Tried SiS hydration tablets for my last long ride (~150km) and they did the job (no bonking) but now I can't get rid of the sickly sweet taste of strawberry despite multiple soaks/washes.
Guess I should have bought dedicated bottles. Is there a trick to cleaning them out or do I need to buy a new bottle for plain water.
Posted Jul 20, 2016, 9:07 PM UTC
Go into the baby section of your supermarket and get a bottle brush
If you're looking to ever replace the bottles, I'd highly recommend the Purist line by Specialized. I've had a bunch of different sports drinks in them over the months, even sitting in them for a week or so, and there hasn't been any discoloration or after flavor from the drinks when switching the bottles to water.
Yeah! Purists are really good! I got one for an event and it's my favorite bottle now! I also love the flow rate when you squeeze it.
Agreed on the purists. But man, a week or so?!
Boil water and put that into the bottle along with baking soda and leave for a few hours. Gets rid of any nasty flavors/scents
This worked! Thanks! Soaked them in a little vinegar for good measure as u/felt_rider suggested. Glad I finally found a use for that baking soda - I have long forgotten why I bought it.
I use mint flavored Dr. Bronners soap. Very rarely is there a tiny after taste, which is why I use mint. But it works great.
There's also a brand called "clean bottle",I believe, that has a removable bottom for cleaning purposes. It just screws off like the lid does. Mine has never leaked and has been great so far. I second other people's posts regarding the purist bottles and I'll also throw in a plug for the the camelback podium bottles. . Both of these brands are great for resisting funk.
Right after a ride, I'll usually run hot water in it, shake, spray some out through the spout, pour the rest out, repeat a couple times. Seems to get rid of the aftertaste, since a lot of that usually comes from the spout.
A baking soda solution will usually do the trick too.
Forget all else (been there done that), just add 1 teaspoon or less drops of vinegar and soak the bottle in it overnight.. all problems will be solved :D
It depends on the water bottle. Some water bottle are designed only for water and anything else eats away at the coating.
What kind of water bottles did you use?
Vinegar.
Boil with an antibacterial soap and then after they have dried always store them in the freezer. In addition to the build up of funky smells/tastes they can be really bad for harboring harmful bacteria that will upset your gut. Doing this prevents both.
I gave up cleaning my bottles. I rinse them with water and if they start to get moldy on difficult spots I just bin then. If you buy them in bulk like the taxc bottles they are very cheap, 1.50 EUR per bottle.
get used to the taste ;)
I also just use washing up liquid and get used to the lemon taste for a few weeks
I use either mint or flavorless denture cleaning tablets. Can buy a 50pack for a few dollars, and then just drop one or two of them in a bottle full of hot water, give it a shake, and let it sit. Gets that gross taste out
I had a similar problem and used one of the camelbak cleaning tablets and left it over night. Gave it a good scrub and a rinse in the morning and it was fine afterwards.
Might try that. Good shout.
Half the price get polident tabs from the dollar store. Work just as well.