Frustrated with water spray bottles

[zeuspaul]

I get maybe a year from a water spray bottle before it stops working properly even with a clean nozzle.

I had the bright idea of using a salt shaker filled with water. I have several sizes and they have different affects. Not as good as a spray but better because they always work.

Then I got to thinking what is wrong with the spray bottle? I placed a couple of drops of olive oil on the plunger and bingo it works like new
.
.

spray bottle.jpg

[worth1]

I get maybe a year from a water spray bottle before it stops working properly even with a clean nozzle.

I had the bright idea of using a salt shaker filled with water. I have several sizes and they have different affects. Not as good as a spray but better because they always work.

Then I got to thinking what is wrong with the spray bottle? I placed a couple of drops of olive oil on the plunger and bingo it works like new
.
.

spray bottle.jpg

Yep.
Sometimes the whole mechanism gets jammed up.
I use a product called CRC-226.
It's a food grade light mineral oil you can find in the electrical section at Home Depot.
I've used it for close to 30 years.
A thousand uses and it won't polymerise like vegetable oil.
A cheaper pharmaceutical grade mineral oil can be found at any grocery store in the pharmacy laxative section.
It's just thicker.
I use it on my cutting boards.

[GoDawgs]

Thanks for the plunger tip. I'll have to try that next time. Usually the problem with mine is that it starts leaking onto my hand when I squeeze the trigger. I've not been able to fix that. Lately I've been buying a slightly heavier duty kind that says on the bottle it's for use with chemicals and cleaning supplies. They seem to last longer but I can never get more than one season out of them.

On the other hand, my 2 gallon sprayer has been in use for about four years now. I quit being lazy and do the triple rinse after each use, pressurizing it on the third rinse to clear the tube and nozzle. It's kept it working fine, just a little lube needed on the plunger now and then.

[Ozarker]

I’d struggled with spray bottles for forever, and then a couple years back my wife picked up a 2-pack of very cheap spray bottles at a huge and chintzy retailer we try not to frequent but can’t entirely avoid living where we do. Those dang things have been both highly functional and indestructible. I can only assume that we got lucky. Hopefully posting about it hasn’t ruined it.

[Mark_Thompson]

I just got these a week or two ago. I had the same frustrations so trying to find a higher quality bottle. By the time I've run them through their paces for a few years to test longevity this thread will probably be long buried unfortunately...

[JRinPA]

Yep.
Sometimes the whole mechanism gets jammed up.
I use a product called CRC-226.
It's a food grade light mineral oil you can find in the electrical section at Home Depot.
I've used it for close to 30 years.
A thousand uses and it won't polymerise like vegetable oil.
A cheaper pharmaceutical grade mineral oil can be found at any grocery store in the pharmacy laxative section.
It's just thicker.
I use it on my cutting boards.

okay. crc-226.
how bout trolling motor shafts? Fiberglass mk shaft in a hard plastic sleeve/bushing.

[worth1]

Yep.
Sometimes the whole mechanism gets jammed up.
I use a product called CRC-226.
It's a food grade light mineral oil you can find in the electrical section at Home Depot.
I've used it for close to 30 years.
A thousand uses and it won't polymerise like vegetable oil.
A cheaper pharmaceutical grade mineral oil can be found at any grocery store in the pharmacy laxative section.
It's just thicker.
I use it on my cutting boards.

okay. crc-226.
how bout trolling motor shafts? Fiberglass mk shaft in a hard plastic sleeve/bushing.

It would probably free it up

[friedgreen51]

This is a really good spray bottle that I picked up at Wal-Mart for a little less than $4.
Super happy with it.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bottle-Crew- ... hbdg=L1102

[GoDawgs]

@friedgreen51 , I think that's the one that Pickles got the other day to replace my leaky one. So far, so good! Works really well so we'll see about the longevity.