Cleaning bottles after using.

[Donnyd03]

Can the bottles be cleaned in the dishwasher and then Reused or there a better method? 

[Popo the Reprobate]

Hey @Donnyd03,

The dishwasher is probably not the best method.

I give them a good rinse and shake straight away with warm water. Then I put a small amount of unscented napisan or sodium percarbonate into the bottle, fill it up and let it soak for a while.

Rinse well again, sanitise with star San (or similar), leave to dry and they are ready to go again. You can save the sanitising until just before re-use if you like. 

Some people forgo parts of that process but I have found it works well for me. At the very least I'd give them a good rinse and sanitise.

[Marty_G]

If they are glass sure you can but no need. 

 

I had zero problems with bottles over the years and I followed the same regime for 1000's and 1,000s of glass bottles that I aquired.

When I 1st got them I soaked in a fermenter with a strong Sodium perc (Oxy action nappy san or generic)  then using a bottle brush attached to an electric drill gave them a scrub. Rinsed off in water and dried and drained in the sun so I know they are clean and sterile.

Once used just 1/4 fill with water and  shake vigoraously to remove all sediment and eye ball them to make sure they are clean. Then rinse and dry on bottle tree. When dry store them up side down and they are ready to roll next time.  If it has been a while between use just rinse. 

The point is once they are clean and sterile they will stay that way as long as you have good practice after use. Dont leave them sitting around unwashed for a couple of days after use they is a no no. Just rinse out when empty and dry them. No need to put in dishwasher but you can.     

[James Lao]

PET in the dishwasher will probably distort due to the hot water.

Left a couple of bottles at my brothers once and he put them in his dishwasher and they came   out all distorted and shriveled.

As soon as it has been poured I rinse it out with cold tap water, then fill to the brim and leave overnight. (Don’t think hot water is good for the plastic)

When I have got about 20 or so to do, I fill an esky with luke warm water and a cap of sodium percarbonate.

Soak the bottles overnight, rinse out and hang on the bottle tree to dry.

Give them a good spray with Starsan just before bottling.

Its a bit of a pain but I haven’t had an infection since I started in 2015.

But have got kegs now so only bottle 4 PETs on packaging day.

Cheers

James

[Journeyman]

Dishwasher likely wouldn't do much - that jet has to go through a small opening and reach, at pressure, all the insides of the bottle. And as above, PET would shrivel.

 

[Marty_G]

Yep can use Starsan but I don't/never have used it  and still to this day no infections.  Once sterile and if you have good cleanliness after use there will be no medium for the bacteria to use as a nutrient and cause an issue.  The thing is you must get them sterile 1st.  But 100% use Starsan if you want as the last treatment.  

[Malter White]

@Donnyd03 Please don't put plastic bottles in the dishwasher. The hot water will weaken them.
Any cleaning process is a drag but being inherently lazy I've got a routine which hasn't let me down yet. I'm not trying to poo-hoo anyone else's advice, this is just what I do. There's some labour involved but I think it's minimal.
1. Rinse your bottles out as soon as possible after drinking contents, so as to remove any visible sediment, and store upside down if possible to reduce any contaminants getting in.
2. A few days before bottling a brew I will submerse my bottles in a fermenter, or bathtub depending how many bottles I'm doing, in hot (not boiling) water and a sodium percarbonate laundry soaker i.e. a Napisan like product. I use Coles or Aldi brand because of price. I believe you can buy sodium perc rather cheaply too but you won't find it a the local supermarket. I leave them to soak at least overnight.
3. Next day, shake them while they have soaker in them and then rinse out.
4. I dry them by placing them upside down on some wire baskets I have at home (see photo).  You could use an expensive bottle tree I guess, however, with the baskets there is nothing going inside the bottle that could possibly contaminate your beer. I dry them on the front lawn in the sun (when it's available). The sun is pretty good at drying and eliminating bacteria.
I don't use sanitiser in my bottle washing routine. A clever contributor on this forum (who's name escapes me) suggested it wasn't necessary because bacteria needs a host to cling to. If your bottles are clean there's no host.