Cleaning bottles

[MattC9]

Hey All,

 

I just purchased a bottle of white king hospital grade disinfectant regular premium bleach from the supermarket to clean about 40 bottles of which most are clean and some are a bit cloudy inside them which I assume haven't been rinsed after drinking??

Has anyone used this bleach before? This is my first time cleaning and just want to make sure this stuff is ok to use and of course giving them a good rinse afterwards.

 

Look forward to the replys..

Cheers Matt

[AndrewC5]

Yeah works for me. I use the same stuff.

i just put a splash in my bath with all the bottles, leave overnight then rinse with hot water in the morning.

No problems yet.

[AndrewC5]

Yeah works for me. I use the same stuff.

i just put a splash in my bath with all the bottles, leave overnight then rinse with hot water in the morning.

No problems yet.

[Muddy Waters]

As Andrew & Andrew says - Go for it!

 

Works a treat.

[MattC9]

I have just started soaking my bottles and will leave them over night, hope I didnt pour to much bleach in!!!

Cheers

[AndrewC5]

Just had to support myself their.

 

Also, muddy what do you use? i'm interested on some other options other then bleach that work better/easier.

[Muddy Waters]

I only really use bleach when I first soak a new crop of bottles to get label s off etc. after that I clean them out as I empty each one and store them upside down to dry.

 

I've started using a bleach and vinegar combo to soak my fermentor after use. [devil] AT THIS POINT I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT IT CAN BE DEADLY TO ADD BLEACH VINEGAR IN THE WRONG PROPORTION AT THE WRONG TIME [devil] . The vinegar supercharges the bleach.

 

I use 10ml of bleach per 5L of COLD water only AFTER I have dilute the bleach in water do I add vinegar in equal proportions to the bleach. NEVER ADD VINEGAR TO BLEACH BEFORE IT IS DLITUED TO THE CORRECT LEVEL AS THE GAS CREATED IS VERY DANGEROUS IF NOT DEADLY.

 

Sorry to yell so much but it is very important to do it the right way. It does a great job and any remaining crud dissappears and in these proprtions their isn't really a bleachy (or vinegar) smell left behind that isn't easily rinsed away with hot water

[AndrewC5]

I understand your yelling is for our own good [sad]

 

What if your just cleaning things that will come into contact with the wort? ie, spoon, bottler ect.

[EdwardN]

for my steryliser i use a product called "pink stain" you can get it from most brewing specialists. Its chlorine based like bleach, very effective. its a pink powder that you dissolve in your fermenter to for cleaning and sterylising. and for my bottles i stack them up in the dishwasher.

DO NOT USE DISHWARSHING DETERGENT (or any soaps) this leaves a residue on the glass that kills a good head. one tbs of pink stain instead, and the steam together sterylise very comfortingly.

 

and for objects coming in contact with the wort, jsut boil a kettle and pour the hot water over them. make sure theyre clean first though.

[Muddy Waters]

What if your just cleaning things that will come into contact with the wort? ie' date=' spoon, bottler ect.[/quote']

 

For these kind of things I give them a quick wash with hot water and then a spray with iodophor. I have a little spray bottle with my iodophor mix and spray it on my spoons, can opener work surface etc. I aslo give the inside of my bottles a blast of it with my bottle wash thing (the ones that sit on a bottle tree). I reckon iodophor is great and it is no rinse when mixed correctly - although I do make a point of draining my bottles (most of the time [biggrin] ).

 

I use the pink powder sometimes but find it isn't a very effective soaker but some people swear by it. I sometimes use it just to soak bottles - more to help get the bottles off than anything. Using it with a dishwasher as Edward suggest would probably get the most out of it.

 

[AnnM]

I invested in a "bottle tree" from the HBS - best thing ever invented! I always rinse bottles out with hot water immediately after drinking and then put them on the bottle tree till I need them. I've also got a "bottle washer" which is a bowl with a sprayer thingy in the centre. You put 1 litre of water in it with 12ml of Milton (or equiv) baby bottle sterilizer, then just push the bottles down on the spray thingy and it squirts the solution up into the bottle. Then onto the bottle tree to drain. No rinsing needed. The bottle tree holds 63 bottles. These 2 gadgets were relatively cheap and make the whole process quick and easy and (a big AND) take up very little space.

 

For other equipment (spoon, can opener, etc) I have a spray bottle with the same mixture of Milton and water and just give a quick spray before use.

 

I wash the fermenter out with the "pink stain" and also use that for the first time on any bottles which I acquire - soaking in that gets EVERYTHING off! [cool]

[Sven]

I like the look of the bleach/vinegar solution for all the gear and fermenters.

 

And I'm a big lazy fan of the dishwasher for my bottles.

[Wayne (Captain Yobbo)]

New bottles always get soaked and scrubbed with a bottle brush using sodium perc and bleach in the bath tub then rinse well with hot water then when ready to use i use my bottle squirter thingy with star san and never had an issue. All other bottles are washed straight after use and put away till bottling day then star san with the bottle squirty thing. Between each batch I soak my FV for a few hours with bleach and sodium perc after i clean the krausen shite off and rinsed out soaked with all equipment for brew strainer spoon etc. rinse well and star san the crap out of everything with a spray bottle. Never had an issue especially since using star san.

[Nick]

does anyone use potasium permanganate or "Condies crystals"? in a past life i owned pet shops and aquariums and found it very effective at sterilising fish tanks. the only problem is that it tends to stain thinks a pink colour i am certain that it would work with brewing.

[Guest]

Hiya Nick.

 

My father used to race homing pigeons & would almost always use "Condies crystals" in their bath water.

 

Since my father retired from racing pigeons, I must admit, I thought for the rest of the natural term of my life, I would never hear those words uttered again! [lol]

 

Based on what my father used them for, & my own personal visual observations of the dispersion of Raspberry red/pink it gave, I don't think I want that exposed to my brews! [lol]

 

Beer.

[Nick]

HaHa, i almost forgot, i used to use it as a drench for my budgies and parrots. it cleaned out the bugs and worms pretty well. i know what you mean about the pink staining, but i dont think it would affect the brew, but the FV would take pride of place at the mardi gras[biggrin]

[Guest]

Hahahaha Nick! [lol] [sideways] [tongue] [biggrin]

 

Beer.

[*****]

Some epic bumps lately regarding sanitising.

I think its been asked before "Why reinvent the wheel".

I have used Sodium Met, never again, Sodium Perc, Hot water and now Starsan. I reckon that unless you are brewing and preparing outside you are pretty safe. I also reckon that hot water will do the job, however I am keen to make sure that I actually get a brew after all the trouble I go to in laying one down.

So that said,

Wash your FV, bottles and kegs in hot water, then use Starsan to sanitise, some don't rinse but I do (it's no drama I'm gonna use that water to brew with anyway) or use sodium percarbonate and rinse.

 

For me there is heaps better stuff to experiment with other than sanitisers such as hops by the dozen, grains, sugars and a multitude of different style brews.

For the boring stuff go with the masses, then

be inventive with your brew recipes and then share your success here.

[Guest]

I reckon that unless you are brewing and preparing outside you are pretty safe. I also reckon that hot water will do the job, however I am keen to make sure that I actually get a brew after all the trouble I go to in laying one down.

So that said,

Wash your FV, bottles and kegs in hot water, then use Starsan to sanitise, some don't rinse but I do (it's no drama I'm gonna use that water to brew with anyway) or use sodium percarbonate and rinse.

 

+ \xbd a 1. [tongue]

 

I've always used Chlorinated Trisodium Phosphate (Pink Stain) to clean everything. I rinse everything first to disperse obvious visual collected crap, twice & scrub if necessary. Once I see a visual cleanliness, I sterilize with pink stain & boiling water. Then rinse with clean water.

 

Simple, effective, no stains, no odour, no worries.

 

Beer.

[*****]

Then rinse with clean water.

 

Simple, effective, no stains, no odour, no worries.

 

Beer.

 

Yep Beer

 

I think Gash Slug said it in the other bumped up thread and I agree

I rinse 'cause I don't want anything other than malt (and other sugars), hops, yeast and the clear water of the River Derwent in my beer.

 

[Damien E1]

I only really use bleach when I first soak a new crop of bottles to get label s off etc. after that I clean them out as I empty each one and store them upside down to dry.

 

I've started using a bleach and vinegar combo to soak my fermentor after use. [devil] AT THIS POINT I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT IT CAN BE DEADLY TO ADD BLEACH VINEGAR IN THE WRONG PROPORTION AT THE WRONG TIME [devil] . The vinegar supercharges the bleach.

 

I use 10ml of bleach per 5L of COLD water only AFTER I have dilute the bleach in water do I add vinegar in equal proportions to the bleach. NEVER ADD VINEGAR TO BLEACH BEFORE IT IS DLITUED TO THE CORRECT LEVEL AS THE GAS CREATED IS VERY DANGEROUS IF NOT DEADLY.

 

Sorry to yell so much but it is very important to do it the right way. It does a great job and any remaining crud dissappears and in these proprtions their isn't really a bleachy (or vinegar) smell left behind that isn't easily rinsed away with hot water

 

On the other hand, if you want to wage chemical warfare on the neighbourhood...

[Damien E1]

As Andrew & Andrew says - Go for it!

 

Works a treat.

 

Are they by any chance relatives of Thompson and Thomson?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thompson_and_Thomson

[GrahamB8]

I used to use that same bleach without issue until I went to kegs (cant use bleach on stainless steel), I now use Cellarman and Starsan (without rinsing).

[Wayne (Captain Yobbo)]

I only really use bleach when I first soak a new crop of bottles to get label s off etc. after that I clean them out as I empty each one and store them upside down to dry.

 

I've started using a bleach and vinegar combo to soak my fermentor after use. [devil] AT THIS POINT I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT IT CAN BE DEADLY TO ADD BLEACH VINEGAR IN THE WRONG PROPORTION AT THE WRONG TIME [devil] . The vinegar supercharges the bleach.

 

I use 10ml of bleach per 5L of COLD water only AFTER I have dilute the bleach in water do I add vinegar in equal proportions to the bleach. NEVER ADD VINEGAR TO BLEACH BEFORE IT IS DLITUED TO THE CORRECT LEVEL AS THE GAS CREATED IS VERY DANGEROUS IF NOT DEADLY.

 

Sorry to yell so much but it is very important to do it the right way. It does a great job and any remaining crud dissappears and in these proprtions their isn't really a bleachy (or vinegar) smell left behind that isn't easily rinsed away with hot water

 

Making mustard gas can be fun[innocent] [lol]

[Mainiac]

IMHO I just can't imagine why anyone would take the risk of mixing bleach and vinegar. It is not as though it is going to save a ton of money or work so much better than products you can buy off the shelf. Why not just stick a fork in the electrical outlet if you need to add some excitement to your life.