204. Cleaning bottles

Bottles retrieved from fresh water will invariably be covered in verdegris. Slime and internal mud can be removed with a bottle brush, although stubborn mineral deposits require a different treatment.

It is very important to exercise great care when cleaning bottles. I prefer to let them warm up slowly in air before cleaning them, just in case they crack through the temperature gradient on immersion. I start off by cleaning the outside of the bottle with warm water and a soap-impregnated Brillo pad or similar. This may sound like harsh treatment, but it should be borne in mind that the glass has already been subjected to many decades of wear and tear in the silt. I keep the bottle in the sink while doing this since the soap makes it slippery and easy to drop.

Next I rinse off the outside and turn my attention to the inside of the bottle. I have found two ways of removing scale from the inside, a task for which a bottle brush is quite useless.

The first method is to tear off a piece of Brillo pad and fasten it to the end of a stick. The stick should be long and narrow enough to reach fully inside the bottle, which can then be scrubbed. The second method is to pour fine gravel (or small ball bearings) into the bottle with a little water, block the opening, and shake the bottle as vigorously as due care permits. Several minutes of shaking in various directions will usually scour out the deposits. I consider the first method to be the safer of the two - both for myself and the bottle.