Cleaning water cooler style dishes

Hey y'all... I know I haven't been on here in FOREVER - been really busy sorry!

I ran into an issue today though... Oliver has the Le Bistro blue water-cooler style food and water dishes... I went to clean and refill the water one today and noticed there's nasty crap developing inside the reservoir part... I did the best I could with hot soapy water and a bottle-brush type thing (it's meant for fish tank cleaning) but I couldn't get it all... does anyone have any good ways of cleaning these things? I know the dishwasher doesn't really do much... I'd rather not have to buy a new one since I just lost my job last month thanks to the economy...

Thanks in advance!

I'm sorry to hear about your job.

For the Le Bistro, can you tell if it's hard water or just slimey stuff? If it's hard water, a good soak in vinegar can take care of it. If it's slimey stuff that can develop in fountains, I use a little bleach, and hot soapy (dish soap) water, and soak for at least 1/2 hour before scrubbing. It usually works. My sister was able to save her Drinkwell using these methods (she was going to throw it out if she couldn't get the slime/buildup out).

Edit: I got an almost free Drinkwell at a rummage sale for my MIL's cat and did the same cleaning methods. That thing was NASTY, and I got it sparkling clean.

Yeah, it's slimy stuff (think fish tank-ish kind of build up)... it would come off simply with scrubbing but it's almost impossible to get in there to scrub because of the design (it looks exactly like a jug of water that would be used on a human water cooler, just smaller)... idk if just soaking it would help or if anyone has ideas of ways to get in there to scrub...

I soak our fountain in vinegar about every 2-3 weeks. It gets rid of all the buildup and should do away with the slimy stuff as well.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I soak our fountain in vinegar about every 2-3 weeks. It gets rid of all the buildup and should do away with the slimy stuff as well.

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A good long soak takes care of a lot. I discovered that because I have a habit of running hot soapy water with bleach or vinegar, putting the fountain in, and then forgetting I have something in the sink.

Thanks... next time it needs to be cleaned/filled I'll try a vinegar soak on it and see if just soaking it will clear it up

I used to use hot soapy water in it - fill to about halfway, cover the top with my hand and shake it really hard and that usually worked to break loose anything in there and then rinse it out.

So if the vinegar/soaking doesn't do it for you, you could try that.

I just changed to stainless silver, I got sick of all the deep cleaning with plastic and felt like I could never get it all.

Originally Posted by CruiserMaiden

I used to use hot soapy water in it - fill to about halfway, cover the top with my hand and shake it really hard and that usually worked to break loose anything in there and then rinse it out.

So if the vinegar/soaking doesn't do it for you, you could try that.

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I do that every time I clean it and it does squat to get rid of the slime lol


I don't want to switch to just bowls cuz I hafta refill them too often... he also has 2 big ceramic soup mugs in other places in the house that he drinks from (and the dog shares for whatever reason... her big Lab head barely fits in them)... also this bowl is in my room (since he gets shut in with me at night) and a regular bowl would no doubt get flipped ALL the time in that location...

I'd try the soaking process to get rid of the gunk...with my Platinum Drinkwell, I've noticed if I change out the water weekly, and use distilled water (about a dollar a gallon, which seems to last the week just fine for my two), I don't have slime or hard water issues. Good luck!

Unfortunately, things like bottled water for pets can't really be worked into the budget when I'm without a job and denied unemployment and owing tons on student loans... my parents are helping tons with buying kibble and all, but tap water it is for the critters (no worries, the fish tanks and hermit crabs have additives for tap water to make it safe) and most times I'll give them Brita water if I can... we don't really have a problem with hard water, it's just the slime build up in this particular dish...

How often are you washing out the water cooler and replacing the water?