Cleaning Water Bottles and Disenfecting Cage

For the water bottles I take them down and use a Bottle brush and soap and hot water and then rinse rinse rinse to make sure the soap is 100% gone. The part of the bottle that really needs cleaned that can be the hardest and most overlooked is the spout itself. I use a Q-tip with rubbing alcohol to clean it and I push the q-tip all the way through it. It is amazing how quickly the spout gets dirty. Rinse it all very well.As for the cage, I can't speak for others but I would totally empty the cage, throwing out any hay or such and washing the bedding in very hot water with detergent or bleach if its whites and then clean the cage well and let it sit for awhile...I would also check/clean anything the cage is touching if its carpet or such.

I second that, use a mild bleach solution to clean grids and coroplast, plastic hidey houses, food dishes, etc. but make sure to rinse very well. Wooden accessories can be put in the oven on a low temperature for a while. One good way of cleaning water bottles is to use hot water, soap and throw in some rice and shake vigorously then rinse well.

I'd rather use vinegar than bleach for disinfecting. I read a couple studies somewhere that vinegar killed just as many germs as bleach does. I strip the cage down and wipe the coroplast with vinegar then wipe it off with a wet cloth and dry it. It will take off all urine stains and makes the coro look brand new. For water bottles I just use a brush, hot water, and occasionally a little vinegar to help kill the brown algae that likes to grow in our water. It coats the plastic of any container I put water in within a week.

The experts at gl say you can use bleach but it's like a 1 part bleach to 10 parts water.

Bleach/water is good to use and is/was used in many food service establishments as a final rinse for dishes/pans. Just make sure you rinse well and remember to clean the spout and not just the bottle.

Thank you all for your help. Now I can clean the bottle properly. Was only using hot water before.