Cleaning an old canteen?

[Steve]

Hi all. For Christmas a few years ago I received an old canteen that I'm guessing is from WWII or soon after. It's the old metal kind with a green cloth sleeve that fits onto it. I'd love to use it when I go geocaching, but the water always tastes of metal coming out of it. Is there anything I can do to remedy this?

BTW - I'll try to make time to get a picture of it if anyone wants to know what it looks like. I'd appreciate it very much if anyone who's up on this sort of thing could identify what model/year it is from.

 

[Section10]

It sounds a lot like one I used to have until recently. There was always a metal taste to the water from it and I never knew of a way to correct it.

 

[Twitch]

Got one of the same era but don't use it now. Don't recall any metal taste in times when I used it though.

 

[MrBern]

Check the bottom to see if theres a year stamped.

Is the cap black plastic or metal?

BTW, in the cap there should be a disk of cork to keep it from leaking. Often its dried out & rotted, so you might want to check it.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Vinegar...

Fill it up and let it sit for a couple days...then rinse and let it sit a couple more with water in it. Should clear up any foul taste.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Wodka...

Fill it up and let it sit for a couple days...then rinse and let it sit a couple more with water in it. Should clear up any foul taste.

If not, fill it up again and take a large swig. Will clear up anything.

PS: You WERE talking about a Russkie canteen right??

 

[CasaBlancaChuck]

I wonder how water from this canteen would taste

...it hasn't been used in a while...I've used baking soda for refreshing drinking containers...just add a little baking soda to water in the canteen and let sit for a while.

 

[Wolfmanjack]

Here's my tried & true method

Here is my method for cleaning an old, dirty, moldy, scummy canteen, flask, etc.:

1. Rinse well,​

2. fill to 1/4 with a 50/50 mixture of Clorox & water,​

3. Put in a handfull of small stainless steel nuts &/or bolts,​

4. Cover & shake for 5 min.,​

5. Let it sit for 15 min.,​

6. Repeat 4 & 5 at least 12 times,​

7. Dump out everything.​

By now, you have spent about 4 hours on this task.

8. fill to top with a 50/50 mixture of Clorox & water, cover loosely, and let it sit for 20 hrs.,​

9. Rinse well.​

10. Repeat 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 as many times as necessary.​

11. You now have a clean, sweet-smelling container.​

12. Fill with 12-year-old scotch and sip to your heart's content!​

 

[Zemke Fan]

Jack...

Better start with TWO bottles of Scotch. I'm sure you'll consume ONE while you're performing steps 1-9!

 

[Steve]

Just to clear it up, here's a shot from the website where it was bought.

And many thanks to Biltmore Bob, CasaBlancaChuck, and Wolfmanjack for their suggestions. Wolfmanjack, I plan to start on your procedure tomorrow; though I'm underage for the final step.

 

[Wolfmanjack]

Hey Paddy and Wingnut

In trade for my sage advice in this posting, I really would appreciate a reply to my thread WWII USAAF trousers, especially a reply from Paddy or Wingnut...or any others of you many WWII experts. Thanks,

 

[Wolfmanjack]

Wolfmanjack, I plan to start on your procedure tomorrow; though I'm underage for the final step.

Steve, Share step No. 12 with your grandfather. Being a 'grandpa' myself, I know he'll be delighted! Have fun.

 

[BigDuke634]

Steve, it looks to me like thats a German canteen without the cup. Usually for any canteen that I havent used in a while, I'll use a bleach/water mix and let it sit for a few days, just to clean the gunk out. I have seen a suggestion on a site that sells metal canteens to use crystalized ginger in it.

 

[John in Covina]

Is it aluminum? I seem to recall that aluminum is reactive to a lot of chemicals so you would want to be careful how you clean it. If it is stainless steel you can be more aggressive in cleaning, i think.

 

[BigDuke634]

Oops! I forgot to mention that the crystallized ginger was to improver the taste , not for the cleaning process.

 

[shamus]

There might be a plastic coating you can buy that you can coat the inside with and not have to worry about the metal taste.

 

[JD Boswell]

Rinse it our with water. Then fill it again with water and add some fizzy denture cleaner to it (Polident or the likes). Works great every time. Watch out for the clorox route as it might bleach out the wool lining. Looks like a Russian model to me. If denture cleaner doesn't work, follow the fill it full of booze route. You won't care......:beer:

Also if your cork dries out or rots, scrape it our and use a razor blade to slice the top of a champagne cork. Works like a champ!

 

[baumann]

Amazing thread on Cleaning an old canteen..

 

[green papaya]

when I was a kid I use to put cherry Kool Aid in my old WWII stainless steel canteen and put it in the refrigerator, the water tasted much better mixed with Kool Aid, the worst type of canteens were the Vietnam War style green plastic canteens, the warm water tasted like plastic.

 

[Stanley Doble]

If you want to use the tumbling method of cleaning you could wrap the canteen in several layers of bubble wrap, tie it in a pillow case and throw it in the clothes dryer for a few minutes. Be sure to turn the heat off.