Sterlising an Ortlieb water bag

Canis Lupus

Breaking the touring bike out here in Australia and I've 2 old ortlieb water bags that I used back in the day, circa 2012 was when they'd last have contained water.

Should I A: Try to sterilise them and what would be a good way without destroying the material.

B: Just bin them and buy new ones although I'm trying to keep costs down.

They aren't overly clean on the outside but they were slung on the back of my bike across W Africa. On the inside they look reasonable. Would baby bottle sterilising fluid work?

Alun

I use baby bottle sterilizing tablets for mine. I got Tesco own brand ones, cheaper than the Milton ones, but probably the same. One tablet to two litres of water.

It wouldn't do any harm to fill the bag up with hot water and a little washing up liquid first and give it a bit of a clean from the inside if the design of your bag allows you to get a hand inside it, if not a long handled bottle brush would work.

The tube is also a likely source of bacteria, and you can get special cleaning brushes for that quite readily. When you sterilize the bag, attach the tube and push a bit of the sterilizing liquid through before leaving it for a few hours.

When I'm not using mine I keep it in the freezer which should also keep any nasties from growing in the meantime.

Canis Lupus

Cheers. I'll give it a go.

tphase

Use Milton etc if you happen to have it but you don't need to buy it

Home brewers use a diluted mix of thin, unscented bleach and vinegar to sanitise bottles and let them drip dry afterwards
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=56469192

In your case I'd try getting in with a bottle brush first to physically shift anything that may be growing in there and rinse with the bleach/vinegar mix as the last step.

I assume you don't have tubes on them but if so, take off the mouthpiece and cap fittings, run a small piece of tissue through using something long and thin (bike spoke would do nicely) to shift any growth then leave to soak for a bit in the aforementioned solution

Whatever you do, don't bin the bags. If you really don't want them, you'll find someone who does.....

Canis Lupus

Washed and sterilised today. I assume there's no nasties left behind. I suppose a bit of botulism never hurt anyone

I actually haven't checked if they still hold water though although no reason why they shouldn't.

On the downside had to replace an o ring on my msr fuel pump and broke the plastic by over tightening... Rip $70.