Have you ever wondered how to clean your favorite Hydro Flask, Yeti, or reusable water bottle? Or wrestled with getting all the way to the bottom to clean a cloudy glass vase? Or reaching all the way to the bottom of your Thermos or Airpot to ensure it was really clean? If so, then you need a good bottle brush, and I have found one.
Disclosure: I bought my brush at a closeout store. The exact model is reviewed below, but I have linked to OXO’s upgraded version on Amazon, which features replaceable heads. If you buy through my link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Quick Summary
The Problem:
Hard-to-clean deep, narrow containers, coffee stains at the bottom of an Airpot, hard water rings in a flower vase, residue in tall water bottles and travel mugs, and so on.
The Solution:
The OXO Bottle Brush. It has a long handle, flexible bristles that compress to fit narrow openings but are scrubby enough to actually clean.
The Result:
Easy cleaning in a couple of minutes, and the Amazon version has replaceable heads so you’re not buying a new brush every year.
What it safely cleans:
- Kitchen: Airpots, blender jars, spice bottles, baby bottles, reusable dressing bottles, or any jar or container with a narrow neck or opening
- Hydration: Tall water bottles, gym shakers, insulated Thermoses
- Around the house: Slender flower vases
The Story
It’s such a small thing, it’s almost ridiculous to write a review about it, but I’ve owned bottle brushes before that were so inadequate I started to assume none of them worked. But then one day I was browsing at a closeout store and just happened to think about cleaning my Airpot when I spotted this OXO Good Grips Bottle Brush. I almost didn’t bother, but it was pretty inexpensive, and I have an OXO can opener I really love that has lasted me for years, so I figured it was worth trying, at least.
Cleaning with the Restaurant ‘Ice and Salt’ Method
If you’ve ever worked in food service, you might know this trick: fill the container about halfway with crushed ice and a generous amount of table salt, then shake, shake, shake. The salt acts as an abrasive and the ice tumbles it forcefully against the surface. It works really well on standard glass coffee pots, but my Airpot is deep and narrow. Maybe it didn’t have enough room to tumble well. For whatever reason, after all that shaking I could still see stains and hard water residue at the bottom. The ice and salt method wasn’t getting the job done.
Does the OXO Bottle Brush Actually Work?
I tried the OXO bottle brush but wasn’t expecting much. The bristles felt pretty soft, so I suspected they wouldn’t have enough scrub power, even if the handle did reach (which I wasn’t sure of).
Well, to my surprise, the handle did reach and the bristles were scrubby enough. Um, guys. It cleaned the stains easily. It cleaned exactly the way you always hoped a bottle brush would clean (but usually doesn’t). It was such an easy job that I stood there a little surprised at myself for having lived without this for so long.
The handle was just the right length. I measured it, and it is about 12.5 inches.
You would think that bristles that are soft enough to squish into very narrow spaces wouldn’t have enough scrub power to be effective, but these do. Next, I tried the brush on a very small, curvy vase that had collected hard water deposits. Once the bristles got past the narrow neck of the vase and had room to expand, they were plenty scrubby.
So anyway, that’s why I decided to write a review, even though a bottle brush doesn’t seem like such a big deal. And with this one, it really isn’t. Now I can just leave it under my sink and pull it out for every tall, narrow, dirty dish that crosses my kitchen sink.
What Else Can You Clean with a Bottle Brush?
I learned the term “unitasker” from Alton Brown, and related immediately to what he was saying. A tool needs to be versatile to earn its drawer space. Since the Airpot and vase victories, I’ve used the OXO bottle brush on other things. If you’re wondering how to clean a water bottle, this is how. If you have a hard time reaching to the bottom of your travel mugs, this brush is it. It will get basically anything narrow and deep that a regular dishcloth or sponge can’t reach. It may be a weird thing to get excited about, but I’m looking for things to clean with it.
Where Can You Buy the OXO Good Grips Bottle Brush?
The brush I bought at the closeout store is no longer widely available, but OXO makes an upgraded version available on Amazon that might be better. It has replaceable heads, so when the bristles wear out, you replace just the brush head rather than the whole thing. It has the same long reach as the one in my kitchen, making it perfect for deep Thermoses or travel mugs.
So yay. I found something that works, is relatively inexpensive, and I won’t have to replace it for years. If you get one, I hope it helps you too! Good tools make all the difference in cleaning.
