Reusing bottles

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I rinse them 3 or 4 times in hot water then sanitize before filling never had any problems. i'm sure there are people that are more particular.
 
I rinse them 3 or 4 times in hot water then sanitize before filling never had any problems. i'm sure there are people that are more particular.


I was doing that until I found some reds leave a film on the inside of the bottle that can’t see unless you’re really looking and when you put a white in the bottle next imeit really shows.
 
I was doing that until I found some reds leave a film on the inside of the bottle that can’t see unless you’re really looking and when you put a white in the bottle next imeit really shows.

That film is relatively rare and I think is a tannin precipitate. That film can be washed out in seconds with Oxyclean free or PBW.

My routine is to rinse 3 times and put away. Then sanitize just before use.

But I am close to done re-using bottles. It's a pain and at under $10 a case, I'm starting to think it isn't worth it.
 
I was doing that until I found some reds leave a film on the inside of the bottle that can’t see unless you’re really looking and when you put a white in the bottle next imeit really shows.
I have been doing this for quite a while now and never noticed any film on the inside before but then again the bottles are dark and not too noticeable I have always bottled whites in a clear bottle and my reds in dark green or dark brown bottles but I will take a closer look on my next rinse and dump.
 
I’ve be
That film is relatively rare and I think is a tannin precipitate. That film can be washed out in seconds with Oxyclean free or PBW.

My routine is to rinse 3 times and put away. Then sanitize just before use.

But I am close to done re-using bottles. It's a pain and at under $10 a case, I'm starting to think it isn't worth it.
I’ve Been getting mine at 2.50 a case.
 
A local vineyard shut down and i bought all the new bottles they had left for 45 cents per bottle.
There is a winery a couple towns away that sells their used bottle for 2.00 per case, but i'm tired of scraping labels.
 
That's a weirdly good price. About the best I can manage is $8 per case. So I still save bottles but I'm pretty sick of it. And with 30 cases to bottle this summer, I definitely have to buy a few to get it done. $2.50/case would be awesome.
Plus I got a friend who drinks Trader Joe’s junk and saves me all his empty’s. At no cost.
 
I’ve collected enough bottles over the last few years that scraping labels off of commercial wines doesn’t have any appeal.... there’s about 30 cases of bottles in storage. Cleaning bottles is limited to my own wine, with labels that practically fall off.

So, processing them isn’t as much of a hassle anymore. I soak in hot water and oxi-green for an hour or two, use a bottle brush to get the inside clear, rinse and store. Then, sanitize before use.

If I need more, I’m just going to buy new... which reminds me... I think Fred has 5 cases of (new) burgundy bottles for me.
 
I’m in pretty much the same boat, the only bottles I consider reusing are my own. Wines we consume will result in quickly washed and delabeled bottles, the labels peel right off and leave no residue. Folks that bring me bottles back rinsed are the only ones who get more wine, those bottles are easily cleaned and delabeled as well. When it’s bottling time, I typically have enough on hand, or buy a small quantity if needed.
 
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