Are yousaying there's noway to know with xtol?
And that soda/water bottles don't serve the purpose reused for storing xtol?
There is no visual way to tell if Xtol is alive or not. You either make sure it's fresh, or you test it, or you find a container that you know you can trust.
Soda bottles are PETE, which is OK - it's used for soda precisely because it doesn't diffuse gas, otherwise your drinks would go rapidly flat on the shelf. So it's also good at keeping oxygen out.
brian steinberger said:
What's wrong with the accordian style bottles? I've been using those for years with ID-11. They are so convenient for pushing out air after each use. Never had a failure.
Apart from the fact that they're practically impossible to clean, oxygen diffuses right through them. ID-11 is extremely robust and if you don't keep it for a super long time it won't die in there.