Misting bottles.

Can anybody recommend a good misting bottle? For years I've always used old rinsed out kitchen and bathroom spray bottles. But I got fed up of the spray nozzles failing, which they always do!

My thought was that they aren't really designed for years of very regular use, only for the duration of how long it takes to use the cleansing product within, which usually isn't long.

Anyway, I thought if I bought one from an actual garden centre they'd be up to the task of daily use, but I was wrong!!

My experience with spray/misting bottles, where ever they are from, is that they are absolutely crap!! Surely there is a heavier duty, more robust, more durable bottle out there somewhere?

Help!

 

The cheap plastic ones do wear out pretty fast I find, but I've tried slightly more expensive ones and they have been worse.
I just go cheap and nasty and am prepared to just throw them away when they wear out.

 

I think this is the way forward for me, rather than try and find a long lasting misting bottle.

The one I bought at the garden centre was £2.75 and lasted two weeks!!

The cheap and nasty ones from the supermarket are cheaper than that....and you get cleaning products in them too...double prizes!! Lol.

 

Well I dont use the ones that come with cleaning products in but I use the ones you can get from garden centres for a pound or two, I find they last longer than 2 weeks, more like 6 months, and that is often because they get green slime in them and get clogged up.

 

I use ones that have contained 'other' stuff as well. Thoroughly washed out they're quite fine....although some of my house plants are a bit streak free and lemony fresh!

 

I'm glad it's not just me that has this problem! I had a garden centre one where the bottle was nice and sturdy, but the spray part failed. Fortunately a leftover pump spray from a bottle of Lidl bathroom cleaner screwed neatly on instead, so that's what I'm using now. I'll keep the pump from the next bottle of cleaner now, to have a spare on hand - I have to take them out anyway, before sending the bottle part for recycling.

 

It's all rather ironic this really. I work in plastics recycling and I get various "waste" products over my desk to evaluate their suitability for recycling.

A few months ago I had a selection of old spray bottles given to me to test. They came from a potential supplier in Ireland who had about 6 articulated wagons full of these spray bottles all boxed up.

The bodies of the bottles were fine, they're just HDPE and easy to recycle. But the spray nozzles, when taken apart, are a mixture of different plastic parts, and metal springs. It would have been nigh on impossible to recycle them successfully so we passed the opportunity up.

The working part of the spray nozzle, the part which takes the most stick, are little flimsy silicon and/or rubber diaphragms. They seem to be the parts that would perish first, rendering the bottle useless. This, it seems, is why we all have a fast turnover of bottles.

If we could have found a way to recycle those 6 loads of bottles I would have put a few boxes to one side and more or less given myself a lifetime supply of free spray bottles!! Damn it, lol.

 

I use Cif kitchen cleaner refillable spray and have had the bottles (2) since before pandemic, just buying refills.

The spray mechanisms are still perfect, and it says on the bottle that should the spray mechanism fail I can get a replacement for free.

Personally I'd be wary of using old chemical bottles for spraying delicate plants but these bottles and spray mechanisms at least seem very sturdy.

My houseplant misting bottle is from IKEA, it has lasted for around two years now. It's slimline so fits my hand well and doesn't take too much space on the shelf it lives on.

When I grow up I will buy one of those Victorian looking glass things with brass mechanism- they are awfully pretty!

 

The cause of failure of trigger spray bottles is the valve ball/spring which lightly rusts and sticks. You may notice that many of these have a moulded 'horn' where you place your hand to operate the spray. If you turn the bottle and strike the 'horn' against a hard surface, this will shock the ball and move it so as to allow it to function again.

 

Apparently, so my wife informed me, the spray bottles which hairdressers use when wetting hair prior to cutting, are far superior to your bog standard spray bottle. I don't know about this at all.

But I shall investigate the matter further. We have a mobile hairdresser who comes to our house to cut my son's hair. I shall interrogate her to within an inch of her life until I have answers.

 

I use a litre tesco branded empty bottle and its great. Feels quite sturdy and you can adjust the spray nozzle which screws to different finenesses.
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/280370668

The smaller one is pretty flimsy though.