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Obviously a daily wash with washing up liquid and water is a good start... But with all the use a water bottle gets and the mouthpiece being exposed to the elements whilst cycling through who knows what - are there any other steps you take to ensure your water bottles are clean and hygienic?
And a bonus question - do you use the same bottle forever, or do you replace them after a certain period?
A teaspoon of baking soda and warm water, is your best bet. No nasty after taste at all.
Cheap and very effective.
I wash mine in a dishwasher. Mostly because that requires the least effort.
I've had to replace bottles occasionally, I find that eventually the nozzle on the cap starts to leak.
Water bottles?? Clean and hygienic?? If you can scrape off the crust of road mud on the spout they're clean enough.
(Actually, I just rinse mine out in very hot tap water, though for a brand new one I'll use a few drops of dish soap to help get rid of the manufacturing oils and the plastic taste. Sometimes for new bottles I'll fill them with hot water and just let sit a few hours, then empty, to get rid of the taste.)
The bottles generally fail in the cap seal or nozzle eventually, at which time I discard them.
[Seriously, I rarely clean water bottles. If one has set over winter half-full of water I'll put a little effort into cleaning out the resulting scum, otherwise I just rinse with hot water occasionally (and never on a week-long bike ride -- just fill and go).]
When I'm on a cycling holiday I take a tube of cleaning tablets for false teeth with me. Insert a tablet, fill the bottle with water, let it soak overnight, rinse, done.
I was just reading an article about bottle cleaning and although hot water is very good at preventing microbes from thriving, freezing your empty bottles is also effective. Home appliance freezers freeze them slowly which kills microbes as compared to lab microbe freezing which is done very fast just hibernates them.
The other positive side of freezing your bottles is also that they're very cold so they don't warm your cold drinks up for that fraction of degree when filled.
Bacteria need nutrients to grow, and plain water doesn't have any. So all that's needed is a rinse with clean water and air drying. There's really no reason for all this sterilization stuff. It accomplishes virtually nothing other than making you feel tidy.
However, if you add stuff to the bottle that contains nutrients, such as sports drinks, then the bottle needs some soap and hot water after each use. Nothing extravagant, just the same level of cleaning you would do for dishes or glassware.
If you don't have a dishwasher, soak them in a water/bleach solution for a few minutes.
I'm pretty much in the camp with Dan Hicks. First, I only put water in 'em. Second, when I'm done riding, I pop the top and let 'em air dry.
I can't recall ever having "cleaned" a water bottle, other than during my mountain-biking days when sand, mud, crud, and assorted dead spiders would encrust same.
I solved that by going to a hydration pack.
For cleaning my bottles in the worst case scenario, mud/dirt/grit on the outside, drink mix on the inside and then left for days my car to get funky after a ride.
It's easier to keep your bottle clean if you only use water and never any additives / sports drinks. It's more work to keep bottles clean if you use sports drinks / electrolyte mixes / nutrition drinks while on the bike. That's not always practical. Though, You'll have the best results either way if you clean bottles immediately after riding.
I treat bottles as a consumable, like your chain. Use them until they become difficult to keep clean, retain any noticeable smells, or become too damaged/worn from use. I typically keep bottles for about two years, but YMMV.
Hygiene standards can be a very personal point of view. Whatever it takes to enjoy staying hydrated is important to recognize here. For example, the most interesting advice I saw posted for a century ride recently was to place cucumber slices inside your water bottle to counteract the bottle taste. I keep my metal and plastic water bottles clean just as I would with other hand-wash dishes, no extra effort.
Having lived in southern California and toted water bottled thru the desert on extended camping trips, and drank the "salad water" out of metal canteens and plastic jugs in 100F weather...I learned not to worry so much about it.
(I always let my new water bottles soak in a baking soda solution to get the plastic taste out.)
My bottle insert says "do not expose to bleach or other cleaning chemicals."
It also says "cold only do not use hot water.cold liquids only.no chlorine, cooking, microwave, or FREEZING" so please do not freeze plastic water bottles.
It also says "do not soak or submerge"
This is just a 1 piece plastic bottle and one piece cap simple bottle from the manufacturer h2go impact.
If a bottle gets to the point where it smells or tastes unpleasant, the steriliser/cleaner sold for home brewing works really well. IT's meant for use on a wide range of plastics. Mix with warm water, soak for a few minutes with a bit of shaking, then squirt out through the mouthpiece. Rinse well with fresh water. It works well on hydration bladders (though the instructions for the bladder may say not to; they'd like you to throw it away and buy a new one).
If you have concerns about dirt on mouthpiece, you can get something like this. The cap flips open and you can easily use your teeth to open.
I use something similar to this (not exact) and this is just an image from google to show the idea.
Most effective for plastic/glass bottles is to leave by a UV lamp for 10-15 min! or if you can get the the UV bulb inside the bottle 1 min is more than enough :)
It would seem that some of us here (with regard to water bottles) are troglodytes while others are more like Monk (as in the tv series). If water is the only fluid used in the bottle, there isn't much need of frequent bottle washes. I wash mine once every 2 months,, or 3 months,,, or, maybe it's 4. When washing, just add a couple of drops of detergent, shake, swish with a bottle brush, rinse thoroughly, refill & go. When not in use, it is better for bottle to remain filled with water than partially filled. Worst thing is to leave bottle in a warm environment while containing very little water ... this quickly leads to mold growth. If something other than water is used for hydration, once back home, if you can't wash bottles right away, empty the bottle(s) & rinse until they can be washed. (to those suggesting the use of a dishwasher, well, in my case, I AM the dishwasher)
