Dry out water bottle inside, how?

[Sanbu]

I want to store water bottles, but they need to be stone dry inside before long-term storage. The blasted things take forever to dry, like days or weeks. Sometimes it seems they replenish moisture within out of thin air, even when set out in the sun. Any tips on how to dry them out fast?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I assume you mean a narrow mouth, like bottled water bottle? I use my "boot dryer" for drying just about anything, including my hydration bladders, Nalgenes, mittens, etc. If you use them regularly you can also just drain them, and store them in the freezer to prevent growth of any kind.

Tim

 

[psyculman]

I want to store water bottles, but they need to be stone dry inside before long-term storage. The blasted things take forever to dry, like days or weeks. Sometimes it seems they replenish moisture within out of thin air, even when set out in the sun. Any tips on how to dry them out fast?

Warm them with a hair dryer, when dried out completely, put the cap on.

 

[iAmKrzys]

There are special-purpose glove dryers that blow air through thin vertical sticks that you hang your gloves on, which I imagine could easily be adapted to a bottle that is not too narrow. I guess for a bottle you would need temperature control to make sure you don't accidentally melt your bottle.

 

[nartreb]

So store them full!

Seriously, why would you need them to be bone dry?


If you insist, you can make a funnel shape from, say, aluminum foil and a section of washing~machine hose, and mount that on a hair dryer. Leave room for air to escape from the bottle, and watch the temperature.

Any kind of air pump will also work - bicycle, auto, mattress... or a vacuum cleaner set to blow.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Indeed, just make sure they are clean before reusing them...

 

[TCD]

I just store them open, in a bin. Yes, they get dust and bugs; I wash them out before I use them, like Tom says.

(Just make sure you don't accidentally drink out of the pee bottle. Yes, pee is sterile, but it's still kind of a gross idea. Decades ago, a visiting friend was in a trance, and did not notice the word "Pee" written all over the outside of a bottle in big black block letters. When I explained what bottle she had borrowed to drink out of, the reaction was funny!)

 

[Raven]

Freeze them empty, dry, and clean. Not many ways to get wet in the freezer.

 

[Amicus]

Freezing degrades the material, in my experience at least. After wrecking a couple of bladders by freezing them repeatedly I settled for getting them as dry as I easily could, then forgetting about them. That has worked, with no mold in quite a few years.

 

[peakbagger]

I think the key for bladders is never ever put anything but water in them. I ruined a prior bladder by putting Nuun in it. I did all the normal recommended cleaning methods and would think I would ott it clean but inevitably it would start to build up crud far faster then before.

 

[Stan]

If there is a taste or other evidence of mildew or mold soak a solution of bleach or hydrogen peroxide in the bottle. I there is a crud build up, soaking a solution of vinegar will clear it up. In both cases wash/rinse well. My approach to drying is to leave upside down on a dish rack for a couple days, then leave right side up on a stove until convinced that it is dry. Or, you can wait 'til your next season to start this whole process without worrying about the right side up drying.

 

[DayTrip]

I think the key for bladders is never ever put anything but water in them. I ruined a prior bladder by putting Nuun in it. I did all the normal recommended cleaning methods and would think I would ott it clean but inevitably it would start to build up crud far faster then before.

Agree on that. My current set up is to carry one 1L Nalgene (or 32 oz Gatorade bottle or whatever) and a 4L MSR Heavy Duty Bladder (your recommendation by the way - which was a great call. ) I only put filtered or tap water in the bladder and do any mixing with the Nalgene and carry the mix separately. I too mixed some electrolyte powder once and it always seemed to be funky after that no matter what I did with it.

 

[Mark]

I have had good luck using an aquarium air pump. They are cheap, quiet and only draw a few watts. I use them to dry out my water bladders by inserting the pump hose into the bladder hose after popping off the mouth piece. This dries out the hose and bladder. It might take a couple days to get them totally dry, but I am not usually in a hurry. Should work just fine with a water bottle too.