# Bottle Cleaning with Oxyclean



## wineforfun (Dec 2, 2012)

I have read on here to clean your previously used or acquired bottles with oxyclean, can someone please explain exactly how you do this, ie: let mixture sit in bottle for certain amount of time, just rinse with mixture or other way and how much oxyclean do you use for how many bottles?
Thank you for the help.


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## derunner (Dec 2, 2012)

hear's what I do from beginning to end.

First I almost always get wet bottles from, my wine store (tastings) and a couple restraunts. I'll triple rinse each bottle and place upside down to drain until i get a chance to clean.

Cleaning

First I get rid of the old label. What seems to work best is soaking the bottle in the sink with very hot water for about 20-30 mins. Then very carefully scraping the labels off. Some of these labels just float off, others are a real problem. 

In the garage, I then will use paint thinner on the outside on a cloth to remove the non-water soluable glues from the outside bottle. I then use dishsoap on the outside of the bottle to wash away any paint thinner. I very carefully wash away any soap / thinner making sure to not get any inside.

After all of that, I use unscented Oxyclean (I use one call EasyClean). 1 Tablespoon to 1 gallon very warm water.
I have a five gallon bucket which hold 8 bottles. I fill each bottle to the brim, and fill up the bucket to shoulder of bottles. I'll let this soak 15-30 minutes. I mounted a bottle brush to my drill so I can i can go up and down inside the bottle getting all around the punted bottom, sides, and neck. I use the drill about 20 seconds a bottle.

After doing all the insides. I also use the bottle brush/drill on the outside. slowly spining the bottle as the run the drill going up and down for each bottle.

I then rinse the outsdie of the bottle and do a 4 rinse of each bottle where i put in about 1/3 water and shake it up well and drain. then repeat 3 more times. 

I spray down a bottle tree with starsan, and then I then use a vintinator to spay Star San in each bottle and then place on my bottle tree to dry. And then i store them upside down in boxes with paper towels put on the bottom.

I'll do about 4 batches using the same 3 gals of Oxyclean in the bucket, then I'll use fresh warm oxyclean misture for the next batch.

Prior to actual bottleing, I do a good rinse, and then run through the vintinator with the sanitizing strenght of K-meta solutuion

Good Luck with your bottles.


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## vacuumpumpman (Dec 3, 2012)

I use oxyclean also, I will let the bottles sit sometimes for several hours in a warm solution. Typically the labels will fall off,if not razor blade and any left over residue - I use a scrubby pad and if it is really stubborn I get out the paint thinner.. Then a good rinsing !

*The oxyclean has to be non-scented !!*


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## dralarms (Dec 3, 2012)

I use regular oxiclean. I never let it in the bottle, and if left too long (overnight) it will etch the bottles. I have some green bottles that now have a ring around the shoulder but I don't mind, lesson learned.


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## joeswine (Dec 3, 2012)

*bottle cleaning*

 AS, far as cleaning agents go I stick with either b-bite or one step,there designed for our use not a problem and they work effectively,don,t have to think about it.

 take bottles,power flush in ternally, soak in a bath of b-brite and water (15) gallon plastic container ,let soak in solution one week or so, have time ,remove from water bath remove labels,power flush inside let drain,check and store.

try not to make it a project ,keep it in front of you and fun,set it up if you can in a area where you can watch a ball game or listen to radio( do we still have those?),


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## deboard (Dec 3, 2012)

joeswine said:


> AS, far as cleaning agents go I stick with either b-bite or one step,there designed for our use not a problem and they work effectively,don,t have to think about it.
> 
> take bottles,power flush in ternally, soak in a bath of b-brite and water (15) gallon plastic container ,let soak in solution one week or so, have time ,remove from water bath remove labels,power flush inside let drain,check and store.
> 
> try not to make it a project ,keep it in front of you and fun,set it up if you can in a area where you can watch a ball game or listen to radio( do we still have those?),



Aren't both of those cleaners the same active ingredient as Oxyclean? I thought I read that on here somewhere.


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## DoctorCAD (Dec 3, 2012)

I scrape off the larger parts of the labels with a scraper blade first, followed by a 24 hour soak in a tub filled with a 1/2 strength mixture of oxy-clean and cold water. I can get 12 or so bottles in my tub.

After the 24 hour soak, I use a scotch-brite pad on the outside to get rid of any leftover label funk and use my battery drill mounted bottle brush to clean the insides. About 30 seconds cleans everything out of the bottle.

I then put the cleaned bottles in a tub filled with clean cold water and soak for 1/2 hour or so. Then drain and store in empty wine boxes.

On bottling day, simply wash in One-Step, rinse and dry on the bottle tree. A quick squirt or two with a sulfiter before filling and that's it.


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## Rocky (Dec 3, 2012)

In my stationary tub, I soak the bottles (about 2.5 cases at a time) in hot water and OxyClean for about an hour. As many have said, some labels fall off and some have to be blasted off! I use an old chef's knife to scrape the recalcitrant labels and remove any residual adhesive with a Brillo soap pad. I hot water rinse repeatedly until the water shows no signs of soap and drain the bottles on a drying rack. I keep them in cases until I am ready to use them. Prior to filling I rinse again with hot water, spritz on my sulfiter, drain on a rack, fill and bottle.


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## Thig (Dec 3, 2012)

derunner said:


> In the garage, I then will use paint thinner on the outside on a cloth to remove the non-water soluable glues from the outside bottle.



I use a Brillo pad to remove any glue that does not come off with the label. Te Brillo pad will not scratch the glass and does a very good job of removing the glue.


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## olusteebus (Dec 3, 2012)

I use a weak solution of oxy in a plastic storage bin and submerge all the bottles (25 or 30) and soak at least 24 hours. I will use a wooden stick (2x2x6) and scrape what labels have not fallen off. I then use a scotch pad to get the residue off. Here you have to look carefully to make sure you get it all. Bottle brush, power rinse and with a spray bottle, squirt lots of starsan in the bottle, quickly drain the starsan and place inverted in a storage bin to drip dry or drain.

If the oxi etches my bottles, I have not seen it. Because they are submerged, there are no lines.


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## wineforfun (Dec 3, 2012)

Ok, my fault, I was mostly talking about how to get the insided of the bottle cleaned/sanitized for bottling. Not so worried about the outside as I can get the old labels off.
Great information so far though.


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## bchilders (Dec 3, 2012)

wineforfun said:


> Ok, my fault, I was mostly talking about how to get the insided of the bottle cleaned/sanitized for bottling. Not so worried about the outside as I can get the old labels off.
> Great information so far though.



If possible, rinse the used bottle before the residue can dry. Cleaning is much easier that way. I fill used bottles with soapy water while they soak for label removal which helps loosens any sediment. I also rinse each bottle with B-Brite cleaner before sanitizing. You can soak with B-Brite if the sediment is stuck and or scrub with a bottle brush. I have never had to use a brush. Before filling I always rinse with SO2 and let the bottles sit for a few minutes. Then I will rinse again with distilled water and let drain for a few more minutes before filling with wine. I should also note that I have switched to about 99% new bottles and I still rinse and sanitize before filling.


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## Minnesotamaker (Dec 3, 2012)

deboard said:


> Aren't both of those cleaners the same active ingredient as Oxyclean? I thought I read that on here somewhere.



Here's what I understand. B-Brite is a combination of two effective ingredients. The first is the active ingredient in Oxyclean; the second is TSP which is an industrial cleaner you can find at hardware stores. B-brite is a MUST RINSE cleaner.

Onestep is similar to Oxyclean. Onestep is a NO RINSE REQUIRED cleaner.

Both Onestep and B-brite are designed for our industry, so no need to check the label for other additives that could be harmful or non-beneficial.

I generally use B-brite for cleaning my equipment and bottles.

This is from memory, so if someone know otherwise, please pipe up.


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## wineforfun (Dec 3, 2012)

bchilders said:


> If possible, rinse the used bottle before the residue can dry. Cleaning is much easier that way. I fill used bottles with soapy water while they soak for label removal which helps loosens any sediment. I also rinse each bottle with B-Brite cleaner before sanitizing. You can soak with B-Brite if the sediment is stuck and or scrub with a bottle brush. I have never had to use a brush. Before filling I always rinse with SO2 and let the bottles sit for a few minutes. Then I will rinse again with distilled water and let drain for a few more minutes before filling with wine. I should also note that I have switched to about 99% new bottles and I still rinse and sanitize before filling.



These are bottles that have been given to me so they are already dry on the inside. I will look inot the B-Brite or Star San as someone else had mentioned.


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## bchilders (Dec 3, 2012)

B-Brite has the active ingredient, Sodium Percarbonate. This is a mixture of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. The sodium carbonate is for cleaning and the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) provides the sanitization. The sanitizing time for B-Brite is 15 minutes

Here is a very good article of the different types of cleaners and sanitizers. http://www.bayareamashers.org/articles/Comparison of cleaners and sanitizers.pdf


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## Tom_S (Dec 3, 2012)

What about the idea of sanitizing the bottles, then putting clear packing tape over the mouth to store them? Does that packing tape leave a lot of residue on glass?


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## DoctorCAD (Dec 3, 2012)

wineforfun said:


> Ok, my fault, I was mostly talking about how to get the insided of the bottle cleaned/sanitized for bottling. Not so worried about the outside as I can get the old labels off.
> Great information so far though.



Try the bottle brush in the battery drill method...fast and effective!


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## vacuumpumpman (Dec 3, 2012)

The bottle jet is a great tool - I have reconfigured it so I can use it also to santize as well, The bucket has the sulfite solution in it and it recirculates back using a 12 volt dc powered pump at approx 50 psi.
BTW - If I have to, I will soak my bottles using unscented oxyclean in warm -hot water and it really helps alot in removal of labels and cleaning.


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## bchilders (Dec 4, 2012)

Tom_S said:


> What about the idea of sanitizing the bottles, then putting clear packing tape over the mouth to store them? Does that packing tape leave a lot of residue on glass?



I personally would not use tape but I have used plastic wrap to seal off clean carboys for storage just to help keep dust out but I always rinse and sanitize before use. For bottles that have been washed and cleaned I store them upside down in the box. I always have a few boxes either from empty bottle purchases or better yet full wine case purchases. Again, I will rinse and sanitize them before use.


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## bchilders (Dec 4, 2012)

vacuumpumpman said:


> The bottle jet is a great tool - I have reconfigured it so I can use it also to santize as well, The bucket has the sulfite solution in it and it recirculates back using a 12 volt dc powered pump at approx 50 psi.
> BTW - If I have to, I will soak my bottles using unscented oxyclean in warm -hot water and it really helps alot in removal of labels and cleaning.



I like your idea. I am still just using this for rinsing and sanitizing. I use two and fill one with either cleaner or SO2 and the other with rinse water. I will admit that by the time I get through 3 cases of bottles my arm is tired.


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## wineforfun (Dec 10, 2012)

I have my bottles soaking in Oxy solution. I did not put any in the inside of the bottles as I wasn't sure. Do you put it in the bottle too or just on the outside to remove the label? I was just going to rinse the inside with warm/hot water to remove any old wine residue that may be left over.
Thanks.


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## dangerdave (Dec 13, 2012)

I soak my used bottles (inside and out) in a large tub of Oxyclean mixture, so that they stay totally submerged, 24 at a time. If I leave them for a few days, most labels come off easily. I use a drill mounted plastic bottle brush with felt brushes that really does the job inside the bottles with my 18v drill. If there is label residue on the outside, I scrape clean with a sharp knife, and finish with a Scotch Brite pad. A thorough rince under very hot water (ouch!) and onto the drying rack. I keep most on a shelf or back in their original cases until bottling. I use the simple plastic thingy (from berl's post above) to flush them with sanitzer at bottling time.

Bottle washing and delabelling is the only drag in this hobby, IMO. Some of the labels float right off after a few days (yeah!), while others must be scraped off with all your might (boo!). After a year, having cleaned/delabelled many hundreds of used bottles, I have only tossed _one_ because it gave me too much grief. I hated that bottle!


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## olusteebus (Dec 13, 2012)

I forgot to add that I use a spray bottle and spray a good amount of Starsan in each bottle to get the inside wet. Then pour it out and place upside down in a sanitized plastic storage bin laying at such an angle so that the bottle neck stays down. When I get 25 or 30 bottles in it, I can lay it flat.


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## robie (Dec 13, 2012)

I have found that if left too long, oxyclean can leave a film on the inside of bottles and it's really hard to get out. That's why I try not to let oxyclean set in the bottles for very long.

But sometimes one has those really stubborn spots that don't leave one with much choice but to soak it.

I learned the hard way about dried wine spots, so now I always double rinse my bottles as soon as I finish drinking their wine. I have enough bottles now that I don't save any new ones, I just recycle what I have.


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## wineforfun (Dec 13, 2012)

Thanks, I got about 20 of them clean. I kept the Oxy solution on the outside and just put warm water on the inside while letting them set. After 30min. half of them had the labels fall off, the other half had to sit overnight. I just triple rinsed the insides with hot water and turned upside down to dry. 
Why all the inside of the bottle sanitizing such as Starsan, oxy, etc.? I would think a few good rinses with hot water would do the trick, no?


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## dangerdave (Dec 13, 2012)

The active ingredients in those cleasers are designed to bond with the organic molecules of the wine and help lift them from the glass.


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## robie (Dec 13, 2012)

wineforfun said:


> Thanks, I got about 20 of them clean. I kept the Oxy solution on the outside and just put warm water on the inside while letting them set. After 30min. half of them had the labels fall off, the other half had to sit overnight. I just triple rinsed the insides with hot water and turned upside down to dry.
> Why all the inside of the bottle sanitizing such as Starsan, oxy, etc.? I would think a few good rinses with hot water would do the trick, no?



Just before one fills a bottle with wine, which in some cases, will be in there for years, one should always sanitize that bottle. Kmeta is the better choice; StaSan also is a good sanitizer; straight oxyclean is not a sanitizer, but only a cleaner. Don't take a chance of your wine spoiling, after all the effort and cost to make it.


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## wineforfun (Dec 14, 2012)

Thanks for the info. First bottling attempt this weekend.


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