How does everyone clean the glass dropper style bottles? Obviously the bottle itself can go into the dishwasher, but the dropper is more of what I was referencing. I have in the past used isopropyl alcohol but it is time consuming and specifically with plastic has lead to weird off flavors in the bottle if I am not careful. Currently, I disassemble the dropper down to the cap, rubber nipple, and tube. Then hand wash everything. As this is time consuming I have tried to use the dishwasher. I have had some of the rubber bits start to deteriorate because of I assume the heat. Am I missing some plainly obvious solution to this problem or is this something that everyone else has?
Just rinse, soak in 50/50 alcohol and water, rinse, and let dry overnight. I’m not sure what off smells/flavors you have experienced but I haven’t noticed anything.
Edit: isopropyl not ethanol/vodka.
What difference would there be to using vodka? I had a bunch of old rdas and parts that needed cleaning. I had a lot of vodka and only a little isopropyl. I just disassembled everything, washed in water, soaked in vodka for about 30 minutes then using a shot glass and tweezers rinsed everything in isopropyl before leaving to dry. I haven't noticed and off tastes or anything. Not even out of the rba that sat untouched for a year or two with a build and juice inside.
Yah I don’t foresee any difference between the two but OP was complaining about off notes so I thought maybe some cheap plastic jug vodka was the culprit. For some reason some people think that isopropyl is unsafe for cleaning vape gear but they’re just repeating what they’ve heard without any logic or reasoning behind it (imho).
I take them apart as much as they can and then plunge them in my ultrasonic cleaner (in the basket) fill it up with distilled water and a little vinegar and give it a couple good cycles. Take out and let dry off.
I use an ultrasonic cleaner on the heating mode with distilled water, nothing else. They come out sparkling with no residual odor.
Helpful hint: use tongs with rubber pads on the jaws.
I can't seem to get the menthol and liqourice taste out of the bottles without using vinegar. I'll try and give it a whirl again without next time.
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Not sure how appropriate it is but I always let my stuff soak in a 5% bleach solution for a few hours before giving it a thorough rinse down. Then let it all air dry and reassemble
Maybe just use a lower percentage isopropyl instead. Using bleach to clean my supplies would scare me hahaha, even at a 5% solution I feel I could still smell it, and I like the smell of bleach just no where near anything vaping related.
like I said I'm not sure how good of an idea it is but I may have to try isopropyl instead definitely sounds allot safer that using bleach especially anywhere near the rubber in the lids.
After usage of bottles / glass ware i soak in [miltons] (https://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/products/sterilising-tablets) for an hour or so and then leave in cold water for another hour, I usually squeeze the droppers a few times to get liquid into them, then stand bottles upside down on paper towels to dry over night and flick the droppers a few times to get the liquid out of em
Just a thought, but does your water provider use chloramine? They switched from chlorine to chloramine some years ago here, and rubber washers in taps, toilets and sink stoppers that had lasted a decade without wear all started failing within a year. Same goes for the plastic dip tube in the hot water tank, the water heater was maybe 5 years old at the time but the tube was made of a chloramine vulnerable polymer and it literally fell apart and turned to almost... dust.
I typically just do a soapy water wash with a good rinse, the rubber retains some smell but doesn't taint the next mix. The rubber does show some deterioration after a few washes - except the droppers that are made of shiny black rubber instead of matte black, those seem to be holding up much better.
Thanks for all the ideas. As far as water quality goes, I live in Central Florida and the quality of our water is "decent". I have heard people using ultrasonics to clean their equipment, I always thought the rig was expensive. I have found one that is on Amazon for about $50.00. In the past, I have used dish soap and isopropyl alcohol to clean all my lab equipment, but never the baby bottle tabs.
Once again thanks for ideas!
I rinse out the bottles with hot water a few times and then fill them up and flush the droppers out several times. I refill a final time and let them soak until I have a load of dishes ready to go. I separate the droppers from the bottles and toss them both in the dishwasher. I have a little plastic hangy thing in the top rack that they fit on perfectly.
I let all my bottles soak in a hot water bath with baking soda then rise the hell out of them. So far no issues. Be careful when doing the dropper caps, if you don't rinse them very well then you will get a white residue on them from the baking soda and just requires another rinse really well.