Cleaning containers

[Belinda02]

A friend gave me about 6 EOs plus a handful of small brown bottles which are unlabeled and full. One of the bottles had a commercial label for toothache med. I poured it out and planned on cleaning to reuse. It seems to have been full of a clove EO. I've rinsed with alcohol but the smell is still strong. Is there anyway to clean these little bottles? Some of the mixes can be used around the house but a few empty bottles would be useful.

Thanks.

 

[lpstephy85]

I would try dish soap and baking soda with water. That is the mix I use when I have a container in the back of the fridge where it looks like a science experiment went wrong.

 

[kaliquen]

I let them soak in some dish soap for a while, changing out the water occasionally then run them through the dishwasher.

 

[Belinda02]

Thanks. I may leave it be. My kitchen and surrounding rooms smell like cloves overpowering pine tar and rosemary.

 

[Happysoap]

I boil my glass eo/fo bottles. Change the water and boil again. Then I let them air dry. This way they are as sterile as I can get them and clean.

 

[AustinStraight]

Fill the bottle 3/4 to the top with rubbing alcohol as pure as you can find (I think there's 97% rubbing alcohol in most stores), put the cap on, shake it vigorously, and let it sit overnight. You could also try soaking them in very hot water with dish soap + baking soda.

 

[Susie]

If they have any plastic whatsoever in them/on them, you are going to be months before they are free of scent even using any of the methods mentioned above. Not that it is a horrible thing. They were free, after all. I used the dishwashing detergent/water, change daily, then run through the dishwasher once a week method. It still took months.

On the other hand, those bottles are fairly reasonably priced from various sources. I Googled "amber 1 oz glass bottles" and got loads of results. Here's just one:

http://www.discountvials.com/boston-round-bottles/

 

[cmzaha]

Put some medium to coarse salt in the bottles and shake it well. The salt will break loose the oils still in the bottle. After shaking the salts well I fill the bottle the rest of the way with water, shake and let it sit overnight. Usually the fragrance is gone by the next day