Ask LH: How Often Should I Wash My Reusable Water Bottle?

I love a reusable water bottle. I have mine perched next to me as I write this, now. It looks me in the eye and guilts me into drinking more water. Without it, I’m a dehydrated mess of a human.

What I don’t often think about, however, is cleaning my water bottle. Does that make me sound like a grot? Probably.

I obviously clean my water bottle (from time to time) but have never stopped to consider if that was enough. (Like I said, grot.)

So, how often you should be washing out your reusable water bottle?

If you thought the answer to that question was once a week, or “whenever I remember to”, I’m sorry to inform you that you are sorely mistaken.

The answer, dear friends is every. single. day.

According to the Huffington Post, who chatted with Good Housekeeping Institute’s cleaning products director Carolyn E. Forté – the fact that it comes into contact with your mouth is why this is so important.

And by infrequently washing your bottle, you’re giving germs a chance to grow on it. Ick.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “it can’t be that big of a deal”, hold up a minute. According to the team at Martha Stewart, who reviewed an analysis by environmental testing firm EmLab P&K, your average reusable water bottle has about six times more bacteria than a standard pet bowl.

Did you just set fire to your bottle in disgust? Please don’t do that.

All you need to do is give it a solid wash down every day – take to that baby with hot water and soap; none of this rinsing business. If you’d like more hacks on the best ways to wash your reusable metal bottles in particular, here are a few tips we prepared earlier.

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