cleaning a water container

i got a water container i think its 5 gallon and its clear. im gonna cover it i wanna grow out of it but im afraid it may have bacteria in it how do i clean it? and how well does covering clear pots with newspaper work?

boil the kettle and give it a good swirl this should the trick. why not paint the outside of pot with black paint? no need to do bottom as its on floor hope this helps..

Dump a shit load of peroxide (on top of the boiling water) or if you can clean it 100% use bleach. Bleach is probably the best but you need to clean it off very well.

If its been laying around somewhere I would suggest soaking the container in a mild bleach solution (10% ish) over night and washing it thoroughly.. otherwise just rinse it out with hot water as stephengardener suggested. If I were you I'd make my way to a nursery and pick up some cheap plastic pots with drip-trays.. only cost a couple of bucks. Hope that helps

Never use a clear container to grow in soil or hydro.

i am going to paint it black. i am going to take all of yalls advice. i will start with rinsing it out with hot peroxide water then soak it in bleach over night and finally rinse with boiling water. sound good? im gonna cut the neck off too.

Wouldn't suggest hot peroxide-water.. the steam isn't exactly safe to breath in Good luck with the grow!
Oh.. and make sure that contained is completely opaque.. don't want light getting to those roots..