How to Clean your Hip Flask

Hip flasks come in all shapes and sizes and in a variety of coverings. If your flask is clad in leather, cork or vinyl, it's worth taking a few precautionary steps in the care of your flask which I have outlined later in this article.

Hopefully your hip flask came with a funnel (all of our flasks come with a funnel as standard) as this can really help with the general cleaning of it as well as decanting your precious spirits into the flask. 

1 - Pop your funnel into the mouth piece of your hip flask and slowly pour cold water into the funnel. This needs to be done with a low flow so that the funnel doesn't fill with water. 

2 - Once the flask is about half full, remove the funnel and twist the cap back on the flask.

3 - Give your flask a nice shake, shake, shake! 

4 - Unscrew the cap and pour the water down the sink. Repeat if needed. 

5 - Leave the flask with the lid off to air dry.

Does your flask need some TLC after being left for some time?

If it has been some time since you have cleaned your flask, or the last time you used it you forgot to give it a rinse or you are just a little worried about bacteria - you can use a quarter of a Milton tablet in your flask to sterilise it. It should only take about 15 minutes and leave to air dry as usual.

How to clean your Hôrd Leather Flask - Is your flask covered in leather, cork or another material?

- We advise above to use cold water and this is most true for flasks that are clad in different materials. As a lot of these materials react differently to hot temperatures, to prevent damage to the exterior we highly recommend sticking with cold water and sterilising tablets. 

- If you've got the flask covering damp whilst trying to clean it or fill it, wipe gently with a dry cloth if it is water and a damp cloth if it is a spirit (followed by a dry cloth) This is to prevent the liquid soaking in and any potential staining. Allow the flask to dry naturally and don't pop it on a radiator or use a heat source to force it dry, as this could shrink the covering.

- If the flask has got saturated, do as above and allow the flask to dry out naturally. Some materials are clad to the flask with adhesives and once wet that adhesive can soften and allow the covering to move. If this happens, leave it to dry naturally letting the adhesive dry out and keep the material in place once again. If the material has started peeling away due to over saturation, gently move the material back in place and allow to dry. 

We hope the above gives you a bit of encouragement that not all is lost if you've neglected your flask for some time and that with the above knowledge you're now ready for some adventures!