[scott]

In the past I only cleaned the bottles when I first got them.  They were returnable, some with mold inside.  I have always just rinsed them out after drinking, so I figured that sanitizing before bottling was all I needed to do.  I recently bought some new beer bottles (the kind with beer included for free), and soaked them to clean off the labels.  They are squeaky clean now.  So I'm thinking about upping my standards and cleaning all my bottles before sanitizing.  What does everyone else do?

[tygo]

I used to just rinse them out right after pouring and then sanitize with no cleaning step in between.  The last several times though I've decided that cleaning them is a good idea even if it takes a little extra time so I've been giving them an oxy soak and scrub each time I use them.

[jwaldner]

My regiment is to rinse after use, then gather my bottles for the week and soak them in PBW for a few hours, then rinse with hot water (bottle jet washer), let dry, then put them back in the case and cover them with saran wrap to keep the dust/bugs out.

Before bottling, I pull them off the shelf then sanitize them with Star-San before bottling.

Seems to work pretty well for me although I prefer keggng when I can :-)

Cheers!

[denny]

Just because you can't see anything on them doesn't mean they're clean.  I'd hate to lose a batch because the bottles were dirty.  I clean them every time.  Remember, you can't sanitize something that isn't clean.

[morticaixavier]

lately I have been putting my bottles in the oven the night before I intend to bottle and cranking it up to 375 for about 20  minutes then leaving them there until I am ready to bottle. at 375 even unclean things become sterile for a while. But I look at the bottles everytime and make sure there is no stuck on gunk. If so, I clean that one. If it's not easy to clean off I recycle it. Bottles are easy to come by.

[tonyp]

I fill a bottling bucket with hot water and oxyclean and fill it with as many bottles that will fit comfortably while i setup the rest of the equipment. I then start taking the bottles out one by one and rinse using a jet bottle washer before throwing into another bucket with star-san solution making a nice little assembly-line process.

I use 1 liter flip-tops for main bottling to reduce the amount of bottles, any leftovers go into 12oz

My son loves using the jet bottle washer so its nice to have a helper!

Tony

[Malticulous]

I never do it. I just rinse very well after use and again before sanitizing. I've never had a batch get infected after primary.

[a10t2]

I rinse bottles thoroughly after pouring them, and once I have a dozen or so empties I'll mix up some OxiClean or PBW and soak them for a few hours. Remove labels if necessary, then rinse them thoroughly and put them away for storage. I frequently go a year or more without bottling anything, and I don't think a good rinse would be enough to keep them clean for that kind of time.

[aubeertine31]

For first time use of a bottle I'll usually soak it in cold bleach water over night, rinse multiple times and spray with some star san. For future use I guess I just rinse them with hot water a few times when empty and store them someplace until I need them again and I'd probably just spray with star san. The oven idea sounds like a good one, I'd be too worried them would crack or bust though. I wonder what the heat threshold is on a glass bottle..

[tom]

John Palmer has a chart on oven sterilization in his book How To Brew:  http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter2-2-3.html   
I use it mainly for my plate chiller.

[Hokerer]

Oxiclean soak to get the labels off and perform the intial cleaning.  After that, I always rinse after use and then inspect each bottle before bottling.  Only those that look like they need it get another cleaning.  Then they all get sanitized.

[punatic]

I only use oxiclean to remove labels.

For cleaning/sanitation I mix 4oz bleach in a 5gal bucket (filled to 4 gallons), soak overnight and bottle-jet them clean just prior to bottling.  Never have had any problems - at all.  Sodium hypochlorite is a very effective cleaner and sanitizer.

The chlorine makes my hands stink though.  But, my cats seem to really like my hands when they smell like chlorine

[alikocho]

lately I have been putting my bottles in the oven the night before I intend to bottle and cranking it up to 375 for about 20  minutes then leaving them there until I am ready to bottle. at 375 even unclean things become sterile for a while. But I look at the bottles everytime and make sure there is no stuck on gunk. If so, I clean that one. If it's not easy to clean off I recycle it. Bottles are easy to come by.

+1 but I put foil on my bottles in the oven.

[tygo]

+1 but I put foil on my bottles in the oven.

Yep, same here.  A couple drops of water in each bottle and foil on the top before they go into the oven. 

[norseman]

I rinse my bottles after use - then run them through the dishwasher.   

Day of bottling, I take my "clean" bottles - load up the dishwasher with as many bottles as I think I'll need (plus a few) - set the machine to "heavy wash" and "heat dry" and wash 'em again.

To bottle, I put the bottling bucket over the dishwasher - open up the machine - and take bottles out and put them on the open door.  When I'm done, to get rid of all the spillage and mess I just shut the door.  Easy cleanup!