Bottle drying

[back2it]

I am finding it difficult to completely dry the insides of used bottles. I have placed them on top of a radiator, I have just sat them on top of the table, and I have put then in the drying room, most (not all) have a slight mist on the inside and I don’t want to store them with moisture inside.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[Rocky]

For used bottles, I first inspect them to see if there is any hard debris or mold on the inside. Those bottles are cleaned with hot water, detergent and a brush. If the debris is too difficult to remove, I discard the bottle. Then, I give them a good rinse with hot water and place them upside down in a wine case and let them drain. I don't do anything further to the bottle until bottling time when I again rinse them with hot water, spritz them with K-Meta in my Vinator and place them on a drying tree until filled. There may be a little water left in the bottle and a trace amount of K-Meta but I don't see that as a problem.

 

[back2it]

I do the whole inspection, washing, rinsing and sanitising when I’m going to fill them but its storage I’m thinking about. I hate finding mould in my bottles even though I know I can probably clean it.

It’s a good suggestion about k-meta when storing. I’ll try that.

Thanks

 

[Ohio Bob]

Like Rocky, I use a jet blast of hot water until the bottle is hot to the touch. I lay the bottle on its side, to allow the punt to shed off any drops. Then turn the bottle upside down. In 12 hours or less the bottle is 95% dry, maybe some mist by the neck. Turn the bottle right side up and let it dry for 12-24 hours. It’s usually bone dry by then.

You must have a high relative humidity in your house. Have you tried getting air flow into the bottle? Maybe find one of those cheap personal fans, put a funnel in front if it, put a piece of racking tubing on the funnel, stick the loose end into the bottle. Once you see if it works you can scale it up for drying multiple bottles.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Bottles are rinsed to remove organic matter. Labels frequently are removed by sloshing a little coffee or hot water inside. Visually clean bottles are stored mouth down in a case till needed.

Plastic cubes and wine bags, and vacuum traps in constant use have some alcohol sloshed inside.

 

[winemaker81]

I soak bottles in Oxyclean to remove any interior film and soften labels. Most get a bottle brush and are rinsed twice with hot water, then put on a bottle tree to dry. Most are dry within 6 hours, but I often leave them there several days, until I get around to putting them mouth-down in clean cases.

 

[Raptor99]

With my own bottles, I wash them out with a tiny bit of soap immediately after they are emptied, and then rinse them thoroughly. If you can avoid letting anything get dried on, they are very easy to clean. Then I put them upside down in a rack to dry before storage. I use one of these: https://www.amazon.ca/FastRack-Bottle-Drying-Rack-Fermentation/dp/B00JBDHSFW

Bottles are stored clean, and I sanitize them before bottling a new batch.

 

[back2it]

House moisture level is 54%. I’ve done all those things. Removing debris and residue from the bottle isn’t an issue, I wash in hot water, turn upside down, heat the bottle etc. but in the end I still have moisture left in there. Maybe it’s my personal mould phobia kicking in that makes it so important to me.

Well, if nothing else I am decisive and I have decided to drink a bottle (or two) of 2024 Chateaux de back2it 13% Guava and ponder the situation. Depending on how many bottles I consume, I may even stop thinking about it.

I could build me a small base with a fan and timer to purge the bottles. Oooo, even the thought of that guava is working

Thank you

 

[winemaker81]

House moisture level is 54%. I’ve done all those things. Removing debris and residue from the bottle isn’t an issue, I wash in hot water, turn upside down, heat the bottle etc. but in the end I still have moisture left in there. Maybe it’s my personal mould phobia kicking in that makes it so important to me.

How long are you letting the bottles dry? My drying rack is in my cellar (humidity around 50%), and while some bottles dry in hours, some take a few days. I typically clean bottles, then ignore them a few days until I get to them. Been doing this for decades -- the only problem bottles I've had were ones where I missed something in the cleaning. In the last 300+ bottles, I haven't had to reject any at bottling time.

 

[back2it]

I normally leave them until they clear, maybe a few days. It's strange as some bottles dry quickly (within 24hrs) and others right next to them can sit there for two or three days and still have moisture. Identical bottles.

To be clear, I have not rejected any bottles as I clean them all before use using a bottle brush on a drill, then rinse, then sanitise. They are all recoverable.

 

[winemaker81]

To be clear, I have not rejected any bottles as I clean them all before use using a bottle brush on a drill, then rinse, then sanitise. They are all recoverable.

When I reject a bottle at bottling time, it goes back into the cleaning queue. If I see something that shouldn't be on the glass, it goes to the end of the line ...

 

[back2it]

That makes sense. I only bottle ½ bottles and I have some trubs that hold 20 at a time. I make sure that all the bottles in a trub are cleaned and sanitised before I commence bottling. I only bottle a max of 60 bottles at a time but I understand you can do a lot more, so each system makes sense in its own environment.

It’s worth thinking about if I want to up the qtys.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

I have 2 dehumidifiers. One has a large surface area and I put the drying rack on top to dry out the bottles. Then store them in their boxes until reuse time. I thought that the dehumidifier might put dust inside the bottles. Even if so, it would be little, and I always rinse with K-meta and put in the drying racks before bottling. I do not use a tree. Lost a bunch of bottles when the DAMN CAT jumped up and rubbed against it!!! I use one of the flat white ones.

 

[wineview]

I soak bottles in Oxyclean to remove any interior film and soften labels. Most get a bottle brush and are rinsed twice with hot water, then put on a bottle tree to dry. Most are dry within 6 hours, but I often leave them there several days, until I get around to putting them mouth-down in clean cases.

I recently bought some green Oxyclean. Haven’t used it yet. Whenever I empty a bottle after a quick hot water rinse it goes in a bucket of PBW.

 

[Garagista]

I am finding it difficult to completely dry the insides of used bottles. I have placed them on top of a radiator, I have just sat them on top of the table, and I have put then in the drying room, most (not all) have a slight mist on the inside and I don’t want to store them with moisture inside.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

Indeed, it is a mystery. I have had bottles stay wet inside for days and other ones in the same batch get dry almost instantly. I have tried almost everything but have given up. Benign neglect has finally worked for me - after draining on a bottle rack, store them on their side, cover with paper towels then ignore them. Come back a week later.

 

[mikewatkins727]

Having experienced all your problems of drying bottles I scrounged around my junk box and found an old but workable aquarium air pump. Using a FastRack bottle rack I connect tubing from the air pump up into the inverted bottle mounted on the FastRack. Depending on atmospheric relative humidity the bottle will dry on the inside in a few hours or over-nite. My air pump has two ports so I can dry two bottles simultaneously.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Maybe ignorance is bliss, but this is a problem I have never considered (or worried about...)

When I finish drinking a bottle of wine I typically wash it 2x in tap water and leave to drain (neck end up) on my draining board for a day or two. Then I drain any residual water from the bottle and transfer (neck end down) to a regular wine box/case. These cases typically sit in my house until I've accumulated enough to take down to my storage space (where I keep bottles, press, destemmer etc). Immediately prior to re-filling, I rinse with KMBS/Kmeta in (tartaric) acidified water and leave to drain in an old wine rack. Transfer back to case, and I'm ready to bottle

 

[ChuckD]

I wash well and drain in the dish rack. Prior to use I rinse with One Step, drain on the bottle tree for a day, then put them upright in a milk crate for a few days with a paper towel cover. They are typically dry when I fill them but I don’t stress about a little moisture if I see it.

 

[Garagista]

Having experienced all your problems of drying bottles I scrounged around my junk box and found an old but workable aquarium air pump. Using a FastRack bottle rack I connect tubing from the air pump up into the inverted bottle mounted on the FastRack. Depending on atmospheric relative humidity the bottle will dry on the inside in a few hours or over-nite. My air pump has two ports so I can dry two bottles simultaneously.

Awesome idea!

 

[Ohio Bob]

House moisture level is 54%. I’ve done all those things. Removing debris and residue from the bottle isn’t an issue, I wash in hot water, turn upside down, heat the bottle etc. but in the end I still have moisture left in there. Maybe it’s my personal mould phobia kicking in that makes it so important to me.

Others have mentioned that some bottles seem to dry quickly, while others in the same batch remain misty. I wonder if using some dishwasher rinse agent in a bucket, as a final rinse would help? I’m thinking that surface tension is a factor in why some bottles dry faster than others. I have a mechanical background and am throwing this out there so our chemistry background members can comment on this.