I think whats underestimated most by new mothers is how difficult but mostly annoying it is to clean bottles. Your hand can’t fit through the neck so you need something else that will. Fortunately and unfortunately, there are tons of options when choosing bottle brushes. The only problem with that is, with so many choices, which one do you pick? We compiled a list of the top 5 most popular baby bottle brushes below.
And if your looking for a baby bottle to match we reviewed our favorite Philips Avent Glass Bottle to so check it out!
Let’s start with the basics:
Whats the best way to clean a baby’s bottle?
You want to make sure you don’t leave it dirty, not even for a minute! If you finish feeding your baby and forget it on your counter, you’ll have quite a clean up waiting for you later.
The milk will have caked onto the bottle and you’ll have a crusty layer that can leave you huffing and puffing.
You need a brush to get through the neck of the bottle to scrub it clean before you can use it again. Most importantly the brush needs to be stiff yet flexible to get the job done right.
There are a few key factors to look for in a brush:
Length
The brush should be long enough to reach the bottom of your bottle while still giving enough handle space for ease of movement.
Bristles
The best brushes have a mix of bristles. Soft, for gentle cleaning and hard, to scrape of left overs.
Non-Slip Handle
Imagine trying to clean a bottle while your hands are slipping of the brush. Trust me you’ll thank me for this later, always go with non slip. Always!
Sponge Tip
You’ll notice some brushes have a sponge tip that makes it easy to scrub of build up with just a twist. This could be a catch-22, they do work and its simple to use. But you must clean the brush well after every use because junk will build up pretty fast on that spongy tip. Also because of its nature it will tear of chunks of the sponge with repeated use.
Flexible neck
A flexible neck makes it easier to move and twirl the brush inside the bottle especially when trying to reach spots a regular brush can’t.
Okay now keeping those key points in mind, lets look at the top 5 baby bottle brushes:
OXO Tot Bottle Brush with Nipple Cleaner And Stand
This is THE bush! It has all you features you want and need to keep bottles spotless. The OXO’s brush head is fuller than that of other brushes and in testing it made more suds and scrubbed bottles more thoroughly than its competitors. It has two different types of bristles. So whether you need a gentle clean or something to scrub-a-dub-dub this brush lets you do it all.
At 12 inches long with a flexible neck and non slip grip, it makes it a more practical length than others allowing for easy maneuvering and an easy clean.
My favorite part is, it comes with a cute stand which you could put by your sink or as I like to call it the washing center for easy access.
PlayTex SmartSpace Baby Bottle Brush
This brush stands out due to the nipple brush.
The nipple brush has soft bristles on every side for effective and efficient cleaning that won’t tear up nipples like many other brushes do.
Apart from the nipple brush, the bottle brush is soft and has wide bristles making it easy to get into the inner ridges of bottles. It has a non slip grip and an ergonomic design which makes it comfortable to hold during those lengthy washing periods.
Philips AVENT Bottle And Nipple Brush
Best Brush for everyday use
The everyday brush. We all have a few cleaning brushes in our kitchens. Something that could scrub pots, pans, dishes, etc. Philips created an everyday brush that you can use for your dishes and baby bottles, it’s a two-in-one.
It has a curved brush head, comfortable for cleaning rounded sections of baby bottles and an attached molded tip for cleaning nipples.
The brushes are durable enough to withstand daily use but soft enough so they don’t scratch bottles or nipples.
The major con of this brush is that it wont fit into small bottles and the bristles are one sided vs the more popular choice of being all around.
My opinion on this brush is that if you want to declutter and have just one cleaning brush in the kitchen instead of a multitude of them, this is for you. I personally like this brush but since I don’t mind having a few different ones I would choose a different brush specifically for baby bottles.
Munchkin Sponge Bottle Brush
Narrow bottles call for the munchkin brush.
This brush is on the thinner side allowing you to clean up narrow bottles with ease. It comes with a stand, however, the stand does not have a suction cup making it easy to tip over.
Theres a nipple brush attachment stored in the handle end of the brush.
Over all this brush gets a thumbs up for for fitting into narrow bottles and cleaning them out. Unfortunately the metal end of the brush isn’t well covered with the sponge meaning you will eventually end up scratching the bottle.
Dr. Brown’s Bottle Brush
This brush has both a sponge and bristles making hard to reach crevices reachable and cleanable. The brush cleans well but don’t expect to have it long term. Roughly every month to two months it will have to be replaced due to tearing of the sponge and bending of the metal body.
This brush also has a non-slip handle and an attached nipple cleaner at the base.
The bottom line of this brush is: it is much cheaper than most brushes available but you will also have to replace it quite often. The stand is rather comfortable and doesn’t get knocked of the counter due to the suction cup on the bottom.
…And The WINNER is:
OXO Tot Bottle Brush with Nipple Cleaner And Stand
Having two types of bristles allows for a deep clean every-time. It does a great job cleaning a bottle that your baby just finished or cleaning a bottle that was left and forgotten for a couple of days.
The flexibility of the neck allows you to reach in every nook and canny and the flexibility of the silicon nipple cleaner is gentle enough not to cause any tear.
The stand allows for easy storage and you can be rest assured that it isn’t picking up any unwanted germs from the kitchen counter. Not that there would be any germs on the kitchen counter regardless but still, just incase.