Used Bottles

[suecasa]

Surprise … Surprise … I have a few friends that have decided to save their empties for me (i think they see a payoff coming )

anyway .. one of them just gave me a batch that she didnt rinse very well and i can smell musty or mold … I scrubbed them with a brush to get all the sediment our and have onestep soaking in them …

what's your thought? will that get any nastiness out or is it not worth the risk??

thanks! sue

 

[Rocky]

Sue, I would get a good bottle brush and use lots of hot water and OxyClean. I find that I can clean just about any bottle with this combination. If in doubt, pitch the bad bottles. There will be plenty. I have about 7 friends saving bottles for me and I currently have about 65 cases cleaned and stacked.

 

[roadwarriorsvt]

Rock,
How do you store your empties while you're collecting them? I've got some in boxes and they are starting to take up alot of space!

 

[Rocky]

Roadwarrior, I am guessing that you do not have basements in Hawaii, right? I carved out an area in my basement for wine bottle processing. Here are some pictures of the area: 1. the sorting area, 2. sorted bottles in cases, 3. another view of sorted bottles, 4. bottles waiting to be de-labeled, cleaned and sorted.

 

[suecasa]

i'm so jealous!

Sue, I would get a good bottle brush and use lots of hot water and OxyClean. I find that I can clean just about any bottle with this combination. If in doubt, pitch the bad bottles. There will be plenty. I have about 7 friends saving bottles for me and I currently have about 65 cases cleaned and stacked.

we dont have a basement on the lakeshore either … so i'm currently using my laundry room for wine production .. but i do have a woodshop where i could store bottles while they are patiently waiting!

i did use a brush and hotwater … letting them dry now and will give a good sniff … trying to think of a polite way to ask her to rinse first dont want to scare away a generous source!

this "casual" hobby is gonna get out of hand real quick ::

 

[roadwarriorsvt]

Dang Rock! If you've got enough wet stuff to fill all those bottles, you'll be ready for doomsday! Hahaha!

 

[Runningwolf]

Rocky, your basement looks like mine. I have about 65 cases of cleaned bottles and more then that to clean yet. All of my bottles are stored upside down. If someone gives me a bottle and it has mold in it because they didn't rinse well it gets tossed if it doesnt rinse right out. I also tell my friends I want labels removed and bottles upside down in the boxes when they return them. This keeps the fruit flies out of them.

 

[Wade E]

Yep, you can clean just about any nasty bottle especially with a bottle brush and some oxy or equivalent and yes youll need a lot of room to store emties. Best to store the bottles upside down so dust or spiders or bugs dont get in there.

 

[Rocky]

"Dang Rock! If you've got enough wet stuff to fill all those bottles, you'll be ready for doomsday! Hahaha!"

Just enough to work up the nerve to go to Confession.

Seriously, I have about 130 gallons in various stages right now. New year coming and another 250 gallons or less in 2013. I figure with the coming run away inflation, barter will be a good thing.

 

[Tom_S]

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of storage space in the house (no basement) but I do have a garage where my bottles end up. So when I empty one, I rinse it out well, let it dry, then stick the cork in part way to keep dust, mold, and insects out when they're waiting in the garage to be refilled. An alternative is to put some clear packing tape over the mouth of each bottle.

I've got numerous cases of bottles out there waiting to be washed & delabeled, and I think quite a few of them have spots of mold growing in the bottom since they apparently were never rinsed out. However, I've found that it's not too hard to remove the mold with a bottle brush. I just have to make sure they're washed out well.

I have a couple of tall 1500 ml blue Riesling bottles that I intended to use, however my bottle brush isn't long enough to reach the bottom. So my wife came up with the idea to turn them into a couple of lamps. If/when I ever complete that project, I'll post pics on this board.

 

[robie]

I have a 3-car garage. the middle slot of the garage is completely filled with empty bottles. My wife hates it!

I double rinse each bottle before I put it away. If you don't, the stuff in the bottom can get hard as a rock. Some of the bottle have sort of corrugated bottoms, so it can be very difficult to get them clean with a brush. As was already said, soaking it in oxyclean is about the only thing that will get it clean. Oxyclean left too long in the bottle can leave a film. If anything is growing in the bottle, you can easily see it if you hold the bottle up the the light.

 

[wineforfun]

Wow, is this what I have to look forward too if I get hooked? I thought my 4 1gal. carboys and 20 empty bottles were alot. Obviously I haven't even scratched the surface.

 

[Tom_S]

Yep, that's just a drop in the bucket.

 

[Wade E]

Yeah, you can pretend your not already hooked but don't fool yourself!

 

[Morgan]

I found that soaking in a laundry sink with a PBW solution for a week removes any scum at the bottom and makes the label fall right off, minimal scrubbing required. I have a carboy nozzle on the faucet, so a quick jet of water up in bottle and it's clean, rinsed, and ready for sanitizing. Super easy.

 

[derunner]

I wish I had 65 cases! I am still accumulating. Hopefully some of the more experienced comment if there is anything wrong on the tips I found and am using.

First anytime I get a bottle that is still wet, I do a triple rinse (just like chemistry class) and put aside on the bottle tree for later cleaning.

I soak in oxyclean, then I took a bottle brush and cut off the loop on the end so I can attach it to my drill and spin it as I go up/down inside the bottle. I make sure I work my way around the punted bottoms. I do another quadriple rinse to get rid of all oxyclean.

then I rinse in star-san and dry on my bottle tree which has been sprayed with star-san.

Then I line the bottom of an empty case with several layers of paper towels. I then put the bottles in upside down in case there is any drips still in the bottle.

When I am ready to use, I rinse, then spray inside with a k-meta santizing solution and let drip on the bottling tree before use.

 

[Rocky]

Sounds like a good process, Derunner. I did a similar thing with my bottle brush so I could use my drill.