Are All SodaStream Bottles Interchangeable? [Caution]

The SodaStream drink maker is a remarkable piece of equipment.

It can allow you to make custom carbonated beverages or sparkling waters, dispensing them into pre-sized slim bottles designed to fit securely beneath their carbonating nozzles.

The bottles are designed to form a tight seal to prevent carbonation levels from leaking. SodaStream offers several different bottle sizes or types for variety or design purposes.

So are all SodaStream bottles interchangeable?

In short, no. The standard plastic bottles that come with most SodaStream purchases are versatile and can be used by most others, but a few machines are designed for use with only a certain type of bottle.

Some custom soda machines are built with carbonator nozzles that only work with bottles of a particular height or shape.

This prevents the standard bottle from being used effectively with their apparatuses, so you must purchase the special bottles to use those machines as intended.

Overall, figuring out the type of bottle that works best for your machine is simple.

Even if you have a SodaStream machine that accepts versatile plastic water bottles, higher-quality bottle materials can improve your entire bottle’s life span or make them more stylish and aesthetically pleasing.

Do SodaStream Bottle Size Fit All Machines?

The answer is more complicated but can essentially be summarized as it depends. Certain bottles are usable with virtually every SodaStream sparkling water maker, while others have much more limited use and are restricted to functioning among certain models.

You’re probably thinking what would happen if you used a regular bottle anyway?  Check out my post on that here.

The plastic SodaStream bottles that come with most standard purchases are interchangeable with every beverage maker.

This default plastic carbonating bottle is meant to be cheap and interchangeable for a reason; you practically get it for free, so the manufacturer doesn’t spend a lot of money making sure it’s the best of the best.

Other kinds of bottles that have more dollars funneled into their construction and design will necessarily be of a much higher quality but are also limited to certain SodaStream models.

For instance, the glass bottles you can purchase online can only be used with the Aqua Fizz and Penguin SodaStream machines.

The Aqua Fizz machine is specifically shaped only to be used with the glass carafe style of the bottle with water and has a much more stylish aesthetic and dispensing apparatus. It lets out less level of carbonation than other soda maker models.

The SodaStream Penguin works much the same way and is shaped like the bird of its namesake.

Since it has a descending top to seal in the water and carbonation, you must use the glass carafe bottle.

The descending seal prevents messes from spilling onto your counter when you use the machine.

In addition, slim plastic bottles are compatible only with One Touch, Splash Play, Fizzi, and Power SodaStream sparkling water makers.

These machines are similar to the main soda maker model and are usually fairly lightweight and easy to use.

These are meant to be used with slim plastic bottles or standard-size bottles that can hold a 1-Liter bottle of water.

Some machines, like the Crystal, can’t accept 0.5 L plastic bottles, but most that take standard-size bottles will be able to accept this size.

Why Don’t Some SodaStream Glass Bottles Fit Some Machines?

The reasons for different bottles fitting different machines lie in their construction and design. Certain SodaStream machines have carbonate or carbonation nozzles that are only sized to receive bottle openings of a certain shape or height.

For instance, the Aqua Fizz has a closing apparatus that descends on the lower opening of the glass carafe bottle.

This descending apparatus would run into the top of the standard SodaStream bottle, and it has to be closed for the levels of carbonation or carbonation process to begin.

In other cases, the top of the soda maker machine doesn’t descend, but the 0.5 L bottles are too small to reach the carbonator nozzle easily.

While it’s theoretically possible to hold up a 0.5 L bottle to the nozzle by hand, this is naturally unsteady and a recipe for a mess if you’re not careful.

How Big Is a Sodastream Bottle?

To begin, there’s the default plastic SodaStream bottle.

This is typically 1 L in soda stream bottle size, so it can hold a decent amount of soda before needing to be refilled. While this plastic is hardly the highest quality available, it is BPA-free, meaning it’s made without the same harmful chemicals and compounds found in many plastic products across industries.

You can also get plastic SodaStream-compatible bottles in .5 L sizes.

These are ideal if you find yourself trying to reduce the amount of soda you consume in a day. It’s helpful to trick your psyche into thinking you consume the entire soda even though you cut it in half.

These 0.5 L sized bottles come in several different sizes and some of them have different caps from one another.

More interesting is the stainless steel SodaStream bottle compatibility. The stainless-steel version has a bottle cap and bottom made of stainless steel material. Stainless steel is well known for its hypoallergenic qualities and durability.

Stainless steel is used for many products across industries since it doesn’t easily suffer from rust damage and maintains its shape and look for a long time, even under heavy use.

The middle of the stainless-steel bottle is also made of BPA-free plastic, and you can get a version of this bottle that is compatible with almost every soda maker machine. The Penguin and Crystal models are the only machines it’s incompatible with.

A secondary version of this stainless-steel bottle is slimmer and looks much more stylish, but with the downside of only being compatible with the machine’s SodaStream Source, Play, and Power models.

Unlike the slim plastic bottles, the stainless-steel bottle is incompatible with the One Touch machine.

You can get a 0.5 L stainless steel bottle as well. Of the 0.5 L bottles, the plastic ones can be bought in packs of two, so there’s good value for money in those purchases if you are trying to service a household with soda instead of just yourself.

Many of these bottles come in various colors, such as green, red, yellow, and orange.

The color of the bottles doesn’t affect their overall quality or durability, but they can help to identify “personal” bottles if the SodaStream machine is used for a group.

There is also a variety of plastic carbonating bottles built to be dishwasher safe.

While you should never use your soda maker machine in the dishwasher itself, the bottles are normally quite difficult to clean thoroughly by hand. That makes the dishwasher-safe bottle quite a good pick for frequent soda drinkers.

The dishwasher-safe carbonating bottle is made of BPA-free plastic specifically designed not to work or melt under the high temperatures of most dishwasher machines. There have been occasional reports of the bottle still warping to some degree, but it is much less of an issue than with the standard bottles.

Any SodaStream bottles made of glass can automatically be used in a dishwasher since glass isn’t likely to break or bend under the pressures and heat of the dishwasher.

The glass bottles used by SodaStream last much longer than their plastic counterparts.

The old SodaStream plastic bottles last up to three years, regardless of the type or machine they are meant to be used with.

Glass bottles can last many more years if properly taken care of. The downside is that glass bottles run the risk of being shattered when they are dropped, so they are not the best choice if you plan to have your soda maker machine used by children frequently.

The glass bottles hold the same amount of liquid as the typical plastic bottle: 1 L of carbonated water.

All non-dishwasher-safe carbonating bottles must be hand-washed using standard soap and water. Due to the small opening, filling the bottles with soapy water and letting them sit for a time is the ideal cleaning method. You can also refer to a SodaStream bottle compatibility chart for further details.

Bottle Sodastream Accessories

You can find several excellent SodaStream bottle accessories, as well. These accessories have no bearing on fitting a particular bottle into your custom soda maker machine.

They add a little extra value or change the bottle’s look.

For instance, the slim bottles have an insulating sleeve available for purchase.

These can help keep your soda cold on a hot day, but the sleeve is easily removable, allowing the types of bottles to be docked in the SodaStream machine without issue.

There are also several caps available for purchase that you can use to replace damaged or lost caps. These should not affect the kinds of bottles and machines you can use together.