Ultralight Hard Bottle?

Hello. I've been using a Nalgene soft widemouth for use with my SteriPen while traveling through Asia. The container now has discoloration after 3 months and I plan to bleach it when I get home. Does is type of bottle have any of the chemicals discussed in this thread?

http://www.rei.com/product/670588/nalgene-wide-mouth-cantene-32-fl-oz

The Nalgene canteen is polyethylene. No BPA, and even the baby experts think it is okay.

IMHO, plastic leaching is often blown out of proportion and the bottom line is that plastic is EVERYWHERE in food handling. If you have concerns, I would avoid boiling/cooking/microwaving in plastics. Glass and stainless steel are the most stable container materials. Glass is really out of the picture; stainless is bearable if you are freaked out about plastics.

Bleaching may not do much after so much exposure and time. A product made for calcium/lime/rust product may do the trick. If I used a container daily for 3 months, I would feel that I got my money's worth and treat myself to a new one!

del

Thanks guys. I'll use oxyclean first and then use something more aggressive if needed.

I have wondered about the discoloration. If the water did that to the bottle, what is it doing to my body?

Oxyclean has soaps that may permeate the plastics. We use "One Step" bought at Amazon. Environmentally friendly and contains no chlorine.
Five pound bucket is very economical.

Billy Ray +10
Max 0

"I have wondered about the discoloration. If the water did that to the bottle, what is it doing to my body?"

We're so spoiled about water. I "filter" coffee, tee, beer, bourbon, and Hansen's Diet Natural Root Beer and in still kicking :)

>"Bleaching may not do much after so much exposure and time."

Be very cautious on the use of chlorine around food. As excited as anyone wants to get about BPA, other hormone mimics, and generalized organic-chemical nastiness, chlorinated organics are typically worse than un-chlorinated organic chemicals. Spill 1,000 gallons of gasoline and you might pay me $300,000 to clean it from the soil and groundwater. Spill 1,000 gallons of TCE, TCA, or PCE and you'll spend millions (and still not be done).

Use chlorine (and Bromine and Iodine) to kill infectious organisms. Do not use it as a cleaner. HDPE cleans up very nicely and very safely in a standard dishwasher. Those very alkaline detergents are tough on your skin, but tougher on bacteria. And they are completely dissolved in the rinse cycle of the washing machine.

del

Rick, the kind of oxi clean stuff i have seems to have fragrance or perfumes of some kind added (and it doesn't seem to be listed or advertised on the box i get from costco). I think perhaps what DD is recommending is something without that?

The cleaning of the stain is most likely MUCH worse for your health than the stain.

Just an opinion, no science. But I can't imagine taking a chance with putting chemicals like Oxyclean in my water bottle. Oxyclean is NOT designed for food or water service. Chlorine is regularly used to sanitize drinking water.. at very low concentrations.

Billy

A Nalgene rep emailed me the following:

Cleaning
If your water bottle develops a funky taste or odor, try the following procedure:

*Put a teaspoon of bleach and a teaspoon of baking soda in the bottle and fill it with water.
*Let the bottle sit overnight.
*Rinse out the bottle completely the next day (or run it through the dishwasher).
*Let the bottle air dry completely.
When cleaning hydration reservoirs, rinse them thoroughly and let them completely air dry before using them again. Do not place in your dishwasher.

Tip: Some tastes and odors can be removed from plastic water bottles simply by rinsing them with anti-bacterial mouthwash.

You all have done gone crazy!!!!

Just wash your bottles like you wash anything else.

"You all have done gone crazy!!!!"

It comes from drinking out of plastic. ;)

"You all have done gone crazy!!!!"

Nah, it's just 'How_many_angels_can_dance_on_the_head_of_a_pin?' season again.