Okay, I'm a believer...

[dkwolf]

Getting ready to bottle my cider, and needed to clean up a new batch of bottles. Quite a few of them still need to be de-labeled, and not all of them had been washed out well enough, so I decided to try the oxyclean route of cleaning this time. Put them in a 10 gallon rubbermaid tote, and checked on them about 5 minutes later, noticed that the labels were peeling right off. This beats the heck out of scrubbing and scraping!

Planning on bottling Monday, I'll probably leave these bottles in the oxyclean until Sunday night and then prep them. Outside of a good rinse (and probably a little brushing on the insides to get rid of any deposit), and a dip in starsan, is there anything else I'll need to do to these to have them ready?

 

[ObsidianJester]

I would not suggest you do that, if left to sit too long oxyclean will leave a nasty deposit all over your bottles. I would let them soak no more than an hour if you plan on doing this. Soak them, remove labels and scrub as needed inside and out and get them to dry.

 

[dkwolf]

Well, crap.... And here I had plans of going to bed soon!

Edit: Didn't take as long as I expected. There's only 4 bottles that need scrubbed... those just got some water dosed in them and I'll deal with them later (or toss 'em...turns out I have a lot more bottles than I thought). By the time I got back to the tub, most of the labels had completely fallen off - only took a light wipe to get the glue remnants off. Rinsed 'em with hot water (living by myself, my water heater is set around 150...you don't hold on to the bottles very long!) and they're drying on the bottle tree now.

 

[hautlle]

I would not suggest you do that, if left to sit too long oxyclean will leave a nasty deposit all over your bottles. I would let them soak no more than an hour if you plan on doing this. Soak them, remove labels and scrub as needed inside and out and get them to dry.

If you get mineral deposits from soaking in Oxyclean for a long time you can easily rinse it away using vinegar.

 

[Wort_Cleaver]

I've always soaked my bottles in oxyclean longer than an hour, sometimes for days. Never had any evidence of mineral deposits. After a thorough rinse and a high temp cycle in the dishwasher without detergent, they come out squeaky clean. Rinse with star-san just before bottling and never had a problem.

 

[WI_Wino]

I've always soaked my bottles in oxyclean longer than an hour, sometimes for days. Never had any evidence of mineral deposits. After a thorough rinse and a high temp cycle in the dishwasher without detergent, they come out squeaky clean. Rinse with star-san just before bottling and never had a problem.

This is my experience as well. It also depends on how much oxiclean you put in. A stronger solution will lead to more of a "residue" if you let them sit for awhile. I also think that using really hot water helps loosen the glue and you don't need a ton of detergent.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

It also depends on how hard your water is. Soft water will not leave mineral deposits on your bottles if soaked for extended periods.

 

[PastorofMuppets]

Commercial operations nearly always soften water before using it to clean for this very reason.
star san is an acid which will easily dissolve those deposits if you get any. I have left bottles for days soaking cause life had other plans. No biggie.

 

[hautlle]

It also depends on how hard your water is. Soft water will not leave mineral deposits on your bottles if soaked for extended periods.

Indeed, I have very hard water, hence the use of vinegar to remove the precipitate. Starsan should work too, as mentioned above.