How to Clean Plastic Bottles
Plastic bottles can be hard to clean, but if you are interested in recycling them, they have to be cleaned out. Fortunately, there are quite a few quick and easy ways to clean plastic bottles. The methods here are useful for not only cleaning out disposable plastic bottles, but also for cleaning Thermos containers, baby bottles and any other plastic bottle you care to reuse. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Purchase a good bottle brush, the type that is used to clean baby bottles. There should be a larger brush on one end and a smaller brush on the other.
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Place some baking soda and hot water or a mild solution of bleach and water inside the bottle and let it sit. The bleach solution is especially helpful if the bottle has had liquid inside it that has gone bad. Allow the bottle to rest for several hours.
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Pour out the baking soda or bleach solution. Place some soap inside the plastic bottle and fill the bottle with hot water. Work the large end of the baby bottle brush into the bottle if it will fit, and move it around inside the bottle. If the large end of the brush will not fit in the bottle, turn it around and use the small end.
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Shake the bottle to further work the soapy water around the bottle. Pour out the soapy water and rinse the bottle several times until the soap bubbles are gone. Wash and rinse the outside of the bottle as well with a clean, soapy sponge. Carefully clean out the bottle cap or Thermos cap and cup.
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Allow the bottle to dry completely before putting the cap back on. Bottle driers are available commercially, and are very useful if you find that you must wash bottles frequently.
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Tips & Warnings
You can also clean bottles in the dishwasher if you like. Place the bottle over one of the tynes in the top rack.
Bottle holders can be purchased for the dishwasher. These will prevent your bottles from being tossed around the dishwasher. There are also dishwasher holders which will hold bottle rings and nipples.
Avoid reusing bottles made from PVC. These bottles can leach toxins, especially if they're exposed to hot water or chemicals. PVC bottles can be identified by a recycling code of 3 which appears on the bottom of the bottle.
