# Newbie Cleaning Questions



## YoloBottles (Mar 30, 2021)

Hello everyone,

I just have some basic questions about bottle cleaning.

I recently bought some Coca cola contour bottles and they all had dirt. I still have to clean half of them.

I cleaned the inside by putting a cotton cloth on a gun cleaning rod. Then I rinsed it out a few times  in the sink and carefully rubbed off the dirt on the inside; so as not to scratch the glass.

Now I know that tap water is bad for bottles; but is using bottled spring water ok? 

Would it be ok to use tap water and then rinse it out a few times with spring/safe water? Also I will probably go back and clean out the ones I washed in tap water the other day. I actually still have to wash the bottles I bought earlier today.

Any replies/answers are appreciated. Thanks


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## Mjbottle (Mar 30, 2021)

I wouldnt worry about using tap water, dont waste your money buying bottled water to wash your bottles. My best tip for cleaning would be if you can get your hands on some copper wire and cut it into little chips and use it to shake inside the bottle with water that works realy well, on the outside i like to use s.o.s. pads.


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## YoloBottles (Mar 30, 2021)

Mjbottle said:


> I wouldnt worry about using tap water, dont waste your money buying bottled water to wash your bottles. My best tip for cleaning would be if you can get your hands on some copper wire and cut it into little chips and use it to shake inside the bottle with water that works realy well, on the outside i like to use s.o.s. pads.


Thank you, I will be sure to look for some next time I am at the grocery store. Going to wash some now and finish the rest tommorow.


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## TxBottleDigger (Apr 10, 2021)

I DISAGREE WITH BOTH OF MJBOTTLE’S STATEMENTS!!! Tap water will contain minerals even when filtered with a water softener. This is called hard water !!!




*THIS IS THE RESULT OF MINERAL CONTAINING WATER ON GLASS.*
*USE DISTILLED WATER *
*ON
BOTTLES*
Distilled water is the professional choice to preserve bottles.​You may be tempted to clean them with normal water but you need to understand that preserving history is important and that using mineral containing water can scratch and *WILL* stain it. It will be hard to remove these stains with bottles that are tall/wide and have a skinny top opening/neck.

*To Prove That “Softened” Water Doesn’t Do The Job*​For this post and my personal knowledge I did a test. This is just at the right time because I am at my other house which I don’t live in, which has 2 filters. One under the sink and a water softener in the garage. I preformed 2 tests for both sources. I got a windowpane, got 2 cotton buds (2 for each test), and spread water on the bordered area. I put it outside and let it dry. Each time I cleaned the bordered area off I would use the next water source to do it and would dry it. These are the results:

*Water faucet*














*Filtered spout 









*




​Stains showed up on both tests... Mjbottle’s boloney statement *DEBUNKED! *

*S.O.S. Pads (scouring pad) *​I have done my research in the past about scouring pads and their affect on glass. It doesn’t require a test to get a straight forward answer. Scouring pads *WILL *scratch glass. If you don’t believe me and my research then do a couple minutes of research and you will see.



*BOOM!!!*
Another boloney theory stated by Mjbottle
*D E B U N K E D ! *

*Conclusion *​
Use *ONLY* distilled water (which can be found at your local Walmart)​
Use water when cleaning
Use *SOFT *bristled brushes. Suggestion: toothbrush’s.​
Suggestion: Fill the bottle to a quarter full of salt, squirt a little dish soap (I use dawn), add a *VERY *small amount of water and SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE! This gets out most or all dirt you can’t get out via a brush or water. Copper is mainly used with a tumbler and to get the glass down to the next layer.​
Hope I helped you. Don’t listen to Mjbottle’s theories. And I mean no harsh feelings toward you Mjbottle’s. If you are generally new to the hobby then I can understand why you’re misguided. Maybe this will even help you too!


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## hemihampton (Apr 10, 2021)

Maybe the Culligan man can help?


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## TxBottleDigger (Apr 10, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Maybe the Culligan man can help?


Culligan water softeners ? I honestly don’t trust even a water softener after these tests of which I have conducted. Water softeners *REDUCE *not eliminate.


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## YoloBottles (Apr 10, 2021)

TxBottleDigger said:


> Hope I helped you. Don’t listen to Mjbottle’s theories. And I mean no harsh feelings toward you Mjbottle’s. If you are generally new to the hobby then I can understand why you’re misguided. Maybe this will even help you too!



Thank you for your long and helpful advice. I initially used tap water to clean these out a little over a week ago. I can go back and clean out with distilled water, which shouldn't be too hard. I have been using a plastic gun barrel rod with a paper towel attached as a "brush. Seems to clean off dirt very well without leaving any kind of abrasions.

Just one question, do you think spring water should work ok? That's all I have at the moment.

Thank you again for your help!


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## TxBottleDigger (Apr 10, 2021)

YoloBottles said:


> Thank you for your long and helpful advice. I initially used tap water to clean these out a little over a week ago. I can go back and clean out with distilled water, which shouldn't be too hard. I have been using a plastic gun barrel rod with a paper towel attached as a "brush. Seems to clean off dirt very well without leaving any kind of abrasions.
> 
> Just one question, do you think spring water should work ok? That's all I have at the moment.
> 
> Thank you again for your help!


I wish I could say yes :/ But no, spring water isn’t a good choice. Only distilled. I once thought not long ago that spring water was quite free of minerals but it indeed does have quite a bit of minerals. Just hold off on it.


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