Prepping Bottles

[Vinman]

The bottles i plan on using to bottle my first batch are all used. They've been washed out with hot water, but have never been washed with soap of any kind.

My gameplan is to "sanitize" them in the dishwasher (without using soap). Then I'll sanitize the bottles just before bottling.

Am I covered, or should I do something else?

 

[rawlus]

a faucet mounted blast jet bottle washer is really handy, if you dont have that then i would either soak them in a bucket, sink or tub with one step, b-brite, pbw or oxy-clean free... (some of these require rinsing, some dont, so follow package directions)
then, sanitize with k-meta or isophor or whatever your sanitizer of choice. i use k-meta on a bottle tgree-mounted ferrari spritzer.

the merits of dishwasher are unclear as most will not be terribly effective in shooting spray up into the inverted neck to completely wash and clear the inside of the bottle with guaranteed reliability.

if you dont have a spritzer, a t-style cork works, out a little k-meta in the bottle and give it a shake so that all interior surfaces are coated, then dump back into pouring container and drain bottle drip dry. you can use the k-meta over again for each bottle if it is at sanitizing strength.

what i do with used bottles is immediately rinse well after use or when i first get them so there is no visual deposits. i save them up until i get a halfdozen or so, then i fill a bucket with a cup of oxy-clean and water and soak the bottles overnight, my morning the labels have either come off on their own or easily slide off with a little prodding from a plastic pot scraper or stainless steel pot scrubber. by now i have also removed the foils. each bottle gets a thorough rinse inside and out and then goes into a cardboard case upside-down for storage. day of bottling i'll soak the bottles in cleaner, then blast with fresh water with the faucet-mounted blaster, then sanitize on the ferrari spritzer and drip-dry on the drying rack. you could certainly do most of these steps a day or two ahead of time and just sanitize at the last minute if you wanted too.

 

[Luc]

Indeed a dishwasher will not be able to wash inside the bottles.

Submerge them in a hotwater with soda ash (household or kitchen soda) and use a bottle brush to clean the inside.
Next rinse them with a sulphite solution.

Luc

 

[Heckle]

If you have anything "stuck" on the inside, you can soak them or use a bottle brush. If they are rinsed (no junk) on the inside, I would suggest using a vinator. I rinse bottles once they are empty then put them on a bottle tree. I use a vinator with cleanign solution and then with sanatizer.

 

[Wade E]

Forget about the dishwasher! Get a bottle brush and some Bor C Brite or something like that and then when they are CLEAN, and only then do you SANITIZE them with k-meta.

 

[Vinman]

One Step

I do have one step, which is what i've just started doing my sanitizing with. Should i soak the bottles (as suggested above) in One Step and will that serve as cleaning and sanitizing the bottles?

 

[fuzzmeister]

would it be ok to soak the bottles in water with dawn dishwashing detergent and use a brush to scrub the inside?

 

[koda_ky]

That's the way I clean my used bottles Dawn, hot water, and a bottle brush. I rinse very well and use k-meta when I am ready to use them.

 

[rawlus]

I do have one step, which is what i've just started doing my sanitizing with. Should i soak the bottles (as suggested above) in One Step and will that serve as cleaning and sanitizing the bottles?

as long as there are no deposits in the bottles, one step should do a decent job of cleaning. some also use it as a santizer, but i would still prefer k-meta spritz (with a vinator or just by shaking it around in a bottle and draining) over using the one-step alone. ive used one-step alone on equipment before, but not for bottles...

would it be ok to soak the bottles in water with dawn dishwashing detergent and use a brush to scrub the inside?

dawn will work but rinsing is very important with detergent as the slightest residual of soap will spoil the bottle of wine.... i dont know if dawn is as good on some cleaning jobs though as PBW... PBW is pretty cheap in bulk and is a good oxygen cleaner used by many wineries and breweries for their stainless and glass equipment.

 

[BobF]

That's the way I clean my used bottles Dawn, hot water, and a bottle brush. I rinse very well and use k-meta when I am ready to use them.

Ditto here. I like Dawn a lot. It cleans VERY well and rinses easily.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

Ditto here. I like Dawn a lot. It cleans VERY well and rinses easily.

it's funny as we use dawn too. it does work well.

this is the easiest way for us:

step 1: take out top rack of diswasher, place bottles up side down and put in soap. wash. this helps loosen up labes and cleans the outside. all bottles that are new or already clean go to step 2.

step 2: visually inspect bottle for funk. clean funk out with brush and dawn. and rinse out.

step 3: put in a cup or so of k meta solution in bottle, shake well or use sprayer setup. place on "tree." the wine bottle tree we have came with a container and sprayer you push the bottle on that rinses them. we only use it for the k meta step.

the bottles should be clean and sanitized. never had any troubles with just 1 bottle. any issues were from yeast, not enough degassing or something else that got into a batch.