the whole lot...they came out great.

Oxiclean is your friend.... Along with a bottle brush. I haven't used one of those fancy jet bottle washers. My kitchen faucet wont allow it :-( Seems that would be better than the bottle brush.

What do you guys use to put all your bottles in for their soak in oxyclean? I have about 6 cases of bottles, but at any given moment I probably need to soak 48 at a time.

Eskimo Spy said:

What do you guys use to put all your bottles in for their soak in oxyclean? I have about 6 cases of bottles, but at any given moment I probably need to soak 48 at a time.

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I put mine in a large plastic tote I got from wal-mart. I think I can soak maybe a case at a time. If you had to you could get two.

I use what also doubles as my fermentation chiller

Revvy said:

I use what also doubles as my fermentation chiller

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Hey that is basically the same thing I use for my bottles when I do bottle .

I think mine is grey .

fishnfever said:

Hey that is basically the same thing I use for my bottles when I do bottle .

I think mine is grey .

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Great minds think alike!!!

lol, I was convinced that I couldn't use that, that somehow the oxyclean would perform some weird alchemy on it. SWMBO rolled her eyes at this, I guess I'll let her in on the answer...

How long do you let yours soak? Overnight? Longer? Since the free bottles had what appeared to be a mix of 10,000 bugs and hobo urine in each bottle, would you let them sit longer?

Oh, and how much oxyclean do you use in that bucket? I think it holds about 10-12 gallons of water, so what, 4 tablespoons?

Eskimo Spy said:

lol, I was convinced that I couldn't use that, that somehow the oxyclean would perform some weird alchemy on it. SWMBO rolled her eyes at this, I guess I'll let her in on the answer...

How long do you let yours soak? Overnight? Longer? Since the free bottles had what appeared to be a mix of 10,000 bugs and hobo urine in each bottle, would you let them sit longer?

Oh, and how much oxyclean do you use in that bucket? I think it holds about 10-12 gallons of water, so what, 4 tablespoons?

Click to expand...

I let it soaks for as long as it takes...for my pint bottles, I was also soaking off some 20 year old glued on labels, so I ended up soaking them for a couple weeks...if you are just cleaning out the bottles, probably a couple of days. If there is mold and bug bits, they will float out of the bottles and the water will look dirty...that is probably a good indication that it is time to rinse them thoroughly...

As to the amount, I don't know...I buy in bulk, so I am not thrifty with my oxyclean...probably 3-4 of the big scoops that come in the box.

Get a good foamy few gallons of water goin in the rubbermade, then drown the bottles till they sink to the bottom...then top off the water if you need it.

The hotter the better.

Eskimo Spy said:

So, A guy who works for me gave me some bottles. He has a friend that used to homebrew, but can't do it anymore. Anyway, the bottles had all manner of dead bugs, cobwebs and urine smell in them. I put them in the dishwasher and ran the pots and pans cycle twice, but there's still some gunk left in a few.

If it were you, would you toss the whole batch and just not take the chance? I'm running them through the pots and pans cycle one more time, but the thought of a dead bug in my beer doesn't sound good at all...

Any other suggestions? A good long soak in some oxyclean? Fire? Brimstone?

Click to expand...

I just bottled a batch in bottles I hadn't used in over four years and had been thru two long-distance moves (Yeah, I've been on sabbatical!). Gave them a long (Spanish for: A week) soak in a washtub with bleach and water. Rinsed the hell out of them and they were as good as new. It takes a lot to render glass unusable.
The Force will guide you!
Cheers...
-Paul

Eskimo Spy said:

lol, I was convinced that I couldn't use that, that somehow the oxyclean would perform some weird alchemy on it. SWMBO rolled her eyes at this, I guess I'll let her in on the answer...

How long do you let yours soak? Overnight? Longer? Since the free bottles had what appeared to be a mix of 10,000 bugs and hobo urine in each bottle, would you let them sit longer?

Oh, and how much oxyclean do you use in that bucket? I think it holds about 10-12 gallons of water, so what, 4 tablespoons?

Click to expand...

I rinse my bottles as I use them and then do a over night soak when I get a few empties. I agree with Revvy on letting them soak as long as it takes. Especially since they are that dirty.

As far as how much to oxiclean to use, I may clean as little as 10 at a time or I may do 24. (Depends on how lazy I get and how long before I get sick of seeing dirty bottles in the garage). So I always use a different amount.

Get a good foamy few gallons of water going in the rubbermade, then drown the bottles till they sink to the bottom...then top off the water if you need it.

The hotter the better.

Click to expand...

Pretty much how I do it.

I have a laundry tub and it works great. i basicaly keep 2 cases in there soaking all the time with oxyclean.