# cleaning/sanitizing bottles



## rrawhide (Jul 28, 2007)

Here is an interesting idea - my friend that is a commercial winemaker
says that when he cleans/sanitizes is own personal wine bottles he puts
them in his dishwasher. First of all he takes out the top rack -
then adds c-brite in the detergent holder and turns on the
washer. After this he puts meta in the detergent holder and runs
through agin. His bottles are then sanitized, heated and dried
and ready to go. Wadda ya think about this? I think I may
try this but go from dishwasher to the Vinator (with meta) then
to the bottle rack to drain and then bottle. It might be a big
time saver and get completely sanitized without too much extra
effort. Anything to save time might be real good. Comments
please. Thanx. By the way, is MEDPRETZAL still around in the
forum? I saw that she used a aquarium pump to move her wine to
her gravity filter - might be interesting. Any comments?


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## scotty (Jul 28, 2007)

We wash our bottles imidiately after use. 
Maybe you drink 12 bottles a day. At that rate the dishwasher may be necessary.


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## Wade E (Jul 28, 2007)

Sounds like a great idea. I do them as I drink them except for when I
get a sh!t load from the recycling center and then just fill the bath
tub with hot water and C-Brite or Straight-A to also remove labels at
the same time.
*Edited by: wade *


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## PolishWineP (Jul 29, 2007)

Our dishwasher isn't tall enough to do this. We do put beer bottles in though. We just rinse and put them in with the dishes. We always wash and sanitize before refilling though.
Since our dishwasher isn't tall enough for wine bottles, I just use my Bert. It's like I do nothing at all that way!


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## Waldo (Jul 29, 2007)

That is the one part of home wine making I loathe...Maybe one of these days, when my Rich Uncle gets out of the poor house I will just let George keep me stocked. Reckon I could get him to sanitize them just before he shipped them?


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## BrianD (Jul 29, 2007)

For people that thoroughly clean the bottles after use, do you then wash them again when you pull them out of storage? Or just sanitize at that point?

Do people use bottle brushes, or just a lot of warm-water rinsing immediately after use? If you wash them just after use with a detergent, does that mean you get out the C-Brite or equivalent? Or the Dawn? Do you then just place them upside down in a cardboard box, or do you cap them with aluminum foil for added protection?

My first kit, the WE Selection Pinot Noir, is tasting better and better. But I had one bottle that was bad. I suspect a cat hair made it into that bottle, since I saw one in the glass I poured, along with about 15 times the carbonation that any other bottle that I've had. Sorry to be gross, but hence my interest in cleaning methods. 

Brian



*Edited by: BrianD *


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## Wade E (Jul 29, 2007)

I thoroughly clean and rinse my bottles and use bottle brush only when
needed(sediment on bottom) which does not happen anymore since using
gravity filter. I resulfite them before us and do not cover them during
storage. No problems yet. I use a vinator/sulfiter at bottling time.


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## smurfe (Jul 30, 2007)

I never use the dishwasher. Was always told it wasn't a real good idea.Always afraid food particles might get swooshed into a bottle that could cause a bacteria.


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## chevyguy65 (Aug 1, 2007)

Wash them before you put them away then run them through a quick wash/rinse let drain. Sanitize and drain right before bottling.


If you have a concern about cleanliness at bottling why not take the extra few minutes and give yourself piece of mind? An hour of "extra work" can prevent months of worry!


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## BrianD (Aug 1, 2007)

chevyguy65 said:


> Wash them before you put them away then run them through a quick wash/rinse let drain. Sanitize and drain right before bottling.
> 
> 
> If you have a concern about cleanliness at bottling why not take the extra few minutes and give yourself piece of mind? An hour of "extra work" can prevent months of worry!



Define 'wash'. I'm slow.





I know how to wash a glass. You put it in the sink of water with some dish soap in the water, stick a sponge in it to wipe every surface, and then rinse with fresh water and drain.

Now.... a bottle?

I know it isn't rocket science, but I am still curious about what most people here do in terms of washing out a bottle when you have finished drinking the contents.

Thanks,

Brian


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## chevyguy65 (Aug 1, 2007)

I soak them for a couple minutes in the sink with detergent if they are "crudy" on the bottom and the run a bottle brush through a couple of times. rinse them well with a bottle blaster hooked up to the faucet, let drain on my bottle tree,then put them away until needed.


At bottling time; fill the sink with hot water and a "dash" of cleaner,fill the bottle half way and shake,drain,rinse and drain on the bottle tree.


Just before bottling;sanitize then place on tree and drain .


hope this helps.


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## PeterZ (Aug 2, 2007)

I rinse with water immediately after use then save them up until I have a dozen or so (beer bottles, too). Then I soak them in hot water with DW detergent to remove the labels, put them on the bottom rack of the dishwasher inverted over the pins, and run with standard DW detergent.

After that it is storage uncovered until time for use. When ready to bottle it is the bottle blaster, drain, sulfiter, drain, fill.


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## Coaster (Aug 7, 2007)

I rinse the bottle after is empty then store for later. When it comes time for a bottling party I do 20 bottles at a time. I scrap the label, soak overnite in a hot water/Easy Clean tub, finish scrapping labels the next day, bottle brush if I have to, wash in the dishwasher on sanatize (hot water) with a double rinse. Then I store upside down inboxes or tubs until bottling time. I sulfite right before use, hang on a bottle tree and then bottle.


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## Waldo (Aug 8, 2007)

Something is just not quite right here coaster. *"When it comes time for a bottling party I do 20 bottles at a time."*

What size bottles are you using podner? Only 20 bottles for a bottling party I would guess they are of the gallon size?


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## WineNewbie (Aug 8, 2007)

Maybe I'm not doing enough here, but I've not had a problem yet. I simply rinse the bottles with hot water immediately after finishing a bottle and remove the label and shrink all at the same time (I would rather remove the labels one at a time than do 30 all at once).


As long as the bottle is visually clean from the hot water rinsing, I put it back in a wine box upside down until the next use.


Before Bottling I just soak for a couple minutes in K-Meta and drain on bottle tree.


I never actually use a cleaner like B-Brite or One Step. Should I?


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## masta (Aug 8, 2007)

I also only use hot water to clean bottles with my faucet mounted bottle blaster unless they still have visible dirt or debris then I use C-Brite to clean.


I do the same...rinse with hot water after emptying then drain and store. Rinse with hot water and inspect then sanitize with Na-meta and drain before filling.


If you follow the rule "Visually clean and sanitize" you should never have an issue.


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## BrianD (Aug 8, 2007)

I am so tempted to follow the "rinse with hot water immediately after use" and the just k-meta those when bottling time arrives. 

What I may end up doing just for my own peace of mind, is going ahead and getting a bottle brush and keeping a small container of OxyClean handy in a cabinet near the sink. Then I can just put a pinch of the OxyClean in with the warm water in the bottle, run the bottle brush through, and then rinse thoroughly and drain. When the bottle is dry, I'll cover top with a small square of aluminum foil just to keep the dust and mites out. My bottle storage is in my dusty garage and they may spend several months out there before re-use.

Anything I can do to make the labor at bottling easier, the better. My 2 gallons of Oregon Fruit Puree peach wine has been ready for bottling for several weeks but I haven't been. Arrrggghhh.

Thanks, all.

Brian


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## Coaster (Aug 9, 2007)

Waldo said:


> Something is just not quite right here coaster. *"When it comes time for a bottling party I do 20 bottles at a time."*
> 
> What size bottles are you using podner? Only 20 bottles for a bottling party I would guess they are of the gallon size?







I should have said I do 20 at a time every nite for 2 or 3 weeks right before my bottling party.


I have the big filter and I can get several batches thru one set of filters (I actually got 54 gallons on the last set, pressure started at 5psi and ended at 18psi). I also have an auto filler so once I am set up to go, doing just 30 seems like such a chore (especially the clean up of the filter and filler.


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## Waldo (Aug 10, 2007)

Now thats bottles for a bottling party !!!!!


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## dfwwino (Aug 23, 2007)

I rinse my bottles with water immediately after use. I soak them three at a time in the sink to remove labels. I then store them until bottling. At bottling, I submerge 30 bottles in my ten gallon fermenter with hot water and a chlorine based cleanser and let them soak a few hours. I then rinse them thoroughly with a bottle blaster, then use a bottle rinser to inject sulfites into the bottle immediately before filling.


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## PolishWineP (Aug 24, 2007)

We rinse them when right away when emptied and then let them collect on the counter in a most unceremonious manner.




When one of us can no longer stand it, I soak them in B-Brite, run a brush through them, rinse with cool water, inspect, drain and box until needed. 
When we're going to bottle, we rinse them again, sanitize, inspect, drain, bottle. There are some bottles that just won't come clean. If the sanitizer in the bottle drains in a odd manner, I pitch the bottle to the recyce bin. It's just not worth the chance of something bad.


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## OldWino1 (Aug 26, 2007)

i wash after emptiing and delableing. let dry.before i bottle i wash again with dawn and a brush . Then use jet flush with pure hot water. The have a stacking party in he drain borrard its fun gettin 30 bottles in there updide down to drain and dry. Takes 2 days for them to dry. You can always tell when I am getting ready to bottle upside down bottles in drain board is a dead giveaway. I have had no issues with bad wine years later. I also use high grade corks algamated 1.75's and I dont soak them put them in dry.
Just did riesling/.


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## Sub Vet (Oct 2, 2007)

I picked up 2 cases of empty bottles in the recycle bin at a local winery and soaked them in hot h20 to remove the labels.I used goo gone to remove the glue that adhered to the bottles.Then I rinsed them ,sanitized them with na meta and rinsed again.They have been drying on the bottle tree for a day,but some are still damp inside.I want to store these bottles until I'm ready to use them in about 4 weeks.If I store them with moister inside,will mold grow?Did I properly clean the bottles? *Edited by: Sub Vet *


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## grapeman (Oct 2, 2007)

Turn them right side up and they will dry. Cover with something (not platic- I put in a winebox and close it)to keep dust out and rinse again with meta just before bottling. Rinsing is not necessary after rinsing with meta before bottling.


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## Sub Vet (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi Appleman,Thanks for your reply.I followed your instructions on drying the bottles,however,nearly all of them still have moister clinging to the side.I'm afraid that mold will develope if I stored them away in my garage.Was my procedure ok in cleaning the recycled bottles?Shall I just leave the bottles open to the air until all are dried? Thanks


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## grapeman (Oct 3, 2007)

Unless you live in a swamp, they should dry ok soon. As long as you sulfite again before bottling they should be fine.


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## laneygirl (Oct 22, 2007)

I have used ammonia in water as a way to remove labels from beer bottles for homebrewing beer. I'll then load my cleaned bathtub with bleach water and let them soak to clean them. Sometimes it seems like the ammonia water leaves a residue, though and so especially for wine bottles think I'll start just rinsing them and also soaking in H20 for label removal.


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