Joe asked: How do I clean glass bottles with stains and oil? We keep vegetable oil, teriyaki sauce and cooking oil in these little, glass bottles with spigot tops next to our stove for ease and convenience while cooking. Now, they are stained and getting sluggish inside. We are finding it very hard to clean. Do you have any suggestions?
Table of Contents:
Oil and condiment bottles are often decorative and designed for beauty, but for all practical purposes they can be impossible to clean. Fortunately, the solution is surprisingly simple. If your condiment bottles have narrow necks and are full of gunk, here’s a process that will have them looking like new in no time!
You Will Need:
- Dawn dish detergent
- Hot water
- Uncooked rice
Steps to Clean the Bottles:
- Rinse the bottles as clean as possible before you begin.
- Fill the bottle about one-quarter full of uncooked rice.
- Add enough Dawn to fill the bottle to the halfway point.
- Fill half of the remaining distance to the top with hot water, the closer to boiling the better (but not boiling).
- Replace the lid or hold a finger (or towel) over the top of the bottle.
- Shake vigorously for several minutes (or as long as you can). The Dawn will cut the grease while the uncooked rice scours the sides.
- Allow to sit until the water cools, then dump it out.
- Repeat the process as often as necessary. Don’t over fill with rice or liquid, as you need it to move around easily to get the scrubbing action that will clean the bottle.
Additional Tips and Advice
- If the rice doesn’t seem to be working, you may have overfilled the bottle. Experiment with slightly less rice and liquid for a greater “shake”.
- Stubborn gunk can be broken loose with “pipe cleaners” or chenille stems. They will fit into the narrowest of openings. Another option is to look for a “straw brush” that is often found near bottles or spill proof cups in a store’s infant/toddler aisle.
- Consider soaking in a solution of half lemon juice and half hot water overnight for as much as a week. Replace the solution each day with fresh hot water; eventually the acid of the lemon juice should begin to work against the stain.
- If all else fails, it may be time to replace the bottle with a fresh one.