Laboratory bottles

[101325]

I bought a job lot of polythene bottles (Nalgene) from ebay that were used in a science lab, how much washing will I have to do to be sure there's nothing poisonous left inside?

[j2buttonsw]

If you are going to use them for drinking water I would wash with an acid (vinegar) to remove the toxic bases then rinse then wash with a base (sodium hydrogen bicarbonate solution) to remove any toxic acids then wash thoroughly with water. If you are worried about pathogen infection then soak them in bleach. Again, rinse thoroughly with water afterwards. If you were super-paranoid about pathogens (and they could take it) then autoclave them in a pressure cooker.

[mullein]

all you need to do is buy some sterilising solution that is used for babys bottles and follow the instructions, mullein