Reusable water bottles are great for a lot of reasons. Not only do they ensure you always have drinking water on hand, they help protect the environment from single-use plastic bottle waste. But we need to wash your water bottles daily to prevent bacteria build up.
Reusable bottles may only hold water, but bacteria breeds in damp, dark environments like the inside of the bottle. Germs will grow on your reusable water bottles after each and every use. Combined with the fact that mold and mildew thrive in moist, dark areas. Even those bottles composed of stainless steel, thick plastic, or aluminum still require daily cleaning.
So here’s how to do it:
- Always wash your reusable bottles with hot water and dish soap.
- Take your water bottle apart as much as you can. Unscrew the lid, pull out the straw, remove the rubber gasket, whatever looks like it can come off.
- Fill your water bottle with hot water and a bit of dish soap. Set the extra pieces (like the lid, straw, etc.) in a bowl of hot, soapy water to soak.
- Scrub the inside of the water bottle with a bottle brush until it looks and smells clean. Rinse it out.
- Use a straw brush or pipe cleaner to get inside the straw, spout, and any vent holes or smaller spots.
- Dip the bottle brush into soapy water and use it to scrub the other pieces and any nooks and crannies like the rim of the bottle.
- Rinse off all the pieces and dry them.
Do not reassemble your bottle until all the pieces are dry, or else the bottle could get mildewy all over again and your efforts will have been for nothing.
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