We are often asked about re-using amber bottles. If you mean can you, then the answer is yes, you can, absolutely! If you mean, us, Aussie Soap Supplies, sadly, no we can’t re-fill them.
It is an absolute must that we pack all our Essential Oils and Artisan Fragrances in new amber glass bottles – it is necessary to ensure that the oils are packed in absolutely clean, new glass and that you get your bottles that have no residue of any kind in them.
That said, it’s great to re-use amber bottles for home use, so good for the environment, and amber glass really is the best choice for storage of these ingredients, your oil infused herbs, blends and so much more.
So here’s a few tips on house to best clean your bottles:
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If you have gooey residue around the thread on the necks, use some isopropyl alcohol to dissolve this and wipe clean using paper towels.
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If you are trying to clean a bottle that has had a thick essential oil, such as Vanilla or Benzoin Oleoresin, it will be tough and won’t clean with soapy water. You need a solvent that will dissolve this thick film, so if you don’t want to use a solvent, just put in the recycling.
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Step One is to have a big newspaper crumpled in a large stockpot ready to take the waste “pour-off”.
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For regular Fragrance and Essential Oil bottles, you can use Isopropyl Alcohol. If they are small bottles, ie 10, 25 or 50ml) half fill the bottle, put the lid on, and shake, shake, shake! Sit the bottles aside for a few days, and repeat shaking them. This will usually remove most of the residue. If there’s not a lot of residue, you can actually re-use this alcohol on first stage cleaning of other bottles.
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Use a bottle brush to give the bottles a finish clean before emptying the alcohol out. You can use a Pyrex jug and empty the “cleanest” alcohol into this and wash the lids in this. Take care if they are wadded lids as they aren’t always re-useable. Then after you have finished with the Alcohol empty into a crumpled newspaper ready for purpose.
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You can also use a salt solution. If you use fine and coarse particles you will get a scouring action when you use the bottle brush. Add about 1cm of salt in the bottle of 100ml size bottle (adjust if washing larger bottles) and add warm water to 1/3 fill the bottle. The fine crystals will dissolve, and the big granules will help the scouring.
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Now put on the lid, and shake, shake, shake, as previously!
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This mixture is safe to empty into the sink, as there is no more fragrance than if you were washing in the bath or doing the dishes.
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If you want to sanitise them after the above processes, you can use any method that you would for baby bottles sterilisation and air dry, or a clean run through the dishwasher (no food utensils).
Note: These washed bottles should not be used for food, only for decanting fragrances or essential oils, massage oils and storage of fixed oils, in other words your soapy projects!
