Any reason not to use dirty old bottles?

[Geordan]

I've recently acquired a wealth (150+) of empty Canadian stubby bottles from the 1970s. They cap easily, and I love the look -- the only issue is that they are filthy. By the looks of them, they were never rinsed after being emptied, and instead just tossed back in their case where they then sat in a garage for 40 years or so (these all came in original 24 cases, if you can believe it). As a result, a vast majority of them have some amount of black mold inside on the bottle's bottom, with a significant number being home to fairly substantial mold growths (more or less covering the bottom of the bottle.)

So far I've soaked all of the bottles overnight in a strong Oxiclean bath, which caused almost all of the labels to fall right off, leaving behind some with stubborn "glue gunge." I then scrubbed each and every bottle out with a bottle brush to remove all visible mold or grossness, and ran the bottles through the dishwasher with soap to try and remove anything I missed, and hopefully take off some of the glue gunge (no luck, it's still there.) I've now got the whole batch soaking in Oxiclean again to hopefully loosen the glue gunge and remove anything inside the bottles I might have missed. After the second Oxi soak I intend to run them through the dishwasher a second time on rise, and then put them aside for use as normal with my other empties.

So that's a long bit of background just to ask whether I should be concerned about using these bottles, based on their age (anything unsavoury about glass bottles from the 70s?), the presence of mold (any chance it will leave anything behind after soaking and double Oxi-ing?) or anything else at all?

Thanks in advance everyone!

EDIT: Any advice for removing the "glue gunge?" Two Oxi soaks and copious scrubbing with steel wool won't even make it budge. Any thoughts? Vinegar, maybe?

 

[benbradford]

Sounds like you are fine... I have even recycling salvaged 20 oz bottles. Oxyclean, boil, bottle washer, etc. I would make sure there is no visible stuff in the bottom of the bottle that is too stubborn...

 

[bhaff]

I think the bottles will be fine. As for glue, I soak in a star San solution for a few days then scrub with cold water and a steel scrub brush and it does the trick. Warm water just gets the glue sticky again and smears the glue. Hope you get them clean.

 

[CastleHollow]

Sounds like an awesome find, and your cleaning technique should do the trick. Would love to see a picture of what you have!

 

[Geordan]

I will take a photo later today and post it -- that is, if I can get the glue off. Hot oxi soaks, vinegar, goo gone, Scrubbing vigorously with steel wool -- nothing will remove the glue residue. I'm reticent to use starsan since the required concentration versus number of bottles puts me at over 10 ounces, which is an expensive experiment. Any thoughts on bleach?

 

[crash1292]

wd-40

 

[smokinghole]

Give bleach a shot. Its not going to hurt the bottle, and it has a better cleaning ability the oxyclean. Your other option could be a caustic cleaner that you can go buy at a home store for cleaning drains. Most glues are protein from either animals or plants and a little NaOH or KOH will destroy it in a few minutes. Just make sure you wear gloves/safety glasses and if you get it on your skin you rinse the area thoroughly with water.

 

[janivar123]

If you go with strong caustic a bottle of vinegar or diluted star-san is much better then plain water for emergensys

 

[Geordan]

Here's a photo of the whole batch of bottles, separated into "usuable" on the left and "covered with too much glue crap" on the right. The dishwasher is bottles that have just come out of of an overnight soak in vinegar to no effect whatsoever.

Here's a close up of the "glue gunge" that may more properly be called "scale." This morning I tried attacking it with a razor blade and a sharp paint scraper, and didn't manage to remove one iota of it. I'm starting to think it's a lost cause. smokinghole, your suggestion of a caustic cleaner is a good one, though I'm concerned about using it in such a large quantity in my very tiny apartment.

Any other thoughts, ladies and gentlemen?

 

[smokinghole]

It is in fact glue and not just scars from being reusable bottles right? Reuseable bottles got beat up and were relabeled often and oftentimes ended up looking like that. So it could just be a beat up bottle and not glue. If you couldn't scrap it off with a razor blade that's my guess.

Also, yes vinegar is better than just water.

 

[Geordan]

The surface could only be described as "rough" or "gritty." It is also very clearly in the pattern of the glue applied to the labels, and does not extend beyond where a label would have sat. I'm noticing approximately 60% of the bottles have scaling, and about 25% have really SEVERE scaling like is shown in the photo. Based on those percentages, I'm guessing the severe scaling is from bottles labelled Carlsburg, and the less severe is from Labatt Blue. The ones without so much scale are likely the Molson Golden and the other brand which I don't at all recall (long gone from the shelves.)

I'm going to bleach soak the "good" ones today just in case there's any crap left in there. Might end up having to write off the others.

EDIT: Looks like smokinghole is correct -- upon closer inspection, this looks like damage to the glass and not just glue residue. Thanks everyone for your patience!

 

[BrewerinBR]

If the inside is clean then does the outside matter? I clean all the glue off my bottles but have some (like from Shorts Brewery) the glue just doesn't come off but they are still usable. I remember those types of bottles, used to see them a lot way back when.
You could try toluene (nail polish remover) or denatured alcohol to get the glue off if it is glue. I would think that scraping with a razor blade would take it off at least some. Smokinghole is probably correct and it may be wear and tear!

 

[Geordan]

Looks like I was wrong, as that smokinghole is right -- on closer examination, there are bottles where the damage goes all the way around, and not just where the label rested. Now that they're dry, the surface is almost identical to my wife's nail files, which leads me to to believe that it is damage to the glass. BrewerinBR, I think you've hit the nail on the head -- as long as I don't mind that they're ugly, there's no reason not to use them.

Thanks everyone!

 

[BeerMe2]

I've had the best luck removing labels and associated glue with a overnight soak in a cup of ammonia to 5 gal hot water. The labels mostly fall off and a light scrub with a green scrubby sponge gets the glue. Then a run thru the dishwasher. Never tried really old bottles though.

 

[bhaff]

Don't think ugly, think aged.
The bottle my westy came is all scratched up and I love it.

 

[wailingguitar]

I was thinking that the marks in question looked pretty typical of reused bottles as well. That would also explain why NOTHING came off when you were scraping them. You should be just fine.