Kate Connally wrote:
> Does anyone have any good methods for cleaning
> bottles. Here's the deal. I have this great old-fashioned
> glass milk bottle that i got at a local dairy when they
> had a festival. I came with chocolate milk in it but I
> have saved it and use it frequently for storing things
> like lemonade or freshly squeezed oj. It has developed
> a cloudy deposit on the bottom. It's not a problem as
> far as usage goes but it bugs the heck out of me and I
> want to make it all crystal-clear and shiny bright.
>
> Now if it were large enough for me to get my hand in there
> I would just take a Brillo pad or SOS pad and scour it.
> However I can't do that so how do I clean it. In the past
> I have had occasion to use bottle brushes of various sorts
> and they are okay for some things but they would not work
> for this. You can't apply enough force.
>
> I thought of using coffee pot cleaner and checked into that
> on the internet. There are many commercial cleaners but
> many sites recommended things like vinegar, Alkaseltzer,
> Polident, baking soda, and bleach. Do those things really
> work?
>
> Also, I have another bottle which is a tall think bottle
> with a bale top. A friend gave it to me as a gift with
> homemade flavored olive oil (some sort of herbs in it
> as I recall). She painted stuff on the outside of the bottle
> and I would really like to be able to keep it and possible
> re-use it for something. The trouble is that I didn't use
> up the olive oil fast enough and it got moldy (due no doubt
> to the herbs not having been "sterilized" somehow). So I
> have the same problem as with the milk bottle only worse
> because the opening is even tinier.
>
> So what do y'all think?
>
> Thanks,
> Kate
>
A dollop of pure 5% white vinegar into the bottle, let it sit for a few
hours, pour off, rinse well, let it air dry. If it still has some of the
calcium deposit (that's normally what causes those deposits)repeat until
it comes clean. No need to buy any cleaning products when common vinegar
will do the job.

That being said, we have tap water with a heavy calcium hardness, we use
Lemishine in the dishwasher and used it in glasses, vases, etc. early on
to dissolve the deposit and then in the dishwasher to keep it off.