We usually wash our bottle with tools such as a brush or use a dishwasher, whh helps decrease the counts of bacteria inside. And one study found that how often they cleaned the bottles, or how they cleaned them, didn't enormously affect how contaminated the containers were, the study alsoalso suggest using a dishwasher with a sanitisation cycle could be the most effective approach.
However, the study's conclusion points that these findings may have been skewed by the fact the researchers were relying on participants self-reporting their cleaning behaviours, and they may have changed their answers to appear more socially acceptable., and it also found that bottles filled with tea, coffee or juice were more contaminated than bottles that only contained water.
Cleaning our water bottles regularly and properly is the only and best way to be confident you are not consuming harmful bacteria alongside your water. Even if the water inside it is sterile, your saliva will end up in the bottle, along with trace levels of nutrients, which bacteria happily feed on.
Rinsing your bottle out with cold water is insufficient, because this won't get rid of biofilms – the slimy layer of bacteria that can build up on the inner surface of your bottle, which harbers the perfect environment in which bacteria can grow. It is recommended cleaning reusable bottles with hot water (over 60C (140F) as this temperature kills most pathogens), and using washing-up liquid – swirling it around, and leaving the bottle for 10 minutes before rinsing well with hot water.Then, allowing the bottle to air-dry is the best way to avoid a build-up of bacteria in your bottle, because microorganisms prefer moist environments.
You should clean your bottle this way after each use – or at the very least, several times a week. And never wait until it starts to have a smell.
