Hi thanks for playing!
A couple things ended up being very unclear, and there were some (major) bugs. After the rating period ends I plan on releasing an updated version with some fixes.
To address a couple of your points -
Processing Speed:
To start the machine cleans 1 bottle per second, providing there is a bottle to clean. Upgrading the processing/cleaning speed reduces the time between cleanings.
I forgot display the current cost to upgrade the machine, but it starts at $10 and should increase by 10% every upgrade.
Raising Value above $10:
Wow your right, huge mistake on the way the upgrades are calculated, so the value cannot go above $10. Sorry about that.
Its still possible to earn $25 per bottle using the "perfect methods" but all other combinations are broken. :(