Water Bottles

[Kepis]

Got a couple of 1 Litre nato Flasks that have been tucked away in the cupboard for a couple of years, unfortunately they have been stored with the caps on, now when you open them they have the most awful plasticky smell, i have tried washing them out and have even filled them water and put some bicarb in them to try and get rid of the smell it's not as bad as it was, but when you take a drink from them you can taste the platic, any ideas on how to neutralise the smell/flavour.

They were stored dry by the way

 

[leon-1]

Unfortunately I think you are going to be stuck with it, but if you add a couple of drops of citrus to the water it should mask the flavour a bit

 

[Kepis]

Thanks Leon-1, i'll certainly give that a try, was wondering if iodine or the steralising tablets might work?

 

[arctic hobo]

They will certainly give it a new taste! Even if not a particulary nice one
Try using very hot water, boiling if you think the plastic will stand it ok. Also put some sand in it and shake it about.

 

[Kepis]

anything has got to better than the plastic taste i have now, it's sickly, think i will give Leon's suggestion a go though and if that doesn't work it will be time to raid some kids sand pit ;0)

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[giancarlo]

I remember you used to be able to get some special tablets that dropped into normal flasks that were to clean them and get rid of smells.. they might be worth a shot.
not idea what they were called tho

 

[Goose]

Milton fluid for baby bottles?
Or try leaving to soak in salt water, just give a good rinse afterward.

 

[bloodline]

try soaking with a strong solution of washing powder bio or non bio whatever you have, leave it for 18 hours rinse well if that has not worked sling em out

 

[spamel]

Get a tube of those tablets that grandad cleans his falsies with. They are minty and smell really nice, stick one in your water bottle and fill it with water. It should sort them out. I stick mine through the dishwasher now and then, anbd it is pretty damned hot in there. They seem OK.

Hope this helps.

 

[Kepis]

Denture tablets, what a great idea, never thought of that, i'll raid the old mans place tomorrow, in fact i will try one with a denture tab and the other with washing powder, i'll let you know which one works best.

Wish i had a dish washer to sling them through, oh sorry i have - it's me

 

[Biddlesby]

Washing powder, salt, denture tablets...you're going to be pouring in quite a concoction. Not sure if I'd want to drink out of it after all that .

 

[bushwacker bob]

When I had a similar problem with a thermos flask,I was told to put hot water with some sugar dessolved in it and leave it over night.
It works.
I now have a similar problem with a new Sigg bottle with a metalic taste
(b*gger.dont know what happened there)

 

[redcollective]

I use a wide mouth Nalgene bottle - food grade, completely tasteless/odourless and can go straight in a dishwasher (I think in fact they are tough enough to autoclave). The lid is huge which makes pouring in and mixing powders etc really easy. I too have a Sigg bottle with the metal taste - I think it came on after I used it for a carbonated drink - I suspect there may have been some interaction with the coating on the inside of the bottle? ( I have a different sig bottle without a problem at all).

 

[Kepis]

Washing powder, salt, denture tablets...you're going to be pouring in quite a concoction. Not sure if I'd want to drink out of it after all that .

Im going to do one bottle with denture tablets and a different bottle with washing powder, if the smell/ taste remains then they shall be binned and a couple of new one sought.

Know what you mean about quite a concoction though

 

[MartiniDave]

I've used steradent denture cleaning tablets with great success for reviving old water bottles, for really stubborn ones a dishwasher tablet and water straight from the kettle work well too.

Dave

 

[marcja]

try soaking with a strong solution of washing powder bio or non bio whatever you have, leave it for 18 hours rinse well if that has not worked sling em out

I found one of my old ones a few months ago, it had been stuck at the back of a cupboard for a while.

Fairly liquid and boiling water left over night did the trick for mine.

Marc

 

[nickg]

If all the other remedies fail get down to a home brew shop and get some of their sterelising chemicals. They are designed to clean out plastic fermentation tubs that had grapes or malt fermenting in them for weeks on end - i guarantee they will do the job. Dont use milton tablets as I claim they leave a crap taste of thier own. Alternatively get along to a caravan or mobile home accessories shop - they have the same kinds of chemicals for steralising their drinking water tanks & pump tubes etc. Caravanners do this job at the start of every season - so should any camper/bushcrafter as a matter of course. Why go to elaborate lengths to filter/purify stream water etc just to tip it into a manky old plastic bottle?

 

[Kepis]

have tried a couple of the methods mentioned now, the lemon juice worked a treat but only in the bottle that was less affected by the plastic taste and smell, used denture tablets in the worst affected bottle and the plastic taste and smell has gone entirely, excellent tips and much appreciated.

Off round the parents place now to raid the old mans steradent tablets for future use.

 

[AJB]

After reading this I had a sniff of mine – phew! So I took the screw cap off, so I wouldn’t knacker the rubber seal, and put it through the dish washer. Came out fine and smells clean.