Are you cleaning your water bottle enough?

IMO the best way to go is a borosilicate glass bottle (handles frequent scrubbing and cleaning agents without problems) with a simple cap (no straw or sippy, mold/bacteria grows in there and it is impossible to clean out fully) a wide mouth (for easily getting a normal sized bottle brush inside) and with a fabric or rubber sleeve to avoid cracking when it inevitably gets bumped. Even then you'll need to occasionally check under the O-ring gasket in the cap for any bacterial growth; there's nothing like prying the gasket out and finding a couple of colonies of black mold staring back at you (ick) to ruin your day. Yes, it's heavy but most of us aren't using them in a situation where saving every gram counts.

I didn’t know there were still bottles using BPA, is that true?

We are a big Nalgene bottle family, as the wide mouths are easy to drink and clean from, and the caps are attached since our children would lose them instantly.

I’ve always had side eye to narrow mouths bottles, even Nalgene because it’s hard to clean without a brush.

I like the idea of stainless steel bottles a great deal, but a few detriments. The greatest is since they are have a steel to plastic/silicone interface they are harder to seal tight — always seem to leak. They also all tend to be made in China, and I’m unclear if they are coated inside or if the plastic cap is BPA free — Nalgene are US made by a scientific supply company which makes plastics for labs, so content is very controlled. Even though microplastics probably still issue with Titan polyester bottles.

Plastic bottles are also much cheaper and lighter, as for kids to carry around and frequently lose.

I’m not sure if sanitizing plastic is good or not — I remember dishwashing trigger BPA release from the polycarbonate Nalgenes.

So soapy hot water and let it sit for ten minutes, rinse, and air dry. Will give it a try!