Cleaning wine bottles

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

kuziwk

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2017
Messages
484
Reaction score
104
Hi guys i did my first batch and took all the old bottles which were not rinsed and soaked them in the pink chlorine powder overnight than rinsed them well to get rid of the chlorine smell. I than sanitized them prior to bottling. Im wondering if i could skip the cholrine soak if i rinsed the bottles after use ans just go straight to sanitize. I should mention even after a quick shake and rinse the bottles they still have a faint smell of wine. The first batch of bottles was from family and friends which is why they were not rinsed. Should i just play it safe and soak the rinsed bottles in chlorine for 1/2 an hour as i probably dont imagine they need to soak overnight since they were rinsed directly after the wine was consumed.
 
Stay away from chlorine. Rinse thoroughly until there is no visible (or 'smellable') sign of wine. Let them dry and simply sanitize before using again.

With my bottles, I rinse when they are emptied - filling the bottle halfway 2, maybe three times is more than enough. Then I store them up side down.
 
I just rinse 2 or 3 times with warm water after use and sanitize before use. If i receive used bottle for friends or family, I'll clean with a bottle brush and some soapy water before sanitizing. Chlorine is overkill and might react negatively as others have mentioned.
 
You’re correct, the extra racking / settling will help you avoid the problem in the future. As for your question about your current bottles, synthetic corked wines don’t need to be “stored wet” like natural, so you should be just fine storing upright to facilitate your decanting.

I don't think we have enough information to answer your question, that is, we don't know exactly what properties "semisynthetic corks" have. Can you perhaps post a link to the actual corks you bought?

I just rinse 2 or 3 times with warm water after use and sanitize before use. If i receive used bottle for friends or family, I'll clean with a bottle brush and some soapy water before sanitizing. Chlorine is overkill and might react negatively as others have mentioned.

I thought dish soap was bad as it leaves a residue?
 
Stay away from chlorine. Rinse thoroughly until there is no visible (or 'smellable') sign of wine. Let them dry and simply sanitize before using again.

With my bottles, I rinse when they are emptied - filling the bottle halfway 2, maybe three times is more than enough. Then I store them up side down.

Sorry i guess i should have given more details....im not sure if its chlorine but it certainly smells like it. I beleive its this stuff

https://www.noblegrape.ca/products/pink-clorinated-cleaner-1
 
I thought dish soap was bad as it leaves a residue?
Dish soap is not the best thing to use. I us Oxyclean free, it is a percarbanate cleaner, there are several of them on the market. Then rinse and finally, hit it with some sanitizing solution.
Sorry i guess i should have given more details....im not sure if its chlorine but it certainly smells like it. I beleive its this stuff

https://www.noblegrape.ca/products/pink-clorinated-cleaner-1
I wouldn't use anything with the word chlorine in the name, if might be fine, but Tca would be a really bad thing.
 
That product has available Chlorine and Bromine, I agree with the others, it's not a good idea to have that in the wine making area.
 
Hum, I rinse just like you guys right after finishing a bottle but wash with B-Brite, dry and sanitize just before reuse. Eliminating what appears to be a needles wash and dry, then going to sanitize and bottling, would save me a chore (which is about an hours work) that I don't particularly enjoy. Would also be saving on the B-Brite.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top