Cleaning stubbornly stained bottles???

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Chugmonkey, Mar 13, 2012.

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  1. Chugmonkey

    Chugmonkey Initiate (0) Jan 11, 2008 Wisconsin

    I got a pile of 22oz bombers. Recently noticed many have been neglected and have stains inside them from being half-assed rinsed out by my own drunken self.

    I just tried soaking a big batch of them in hot water & PBW in my utility sink and scrubbing with a bottle brush. While rinsing them out I noticed they are not getting clean, GRRRRRRRRRRRR. I'm really miffed on how useless this PBW is being on cleaning them. I'm scrubbing vigoroulsly with the brush too.

    I'm usually vigilant about rinsing them out, but apparently a few cases were from weekends that got a little too festive and that didn't happen. Besides the usual snide comments about" time to get a kegerator", anyone have any useful ideas how to salvage these?
     
    #1 Chugmonkey, Mar 13, 2012
  2. SeaSparrow

    SeaSparrow Initiate (0) Sep 4, 2010 Texas

    I use a diluted bleach solution. It breaks up mold very well and gets rid of most other stains. Let soak over night and then rinse the heck out of them and you're good to go.
     
    #2 SeaSparrow, Mar 13, 2012
  3. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I also use diluted bleach to clean/sanitize my beer bottles. This has always worked for me but I don’t know that I would classify any of my bottles as having severe stains.

    If the diluted bleach doesn’t work maybe you could then try soaking with an Oxiclean solution (but I would try the bleach solution first).

    Cheers!
     
    #3 JackHorzempa, Mar 13, 2012
  4. joshodonn

    joshodonn Initiate (0) Jan 21, 2011 Florida

    I soak my super-gunky bottles in Oxyclean to remove the gunk. If you have hard water you might then notice a white powder residue on the bottles, which can be removed with another soak in StarSan.
     
    #4 joshodonn, Mar 13, 2012
  5. BumpkinBrewer

    BumpkinBrewer Pundit (993) Jan 6, 2010 Massachusetts

    Oxyclean allways worked for me plus it will remove the labels as well
     
    #5 BumpkinBrewer, Mar 13, 2012
  6. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    If you don't need them right away just stick a few at a time in your dishwasher on the bottom rack then leave them there through several washes. It takes up a little room that could otherwise be used for dishes but seems to break loose stubborn stains after a few cycles.

    Honestly, I don't put much effort into bottles anymore. If they require much work, they get recycled.
     
    #6 leedorham, Mar 13, 2012
  7. Agold

    Agold Maven (1,287) Mar 13, 2010 Pennsylvania

    Its honestly probably not worth it. Though you could probably get them clean, the risk associated with a possible bad bottle outweighs my need for new bottles. If you have "a few cases" lying around I suspect you don't necessarily need all of them either. Recycle and be more careful going forward.
     
    #7 Agold, Mar 13, 2012
  8. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    I can clean mine all I want with the stuff above and it all works, but the most stubborn stain I had when I bottled was calcium. An overnight soak in a 50/50 water vinegar solution took care of that.
     
    #8 rocdoc1, Mar 14, 2012
  9. dfess1

    dfess1 Initiate (0) May 20, 2003 Pennsylvania

    PBW has always worked for me.
     
    #9 dfess1, Mar 14, 2012
  10. Prostman81

    Prostman81 Initiate (0) Sep 27, 2008 Illinois

    For reallyl stubborn gunk, I just pour straight (not diluted) bleach into them. I really haven't come across anything yet that straight bleach won't eat through. Of course these days I'm much more inclined to throw away the 'bad' bottles, and just use that as an excuse to go refill my bomber supply at the liquor store!
     
    #10 Prostman81, Mar 14, 2012
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