How do you clean old glass bottles?

[FarmerDenise]

I thought I saw someone post on this subject before, but I could not find it.
I have several old bottles some from the "old dump" on my parents property and some that I saved for years. Some have actual dirt inside of them. Just soaking and shaking them has not sufficiently cleaned them I really want to use these old bottles as glass bottles are kind of hard to come by.
Some of my old bottles are from the 30's or 40's. I especially like the colored ones. They would make good "medicine" bottles. I also have several gallon bottles that have spent a good amount of time outside and have all kinds of unknown thingies growing in them, that I have not been able to remove.

I would really love to re-use these bottles.

 

[justusnak]

You can fill them with HOT water...and let them soak a few hours, then drop in a handfull of hard beans....and give it a good shake. The beans wont damage the inside of the glass...and the hot water should make it loosed up a bit, then...disinfect like crazy! LOL

 

[Beekissed]

Add vinegar to that!!!

 

[freemotion]

It was me, FD, we talked about it on the winemaking thread. I found it....

Long soak with Dawn, then a scrubbing with a bottle brush and baking soda, then a disinfect with a mild bleach solution

My filthy old bottles from an uprooted 3'+ diameter tree came out sparkling clean. I used baking soda and vinegar on other ones, that worked, too.

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[FarmerDenise]

Thanks, am so looking forward to getting these cool old bottles clean and then being able to use them .

 

[Wannabefree]

I wonder if an alka seltzer would work?

 

[Ohioann]

I wonder if an alka seltzer would work?

Would a bubbling denture cleaner work???

 

[tortoise]

My mom would use hot water and rice for a cleaning job like that.