care and use

Your Klean Kanteen® is made from thick, 18/8 (#304) stainless steel and is designed to be lightweight yet extremely durable. If you take care of it, it may very well last your lifetime.

Here are a few tips to help keep your bottle fresh and clean over the long haul.

Washing Your Bottles and Caps

Kanteen® Classic and Wide bottles in Brushed Stainless are dishwasher safe. We recommend handwashing colored bottles and Insulated bottles.
Classic Loop and Sport Caps made of polypropylene (pp#5), and the Wide Café Cap are dishwasher safe. All Classic and Wide caps with stainless steel on the inside should be handwashed. The Classic polypropylene Flat Cap should also be handwashed. An easy way to remember is that if your cap is all plastic and hollow on the inside, it can go in the dishwasher. Otherwise, handwash it.
For daily cleaning, just rinse your bottle with warm, soapy and let it drain and dry in your dish rack with the mouth downward so water can drain out.
For thorough cleaning, you can use warm, soapy water and a bottle brush. We also recommend an old-fashioned cleaner: diluted vinegar or water and baking soda.

Protecting the Paint on Colored Bottles

When we debuted our colored bottles, the most important thing to us at Klean Kanteen® was to find a safe and durable paint that also looked dynamite. We reviewed and tested dozens of different paints and selected an acrylic paint that contains no toxins or lead.

Just like anything that’s painted, it is possible to chip or scratch the paint on your colored Klean Kanteen® bottles. To prolong the life of your paint, handwash your bottle and don’t use abrasive agents to clean it.

Colored Bottles and Kids or Toddlers

We've also heard from some parents that their child has chewed on a colored bottle and ingested some of the paint. If this happens, don't worry, the paint is perfectly safe. Though our paint is safe, we recommend our stainless steel finish bottles for small children who like to chew on things.

FAQs about Using and Cleaning Your Klean Kanteen®

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Can I fill a Klean Kanteen® with acidic beverages such as apple juice or orange juice?

Yes. Acidic beverages will not corrode or damage the high-quality stainless steel.

Can I use a Klean Kanteen® for milk, breast milk or formula?

Absolutely. Your Klean Kanteen® is food-grade stainless steel, the same stuff they use in the dairy industry.

Can I use a Klean Kanteen® for carrying alcohol?

Yes. In fact, we make a special bottle, the Wine Karafe™, designed just for wine. We've also heard that many people use the 12oz bottles to carry spirits or the 64oz Wide as a Growler for a tasty half gallon of beer.

Do Klean Kanteens® sweat?

It depends on which bottle style you're using. Our Classic and Wide lines are single-walled.If you have a cold drink in them and it's hot out, you're going to have condensation build-up on the bottle.

Our Wide Insulated bottles are made using durable, double-walled construction and vacuum insulation, which has amazing insulating properties. Because they're insulated, these bottles will not have condensation build-up on the outside, regardless of what's inside them or the temperature outside.

The best solution to naturally occurring condensation on Classic and Wide bottles is to put your Klean Kanteen® in an insulated sleeve such as the insulated totes made by our partner, Built®. Whatever size Klean Kanteen® you prefer, there's a Built® tote in a color and style you'll love. Check them out on our accessories page.

Can I put hot liquids in my Klean Kanteen® or use it like a thermos?

If you have a Kanteen® Wide Insulated bottle, absolutely! Our high-performance, double-walled, vacuum insulated bottles are designed to function as a thermos, a to-go mug and food storage container and will keep contents hot or cold for up to six hours and iced drinks chilly for up to 24.

We do not recommend using single-walled Klean Kanteen® Classic or Wide bottles for hot beverages because you can burn yourself. Warm beverages can be used at your own personal comfort level. They're fine for cold beverages, but unlike the Insulated Kanteen®, condensation will form on the outside.

Can I put my Klean Kanteen® in the freezer?

No. The force of liquids expanding as they freeze can cause your Klean Kanteen® to become deformed and can also break the weld that holds the bottle together, so we strongly advise against it. Freezing any Klean Kanteen® (Classic, Wide or Insulated) will void the one-year warranty against manufacturer defects.

Can I put my Klean Kanteen® on a stove?

In a pinch, single-walled Kanteen® Classic and Wide bottles with the Brushed Stainless finish can be placed on a fire or a stove as long as you take the cap off. Do not do this with a colored bottle, as it will damage the paint.

But it's VERY important that you know what kind of bottle you have because this is absolutely NOT an option with an Insulated Kanteen®. Heating a Kanteen® Wide Insulated will damage the bottle and voids the one-year warranty.

It's pretty easy to tell what kind of bottle you have, even if you've had your bottle so long the logo's worn off. Insulated bottles only come in the wide-mouth design, so if you have a Classic, a bottle with a long neck and a small rolled lip at the edge, you have a Classic. Insulated bottles also have a separate, extra shiny piece at the bottom and come in different sizes (12oz, 16oz, and 20oz) than the single-walled Wide bottles (12oz, 18oz, 27oz, 40oz and 64oz).

How do I clean my Klean Kanteen® and my caps?

Kanteen® Classic and Wide bottles in Brushed Stainless are dishwasher safe. We recommend handwashing colored bottles and Insulated bottles.

Classic Loop and Sport Caps made of polypropylene (pp#5), and the Wide Café Cap are dishwasher safe. The Café Cap is also dishwasher safe and the rotating piece on the top also pops out for thorough cleaning.

All Classic and Wide caps with stainless steel on the inside should be handwashed. The Classic polypropylene Flat Cap should also be handwashed. An easy way to remember is that if your cap is all plastic and hollow on the inside, it can go in the dishwasher. Otherwise, handwash it.

For daily cleaning, just rinse your bottle with warm, soapy water and let it drain and dry in your dish rack with the mouth downward so water can drain out.

For thorough cleaning, you can use warm, soapy water and a bottle brush. We also recommend an old-fashioned cleaner: diluted vinegar or water and baking soda.

Visit our Care & Use page for more information.

I left my Klean Kanteen® in my car and it froze. Now the bottom is bulging out. Is there any way to fix it?

Freezing your Klean Kanteen® voids the one-year warranty because the expansion of the water can put so much force on the steel that it causes it to bulge or even split at the weld. Sometimes nothing at all happens. It depends on whether the cap was on, and how much liquid was in the Kanteen®.

But you're not the first person to accidentally freeze liquid in your bottle. It's still safe to drink from it, and freezing the bottle does not alter the safety or composition of the food-grade stainless steel in any way.

If the bottom of your bottle has become deformed due to freezing, it's usually pretty easy to pop it back into place. First try putting the mouth of the bottle on a flat surface and pushing on the bottom of the bottle with the palm of your hand.

If that doesn't work, flip it over and put the bottom of the bottle on a hard, completely flat surface. Take the cap off and put a board or a book on top of the opening. Then push straight down onto the bottle using your body weight.

In many cases this will flatten out the bottom of your bottle.

You can also use a rubber mallet, but we DO NOT recommend trying to bang out the dents with a hammer as it tends to cause more damage. If nothing you try works, you can also send it back to us and we'll do our best to repair it for you. If you choose this option, call (800) 767-3173 and ask for the repairs department or email original@kleankanteen.com.

I dropped my Klean Kanteen® and dented it. Is there any way to get the dents out?

Klean Kanteen® bottles are made of heavy gauge stainless steel and outperform all other metal bottles in independent tests. But they can dent if you drop them. Our one-year warranty covers manufacturer's defects only, not damage caused by using or dropping your bottle.

If you dropped your bottle and dented it, odds are the dent is inward. In some cases you can put a wooden dowel or a wooden kitchen spoon inside the bottle and tap on the other end with a hammer to push the dent out. DO NOT use a metal object to bang the dent outward as the metal can get inside your Kanteen®. You can also further damage or even puncture your bottle.

Even if you've dented your bottle, it's still totally safe and free of harmful substances. Because every Klean Kanteen® made if 18/8 food-grade stainless steel through and through with no liner on the inside, a dent, no matter how large, will not change the composition of the metal.

For More Information

Check out our complete FAQs page for other commonly asked questions about our products, including functionality, care and maintenance, warranty, health and safety, and more.