Bathing your Bottle

By: Levi Opsatnic

With the cold weather State College has been experiencing, surely I can’t be the only one out there drinking more and more hot beverages. Sadly, for me, gone are the days of iced coffees and frozen slushies. But with the change in temperature, comes a new and delicious assortment of drinks ranging from hot coffee and tea all the way down to some warm cider. This is all great for me as I’m a real fan of this fall adjustment; however, it’s an entirely different story for my trustworthy Hydro Flask that gets a dozen or so different liquids carelessly thrown into it every week.

Last year, Jacob wrote a really solid review of his Hydro Flask, so if you’re curious of how these things tick, give it a read. However, one thing to note about Hydro Flasks is that they are constructed from stainless steel, so you don’t really need to worry about lingering flavors whenever you’re switching between drinks. Odor, on the other hand, can be an issue. There really isn’t anything worse than smelling last week’s coffee right before you take a sip of this afternoon’s tea. This brings me to the point of this post, which is how to properly clean your water bottle and prevent it from getting funky.

I’ll begin with a short list of everything that I use and then dive into the steps that I take to get my water bottle squeaky clean.

Materials:
-Distilled white vinegar

-A dish soap (I’m a fan of Dawn)

-Hot water

1. Begin by rinsing your bottle out with some warm water, especially if you’ve left something like a cup of coffee in it for a day or so.

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2.  After you’ve rinsed out any remaining contents, fill up about half of your bottle with distilled white vinegar, seal it up, and then shake it aggressively for a minute or two.

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3.  Rinse out the vinegar with warm water.  Now fill up your bottle about halfway with hot water and add a bit of dish detergent. Shake your bottle just like you did with the vinegar and rinse until there are no more suds or soapy smell.

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4. At this point, your bottle should be pretty clean; though, I like to take a napkin and run it around its edge to make sure that nothing is caught in the threads.

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After all of this, you shouldn’t have any foul odor left in your bottle, and you should notice that everything’s a bit fresher. I’d encourage all of you serious water bottle enthusiasts to give your bottle a rinse after you use it as this makes cleaning it easier and allows you to go a bit longer in between washes. Also, whenever you aren’t using your bottle, leave the lid off. This allows constant airflow and prevents your bottle from getting stagnant.

Hopefully,this helped you all give your bottle a proper bath. I know that I bring mine everywhere, and I can always count on this method to keep it smelling nice and fresh.

 

One comment
  1. Pingback: /Explore | Product Review: Klean Kanteen’s Classic 27oz Bottle

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