How To Clean Olive Oil Bottles? And Why It’s Important
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When I consume the olive oil from the bottle, I never throw the bottle away. Instead, I wash it and refill it with fresh olive oil. In this post, I’ll show you how I wash olive oil bottles so that you can do the same.
Steps For Cleaning Olive Oil Bottles:
- Rinse the bottle with hot water.
- Wash with dishwashing soap (or in a dishwasher).
- Rinse with distilled white vinegar.
- Thoroughly rinse out with hot water.
- Let it dry completely.
How To Clean Olive Oil Bottles
Even though I already showed you the way to clean olive oil bottles, I want to do it more thoroughly so that you understand why each step is crucial.
Complete Guide on Washing Olive Oil Bottles:
- Rinse the bottle with hot water – thoroughly rinsing the bottle with hot water removes all the excess olive oil still sitting in the bottle, especially the bottom.
- Wash with dishwashing soap or use a dishwasher – my advice is to use a dishwasher since it’ll wash the bottle at higher temperatures, but I understand that not everybody has them. Dish soap will break down the olive oil, making the bottle clearer. You can also use a thin bottle brush to help you wash it quickly.
- Rinse with distilled white vinegar – after you wash it with dish soap, it’s essential to rinse the bottle once more, but this time with distilled white vinegar. Vinegar will remove all the smells from the bottle, so the old oil smells don’t affect the new one.
- Pay attention to dispensers and corks – don’t forget to clean them, too, by using the same technique.
- Thoroughly rinse out with hot water – Vinegar has a strong and sour smell and taste; you should thoroughly rinse out the bottle to get rid of those smells.
- Dry the bottle – drying the bottle is the last step, and when it dries completely, it’s ready for a refill. Make sure to hang dry it, or just turn it upside down.
Some olive oil bottles won’t be easily washable and refillable since they have dispensers pre-installed on a bottle’s neck, and it’s hard to remove them. That’s why I recommend you use the bottles without a dispenser – you can always install one.
Check my guide on Best Types of Olive Oil Containers (inox is my recommendation), where you can find some great ideas for your future olive oil bottles that’ll be easily washable and also entirely safe for olive oil.
The Importance of Cleaning Olive Oil Bottles Before Refilling
It would be a dumb move to refill the bottle with new olive oil without thoroughly cleaning it before. It’s crucial to clean olive oil bottles, and in this section, I’ll show you why.
Reasons why you should always wash the bottle before filling it with a new olive oil:
- You want to get rid of the smell and taste of past olive oil, especially if you bought a new olive oil from a different manufacturer.
- Olive oil has a shelf life, which means that it’ll get rancid with time. You want to remove all the rancid contents from the bottle before pouring a new oil. Remember, old and rancid olive oil will corrupt new ones.
- You should pay attention to dispensers and corks since they always trap some olive oil inside, becoming rancid.
- The outside of the bottle often gets dirty by using it many times, so it’s essential to keep it clean like everything in your kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, distilled vinegar is entirely safe to use on all types of olive oil containers. The only chance of damaging something is to pour a clean vinegar and leave it in the bottle for weeks.
Small amounts of olive oil won’t affect anything. However, make sure not to pour large amounts of olive oil into the drain. It may coat pipes and make them sticky. That’s why I always recommend spending as much oil from the bottle and then refilling it. If you still decide to pour it into the drain, make sure to use it with plenty of hot water.
No, you should either spend all the content in it or dispose of it. When reusing olive oil bottles for new oil, you should always thoroughly clean them and ensure there are no remnants of old olive oil.
Final Words
I hope that now you understand the whole process of cleaning olive oil bottles and preparing them for the refill. If you still think it’s worthless, some shops even offer you a discount for “reuse & refill.” Make sure to check it out before getting rid of the old olive oil bottle.
Also, even if you don’t want to reuse olive oil bottles for new olive oil, there are many other things to do with empty olive oil bottles.
Not only it can reduce your costs, but it can help reduce the pollution of the Earth.
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