washing water bottles

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I have been hand washing the water bottles for years - Soaking them for 5-10 min. in bleach water and then scrubbing them with a bottle brush and then rinsing well before refilling them with water. I don't have a dish washer - never wanted one. However one sure would come in handy for the cleaning of my many water bottles. Anyway, it suddenly occurred to me that my daughter who lives about 7 min. from me has one. So I think I am going to take all the water bottles down to her and do them there once a week. My question - since I have NEVER used a dish washer, should I use the detergent for cleaning the bottles and should I use some bleach?? I don't know if you can use bleach in a dish washer

 

[cintistatern2005]

I throw mine in the dishwasher and then use cascade. But i always run a second rinse cycle. And my dishwasher has a sanitizer on it. Never have used bleach. My chins are ok, atleast i think they are, lol. I would prob soak in bleach and then thrown em in the dishwasher. Honestly there is prob something out there like cascade with bleach , lol. I dont use it though.

 

[AZChins]

I bleach my bottles, too. Honestly, it doesn't seem too bad to do it this way because I am so used to soaking and scrubbing and rinsing.

I don't know if you can use bleach in a dishwasher, I've never tried it. I don't like washing bottles in the dishwasher though. I can do a better job by hand. But, please understand, for some reason my brain rejects technology and its shortcuts sometimes...I'm a little strange like that.

 

[tunes]

You don't need bleach if the dishwasher has a sanitizer cycle. Basically it boils them. Adding bleach to that is just overkill.

I LOVE my dishwasher and I would bet dollars to donuts that washing by hand will never get them to sparkle and shine like my dishwasher does. I've boiled, bleached, and vinegared my bottles before and they don't even come close to how clean they are coming out of the dishwasher. They look like brand new bottles every single time I pull them out. I also can't boil my hands, so they aren't getting sterilized nearly as well as they do in the dishwasher when doing them by hand.

I also use detergent but instead of doing a second rinse cycle, I just fill up the sink with hot water and do a manual rinse. That way I know for sure there's no residue on the bottles. I'm sure there isn't anyway, but, it saves me from being paranoid about it.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

I hand wash mine right now but ONLY because our dishwasher is broken and we haven't bought a new one (the repair would be costly due to the dishwasher's age). I loved using the dishwasher for them.

 

[Gizmo24]

I wash mine by hand too. I WISH I had a dishwasher! But I don't normally use bleach. I just use hot water and anti-bacterial dishsoap. Is bleach reccommended?

 

[tunes]

I don't use anti-bacterial soap for anything - not animal or human related. If you're going to use soap, I would use Ivory (not anti-bacterial) with a little bit of bleach or white vinegar. When I washed by hand, I would boil water, cut it with tap water until I could put my hands in, and use white vinegar in it rather than bleach (no soap). If you don't get white vinegar rinsed out, it isn't going to hurt your chin.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

I use vinegar here - I am always afraid I won't get the soap rinsed out all of the way and I can't use bleach for anything due to the fumes. Vinegar is my cleaning "product" of choice for things chin-related.

 

[3CsMommy]

Dishwasher on sanitize (165* F or more for at least 20 min) with no soap. I don't want the residue staying on the rubber, silicone, or plastic parts of the bottles.

 

[ChinchillasByDesign]

I will NEVER go back to handwashing bottles again. I LOVE LOVE LOVE our dishwasher!

 

[laurie2025]

Oh my. I'm using Dawn dishwashing liquid and hot water; letting the bottles soak for awhile, then scrubbing and rinsing. I'm not supposed to use soap? Ut oh!
I thought about the dishwasher, but I was concerned that the heat would hurt the rubber 'gasket' thingy in the bottle cap, or ruin the tube. Shoot.

 

[chincinnati]

So many ways to wash bottles, lol. I use the dishwasher and bleach (i don't have a sanitize option). I also do a double rinse cycle, but then they are also hand rinsed and the tubes cleaned out with a swab before they are refilled. I guess that is alot of overkill, but do it anyway. I do this once per week. It probably will eventually take it's toll on the rubber stopper, but that is the price I pay for convenience I guess.

 

[musherbob]

You might want to contact the Shoots'.They use a dishwasher detergent from Amway,very safe from what I am told.
Bob Ducey