Dirty Bottles

[A4J]

I got a bunch of empty bottles from friends and I ran them through the dishwasher before spritzing them with iodophor (sprayed at least 5 times using the sanitizer injector). As I was doing that, I later noticed that there was some gunk that the dishwasher didn't clean completely. I wasn't paying close enough attention to see which bottles had the crud in them originally, but my question is, did the iodophor sanitize them well enough? Or am I gonna infected bottles of beer?

 

[bigjohnmilford]

clean the bottles again if there's any doubt. the dishwasher doesn't clean the bottles very well. you probably want to let them soak in some oxiclean or bleach and water.

 

[Blender]

In the future I would not recommend that you use a dishwasher to clean bottles, especially ones that have some form of gunk in them. You will be better served soaking them in hot water and cleaner of choice and using a bottle brush. Sanitize before bottling. Iodaphor won't sanitize built up gunk, I hope your brews come out OK. After the time,money and care spent brewing don't scrimp on sanitizing bottles or your efforts will be for naught. Good Luck

 

[DanS]

I've had quite a few gunked bottles from drinking too many homebrews and forgetting to rinse them out before I went to bed. However a day before I bottle I just mix up an oxiclean solution with water (semi generous on the oxiclean) and pour it into each of my gunked bottles and let it soak overnight. then I rinse them out with hot water the next morning to get any oxiclean residue out and i've never had any residue left behind. And i've had some REALLY nasty bottles. then I run them through the dishwasher on a sanitize cycle as i prepare my beer and bottle straight over the dishwasher. less mess:rockin:

 

[baldbrew]

if youre sanitizing anything in boiling water, use a few coat hangers attached to a, uh coat hanger, and dip them puppies in the boiling water for a few seconds
then rinse once theyve air cooled

also, dont be afraid to use your dremel tools

 

[Revvy]

Oxyclean can get the nastiest, moldiest, and driest gunk out of the deepest corner of any bottles, without even needing a brush. Oxy and hotwater rules!

 

[smizak]

Oxyclean can get the nastiest, moldiest, and driest gunk out of the deepest corner of any bottles, without even needing a brush. Oxy and hotwater rules!

QFT.

I've had the nastiest, half inch of pure mold and fruit fly laden gore at the bottom of bottles come floating up the the top, leaving it squeaky clean, with just Oxiclean and hot water.

Soak it overnight, and your labels will be floating with the mold too!

 

[Revvy]

QFT.

I've had the nastiest, half inch of pure mold and fruit fly laden gore at the bottom of bottles come floating up the the top, leaving it squeaky clean, with just Oxiclean and hot water.

Soak it overnight, and your labels will be floating with the mold too!

I've been toying with making an oxyclean bottle washer/delabler out of a sealable 5 gallon bucket. I'm basing it on how I used to rinse rolls of film in my darkroom.

I'm going to put a pvc intake in the bottom of the bucket that can be hooked up to a hose on my faucet. Then towards the top of the bucket put an outflow hose back into my drain, with a hose clamp on it. Then I can load it with bottles, dump a couple scoops of the magic oxy powder, seal and clamp the lid. Then I can turn on the hot water and fill it til the foam and water comes out the upper hose. Then I'll turn off the water and clamp the outtake hose.

I'll let it sit for a few hours or over night, then unclip the outflow and crank on the cold water and leave it running until the outflow water no longer has that silky unrinsed oxyclean feel to it.

 

[BrianTheBrewer]

I agree with all of you. We used Oxi-Clean last weekend and the bottles came out great. We put about 50 bottles in a big plastic bin and let them sit with Oxi-Clean and hot water for a few hours and that did the job. We also put them in starsan before we bottled. Bottles came out very clean.

 

[smizak]

I've been toying with making an oxyclean bottle washer/delabler out of a sealable 5 gallon bucket. I'm basing it on how I used to rinse rolls of film in my darkroom.

I'm going to put a pvc intake in the bottom of the bucket that can be hooked up to a hose on my faucet. Then towards the top of the bucket put an outflow hose back into my drain, with a hose clamp on it. Then I can load it with bottles, dump a couple scoops of the magic oxy powder, seal and clamp the lid. Then I can turn on the hot water and fill it til the foam and water comes out the upper hose. Then I'll turn off the water and clamp the outtake hose.

I'll let it sit for a few hours or over night, then unclip the outflow and crank on the cold water and leave it running until the outflow water no longer has that silky unrinsed oxyclean feel to it.

That would be neat. I've spent ALOT of time over my basement sink refilling and shaking out bottles that were full of Oxyclean solution.

A little off topic, but soaking bottles that have silkscreened, no paper,(i.e. Stone, Southern Tier ) labels in Star San gets the paint off very well. There is a thread on this forum somewhere about it. Two days soaking and it practically brushes off with the course side of a sponge.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Not me...I use a bottle brush attached to my drill to clean out them suckers!!!

Of course, that's how I get them back from people who said they cleaned them out...

 

[Revvy]

A little off topic, but soaking bottles that have silkscreened, no paper,(i.e. Stone, Southern Tier ) labels in Star San gets the paint off very well. There is a thread on this forum somewhere about it. Two days soaking and it practically brushes off with the course side of a sponge.

I've heard about that working...but I'm still an Iodophor user, I decided that I really like it, so I'm not sure I'd switch just for that...but I might give starsan a try when I finish up my iodophor.

 

[A4J]

Thanks for all the responses.... It's only 5 or so bottles that I'm worried about. The thing is, I soaked them in hot water for about an hour and then the dishwasher, but I guess I'll have to be a lot more cautious next time.

 

[FlyGuy]

I got a whole bunch of used Grolsch bottles from the recycling depot a few years ago, and lots of them were REALLY grungy. I used the techniques already mentioned here to clean them: soak a bunch at a time in a big tub of oxyclean solution for a couple hours, then use a bottle brush on a cordless drill for the nasty ones, rinse out the inside with a bottle sprayer, and then into a dishwasher to clean the oxy-scum off the OUTSIDE of the bottles. Worked like a charm.

 

[RJRobb2]

I've always just used new bottles but for my next batch I am using a variety of old ones.

So, for those with more experience will this method work?

Soaking them in a tub all day with hot water and bleach. Then, taking them out and filling them with a little sanitizing solution. Then, let them dry upside down.

That was my plan but dont know if it is a good method. Most of the bottles have been rinsed after drinking and no beer left to sit so I doubt too much gunk, if any, is built up in them.