Best (& Worst) Reusable Water Bottles -- Stainless Steel & Glass

April 28, 2025 // by Leah Segedie

So you’ve decided to stop drinking water from plastic water bottles. Congratulations and thank you! Now you need to find the safest non-toxic reusable water bottle in glass or stainless steel. There are so many options for eco-friendly reusable water bottles for daily use. Where are the best and safest options? You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you topics like best water filters to filter PFAS “forever chemicals,” best organic latex mattresses, and best air purifiers, now join us for an investigation on the safest non-toxic reusable water bottles made from plastic, glass, & stainless steel. Scroll to the bottom to see our recommended brands.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This post was also medically reviewed by Sondra Strand, RN, BSN, PHN.

Table of Contents

According to a report by the non-profit organization Orbmedia, standard single-use plastic bottles can hold “galaxies of microscopic plastic particles” including polypropylene, nylon, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Tests on over 250 bottles from 11 leading brands in Brazil revealed widespread contamination with plastic debris that is consumed globally every day.

Recent studies have also found microplastics — particles smaller than 5 millimeters — in the oceans, soil, air, lakes, and rivers. But the final destination could, in fact, be our human body. Microplastics are “probably in our tissues,” said Jane Muncke, managing director at the Food Packaging Forum, a research organization in Zurich, & advisor to Mamavation. “I’m sure they’re in mine.”

Why are there so many microplastic particles inside plastic water bottles? Microplastic additives have the ability to leach into the water because of time and heat. Here’s how it works:

To avoid the microplastic mess found in everyday water bottles, the best advice is to put filtered water inside a reusable water bottle made from glass or stainless steel. Don’t use standard plastic bottles for convenience because that plastic also can leach microplastics into your water.

Reusable water bottles are a great option for people who want to lessen the environmental impact of single-use plastic water bottles. They are very versatile — you can store cold drinks with ice cubes or beer or filtered water. They can even handle hot drinks. Many are vacuum-insulated and leak-proof with a lifetime warranty. If you need to drink a lot of water every day, perhaps go on a hike on your favorite trail, pick up a BPA-free insulated bottle, and throw it in your backpack on your way out the door.

Mamavation ranked over 180+ reusable water bottles and took a look at all the publicly available details online to ascertain which ones were the safest. Here are some of the attributes we looked at to make decisions in our rankings:

First, we looked into the country of origin and where the bottle was manufactured. Why does this matter? Certain countries, like China, allow for more toxic chemicals to be used in the production of stainless steel and glass. After interviewing industry experts, we discovered that most stainless steel water bottles come from China. This was disappointing.

Many things can go wrong with the production of stainless steel in places like China. Some Chinese companies were found putting Boron in their steel to earn a tax rebate and this makes the metal crack easier and is an overall safety hazard. This Boron or other alloys are often never reported. Wastewater from the coking process of steel is also highly toxic and contains a number of carcinogenic organic compounds like cyanide, sulfides, ammonium, and ammonia. Coke ovens emit air pollution such as naphthalene which is highly toxic and is linked with cancer. Most of these issues would impact Chinese workers, not American consumers.

This is helpful information for glass bottles, but not really for stainless steel bottles because you can assume your stainless steel bottle is manufactured in China (even if their website makes reference to another country). That makes sense because China manufactures 53% of the stainless steel in the world. In our investigation, we discovered through much back and forth that few brands manufactured the entire bottle within the United States. Most of the time, they are designing the bottles in the United States and then manufacture them in China.

In addition to testing, American companies are under more strict environmental guidelines than Chinese companies. Carbon emissions in China are two times greater than they are in America for the same amount of steel production which underscores the lax in regulation. Steelmakers in America spend 80 percent more per ton of steel to reduce the pollution levels in both air and water than a steelmaker in China. In other words, China has softened its environmental manufacturing laws as of late to compete with the global supply chain and dominate steel. And they have! China produces 52.6% of the world’s stainless steel, up from 12.9% in 2005.

The best types of countries to get stainless steel or glass from are the United States and Europe, however, this isn’t an option most of the time for stainless steel water bottles. But in general, purchasing less stainless steel from China (52.6%), and more from Europe (15.6%) and the United States (5.5%) will lessen the amount of pollution produced when producing stainless steel. It will cost you more because it costs more to produce. When you are offered a choice, supporting the manufacturing of one country over another helps direct more resources to the countries that reflect your environmental values. This also helps workers and keeps pollution at a minimum.

In our interview with some brands, we discovered that lots of companies would much rather go with American steel, but are limited by the manufacturing options within the United States. In other words, there isn’t a large-scale capability to make 18/8 stainless steel water bottles in the United States yet. A few brands here and there can do it somehow based on limited capacity or because they have a specialized function, but by and large, stainless steel water bottles are coming from China. This topic is quite frustrating for people who want to purchase and support American steel or who do not trust the lax regulations coming from China.

We’ve also found that some companies take liberties with how they describe where the stainless steel water bottles are coming from. You may find yourself reading about where the headquarters is located where they design the bottles and think that is where the bottles are manufactured. It can get rather confusing online and we wish it was clearer. Also, be careful of click bait advertising on Yahoo & Google that claims it’s Made in the USA. You may be accidentally buying aluminum bottles or bottles that were designed in the US, but not manufactured in the US. We found a very limited amount of companies that are manufacturing 18/8 stainless steel water bottles in the United States, Europe, or Canada.

The type of stainless steel you are using is very important because not all stainless steel is made the same. If you going to be reusing a water bottle over and over again, it’s going to need to be made of high-quality stainless steel. The vast majority of reusable stainless steel water bottles we found were made from 18/8 stainless steel.

Here is a breakdown of ALL types of steel we found for the reusable stainless steel water bottle category:

This type of steel is considered austenitic stainless steel because nickel is added to the chromium-iron alloy to produce steel that is austenitic at room temperature. It has a face-centered structure that resists corrosion and is stronger and more resistant to corrosion. It also is less likely to warp over time.

Many Asian countries, like India, rely more heavily on stainless steel for food storage in their everyday life. So in order to make this more affordable, lower grades of steel are used frequently. If you would like your reusable water bottles to last, opt for 18/8 type of stainless steel and purchase from a company that makes those details on materials clear. You’ll very rarely find reusable water bottles made from 18/10 stainless steel.

The best stainless steel water bottles are high-grade double-walled stainless steel water bottle made from 18/8 stainless steel. Bonus points if they fit into cup holders, specifically a car cup holder.

When it comes to stainless steel, nickel is added as part of the process to keep the steel reinforced and very strong. But not everyone is able to handle exposure to nickel and may have an allergy or sensitivity to the metal. When this happens we normally recommend people to opt for 430 stainless steel (also referred to as 18/0 stainless steel because it is composed of 18% chromium and 0% nickel). However, we could not find any reusable water bottles made from 430 stainless steel, so let us know if you find any.

So this time, our recommendations will be different. The easiest way to avoid problems when you are allergic or sensitive to nickel is to avoid stainless steel altogether and opt for glass instead. There are plenty of great glass bottles to choose from at the bottom of this post to carry your hot coffee or cold liquids like filtered water. (Btw, here are our favorite water filters.)

There have been many instances where stainless steel water bottles have compromised the safety of consumers by exposing them to a lead sealing dot made of lead solder, which would be located at the very bottom of the bottle. Most of the time, It’s covered up with some sort of plastic bottom, silicone covering, or sometimes even a sticker. This would present a lead poisoning opportunity if that cup experienced a failure of the seal and exposed the consumer to the lead solder sealing dot from the bottom.

If this were to happen with a child’s cup and the child stuck it in their mouth, this would expose the child to an unsafe amount of lead. On many occasions, this has happened exposing consumers and their families (mostly children).

Here are a few brands that have been implicated in such types of problems in the past:

Glass water bottles are a great alternative to the dreaded plastic water bottle. Some people have trouble with glass because it’s so fragile so many modern glass water bottles contain silicone (or plastic) sleeves to protect them from shattering. However, not all glass is the same in quality.

There are two basic grades of glass you find when you rank reusable glass water bottles.

Borosilicate glass is preferred because of how tough and “shatterproof” they are in comparison to cheaper glass, however, they are very rare and may be heavier than bottles made from soda-lime glass. Our favorite water bottles will be made of borosilicate glass and be manufactured in the USA or Europe, and have a silicone sleeve, especially when using hot water or coffee. However, some borosilicate glass water bottles made in the USA are so rare, we also allowed soda-lime glass in “best.” Some of the best travel coffee mugs are made from glass.

There are other components of your water bottle that may expose you to more mystery plastic additives like squeeze tops, spouts, straws, or mouthpieces. These parts of your water bottle are the transportation method to get the water to your mouth.

Random but interesting fact, preferences are vastly different based on the generation according to a study from WaterFilterGuru.com. Of the options squeeze-top lids, screw-top lids, & spout & straw, the different generations selected the following:

Breaking this down, the safest option is actually the screw-top because there is no plastic (or another polymer like silicone) touching the water when you are drinking. This is less of a problem in terms of water because it’s cold, but over time, this would be a concern when mystery plastic additives break down. Do not put water bottles with plastic or silicone mouthpieces in the dishwasher because the plastic and silicone will break down when exposed to the heat from the dishwasher. When these chemicals break down, they leach and expose whoever is drinking from them.

When searching for bottles for hot coffee or tea, many options exist in stainless steel and glass. One thing to note is very few brands offer products that avoid all plastic food contact. In that situation, we recommend perhaps taking the lid off and drinking your beverage that way when plastic touches your hot liquids.

One important fact to be wary of when you purchase reusable water bottles is bacteria. One study found that reusable water bottles have an average of 40,000 x more bacteria than the lid of a toilet seat. They also have 5x more bacteria than your average computer mouse.

Did you need another reminder to make sure your water bottles are clean? When your reusable water bottle is full of bacteria, it can emit an odd odor. Don’t let it get that far. Make sure to wash your water bottle more frequently.

Reusable water bottles are mostly dishwasher-safe (however, we don’t recommend putting reusable water bottles with any plastic components in the dishwasher) or can be cleaned simply with a bottle brush and dish soap (we prefer these dish soaps) and some warm water. You also want to ensure other parts are clean like the mouthpiece, flex cap, screw top, seal, or carrying handle are all washed as well. If you are putting your stainless steel or glass water bottle in the dishwasher, we recommend these safer dishwashing detergents & rinse aids.

A few weeks ago, a community member asked us about reusable stainless steel water bottle finishes and if they could leach mystery chemical additives if placed into the dishwasher. We had not considered this before, so we looked into coatings and what they were made from. We found that many “powder-coated materials” affixed to steel by the stainless steel water bottle industry are made from polyester, polyurethane, acrylics, and epoxy resins. The question now becomes, can these coatings leach off the water bottle and onto your other dishes in the dishwasher? And what are the implications of this new piece of information?

We reached out to our friends at the Food Packaging Forum for some direction on that question, and the answer was that it’s very possible for coatings on stainless steel to leach, especially if you have put them regularly in the dishwasher. Although no studies have been done on this situation with stainless steel water bottles in the dishwasher, we can abide by some basic rules about polymers to guide us. Powder-coated materials fall into a few categories: thermosets, thermoplastics, and UV curable powder coatings. They vary in how they are made and what types of inputs are needed for processing, but generally, they can leach. Bottom line: Anything made from plastic or a type of polymer can leach when placed into the dishwasher over time. The exposure to the hot water and other chemicals present can break down the plastics over repeated washings. Therefore, the coatings on stainless steel water bottles can do the same. So, what are the general recommendations?

Please note that not all coatings are made from “powder-coated materials,” but this is actually the most popular type of coating used by stainless steel water bottle manufacturers. We’ve included in our investigation which reusable stainless steel water bottles have coatings and which do not. We recommend you do not place the ones with a coating into the dishwasher, but they are not in direct contact with your water when you drink it.

This list includes plastic water bottles. We do not recommend you drink water from plastic because of the mystery additives that may become part of your water when they leach over time.

Mamavation does not recommend storing water in plastic containers, especially when alternatives are so readily available. Plastic has the ability to leach mystery additives and microplastic particles into our drinking water.

This category of water bottles is better, but not the best. There are no plastic water bottles in this category. What is included is glass and stainless steel that STILL expose you to microplastics. The glass water bottles have plastic straws or expose you to plastic in the water spout area. The stainless steel water bottles are also exposing you to plastic around the mouthpieces (plastic water spout). For most of these products, simply removing the spout every time you drink would work. For others, we are recommending a stainless steel or glass straw.

Most of these glass water bottles were manufactured in China, but they also have plastic water spouts so they are technically still exposing you to plasticizers. This may leach over time and use. Please note that glass needs to be handled carefully, or it may break.

These stainless steel water bottles are all made in China with 18/8 stainless steel, but please note that China dominates steel so 18/8 waterbottles are not really produced elsewhere at the moment. This may change in the future. However, most of these products expose you to plasticizers based on how they deliver the water to you–with a plastic spout. If you remove the spout and drink, you’ll be fine. We may also be recommending stainless steel or glass straws.

The best reusable stainless steel and glass water bottles will be found in this category. All glass water bottles are made in the USA or Europe from borosilicate glass or soda lime glass. Stainless steel water bottles are made from mostly 18/8 stainless steel. What was even more important here was the water spout and if it was made from a type of plastic or silicone. We promoted water bottles that had screw-top lids instead because that is less of an exposure for microplastics. We also separated the stainless steel water bottles for you in categories of coatings vs. no coatings.

These glass water bottles were manufactured in the USA or Europe (some in China). However, they all have the safest access to the water with little to no plastic. Materials are made from borosilicate glass or soda lime glass. Please note that glass needs to be handled carefully, or it may break.

These stainless steel water bottles are made from mostly 18/8 stainless steel. Some water bottle companies are claiming some of their parts are made in the USA. However, it’s likely that most stainless steel is manufactured in China. What we also pulled into this category were Screw-Top Lids, which are the safest type of lid. Please notice we have separated stainless steel water bottles into two groups: one with coatings and one without coatings. Please do not place any water bottle with coatings in the dishwasher.