Well it has become part of the process, maybe I'll cut it out, but I figure it never hurts to do it.

I used to take my bottles into the lab late at night after everyone was gone for the evening, foil them, and slap in the autoclave for a 30 minute dry cycle. Then I would take them home, remove the foil, and bottle away.

Now I just bake them in a regular oven at 350F for an hour as above, but with a pan of water on the bottom rack to provide some humidity in the oven so the bottles don't crack.

Never did anything to the 1-L PETs for about three years other than rinse thoroughly after pouring the last glass.

As the recipes became more complex with grains and hops...began to notice some residual coating on the sides and deposits on the bottom. Poppy Pap wrote in TJoH-B the most common cause for the crappy beer he sampled was a dirty bottle.

Now...the bottle cleaning routine uses a little 'clear' dish soap...a handkerchief as a wipe...and a wooden shish-kabob skewer.

Bottles are half-filled with soapy water...a handkerchief is plunged into a bottle with the skewer...the insides are wiped and the bottom scoured.

On occasion...some bottles require harsher treatment with re-cycled PBW (after cleaning the kettle) or Oxyclean FREE (after cleaning the keg).

Wouldn't want to use this routine with 12-oz. bottles but it works well with larger packages and MrB-size batches.

Jet bottle wash after consumption. Onto the bottling tree. On bottling day, one more quick jet bottle wash and then Star San. I do not like using soap on my bottles.

+1 D Rock, don't like soap/detergent. Too much rinsing involved.
I gotta try Star San. I just hate to fix something that isn't broke.

I just used StarSan the other night for the first time. Been using Onestep all this time. Once I ran out, I tried bleach/rinsing on a few batches, didn't care for that. Baked some bottles, eh...that's fine but not as easy as StarSan.

StarSan baby, there's a reason it' so highly recomended Bill. You can use it like Onestep, except its super concetrated, 1 oz for 5 freakin gallons, you can re-use the stuff too until it gets cloudy and then it's losing it's potency. It will also keep in a spray bottle indefenately for quick touch ups and to have handy for spigots, bottle caps...etc. We know your cheap, but the 8 oz. bottle didnt' cost much more than my usual tub of Onstep and this will go further and easier to use. I knew not to fear the foam, but damn it still makes you worry.

So if you don't like to use soap how about PBW? I just can't stomach not cleaning them with something. But if they are rinsed as mentioned right after pouring...probably no worries, especially if you guys (Drock and Bill) vouch for it.

Wow KNeace just called me cheap... I prefer frugal, but ya your right on 2 counts, it's most likely more economical than one step and yes I'm cheap...
I just hate straying from tried and true methods that have served me very well for 2+ years. But I think I'll step over to the "DARK AND FOAMY" side of Star San after my current supply of One Step is used up !

We're all cheap bastad's..

I don't recommend many of my methods and wouldn't to a noob as I stated. PBW FTW if ya must use a cleaner. Much better choice than soap/detergent. I think D and I were just saying what works for us. The key with our method is the immediate rinsing of the bottle after the pour, D uses a jet washer, I shake the hell out of mine. Plus I didn't mention my tap water is pretty chlorinated and I'm sure that helps things. And Star san is on my future shopping list !