How To Clean A Swell Water Bottle

Inside: Dealing with a smelly water bottle? Check out how to clean a swell water bottle and get rid of the mildew smell. If your swell bottle smells this will get rid of the smell fast!

My son has to carry a water bottle every day to stay hydrated so for Christmas he asked for a S'well water bottle. We bought him a Sip by S'well and he loves it! It's small and easy to fit in his backpack. Plus, he can refill it all day at the school water fountains instead of buying bottled water.

However, it didn't take long for his water bottle to start to smell. We started to notice that despite washing it out frequently it still smells like mildew.

I finally bought a brush to clean it and figured out a couple of tricks to keep the smell away. If you are dealing with a stinky water bottle check out how to clean a swell water bottle and get rid of the mildew smell!

How To Clean A Swell Bottle

Cleaning a swell bottle is easy and only takes a few minutes. It will keep your swell bottle free from funky smells and the water tasting great.

Are Swell Bottles Dishwasher Safe?

One of the questions that I often get is are swell bottles dishwasher safe. Unfortunately, no they are not.

Because of the vacuum insulated construction on the swells, they can't go in the dishwasher. But don't worry. Just because you can't put your swell in the dishwasher doesn't mean you can't get it clean and free from smells.

Cleaning Swells

To start you will need a bottle brush. The Sip and the S'well both have narrow openings so it is harder to find a bottle brush that works well with it. I found this one on Amazon and it works great! As you can see below it fits perfectly in the bottle.

You will also need some dish soap and vinegar. I just use the blue dawn dish soap.

To start open the water bottle and rinse it once with water. Add about 10 drops of dawn dish soap and around 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water bottle. The vinegar helps kill off any germs and gets rid of any smells. The dawn soap helps get rid of any grease or grime that may have come in contact with the bottle. Then close the lid and give the water bottle a couple of good shakes. Set the water bottle off to the side and let the soap and vinegar soak in the water bottle for about 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes take the brush and put it in the water bottle. Scrub the inside of the water bottle for a minute or two making sure you clean the whole inside. Then, rinse the soap and vinegar out of the swell. When all the soap and vinegar is gone then add some more water and give the water bottle a good scrub again.

Rinse one more time and then check to make sure the smell is completely gone. If the swell still smells like mildew repeat the steps again. Once you are finished set the water bottle out to dry with the cap off. Rinse off the bottle brush and let it air dry too.

If your swell bottle smells I recommend using these tips on how to clean a swell regularly to keep the smells away.

You really should be cleaning your swell every day, however at the very least cleaning it every 2-3 days. It will help keep the mildew smell from coming back.

Now that I have the bottle brush it is easy for me to clean my kiddo's water bottle regularly so it doesn't smell.

Want some other easy cleaning tips? Check out the best clean home hacks.