# Sanitizing my hands



## Flem (Jan 13, 2011)

I am about ready to rack to secondary. I am supposed to squeeze out the grape skin bag prior to racking. What is the proper method of sanitizing my hands? B-Brite solution? K-meta solution or the gas given off? Rubber/plastic gloves (cleaned and sanitized with the preceding)?


Thanks!
Mike


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## Tom (Jan 13, 2011)

Most here keep K-meta in a spray bottle. Spray your hands.


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## Bartman (Jan 13, 2011)

Wash your hands well, and you'll be fine. There is a difference between sterile and sanitized - sterilize means (roughly) to destroy all germs and microorganisms, typically by boiling or irradiating. Unless you're at the CDC working with bioterrorism materials, you're not going to need a truly sterile room or environment. Sanitize means to get the germs down to a low enough concentration that they won't contaminate your wine - the alcohol does a pretty good job of killing whatever bits you don't kill or weaken by washing/disinfecting your hands and equipment.

Looking at in reverse, if the room and equipment was actually sterile, the yeast fermenting your juice (and you!) would be dead too!


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## AlFulchino (Jan 13, 2011)

after you are done when your hands are stained, rinse off w a kmeta spray immediately and you will reduce the stains on your hands esp the ones that get into calouses


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## jnmar (Jan 13, 2011)

I just this morning racked off my merlot to which I had added a bag of fresh frozen blackberries in the primary. I washed and dried my hands, slipped on a pair of new nitrile gloves, rinsed them off and then sprayed with K-meta solution, then patted dry with a paper towel. Sanitized? No. Reasonably clean? Yes...but the main advantage to me was when I was through squeezin I didn't have blackberry cuticles.


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## Runningwolf (Jan 13, 2011)

I keep hand sanitizer in the area for which I always use when handling anything wine related. When spraying my equipment before use I also spray my hands.


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## ibglowin (Jan 13, 2011)

What are those.......








Al Fulchino said:


> esp the ones that get into calouses


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## cpfan (Jan 13, 2011)

I use a large "china cap" that I bought at a restaurant supply store. (bottom picture here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinoise)


It fits across the primary. I use a pair of tongs to pick up the bag and put it in the China Cap. Then I use the stirring spoon to squeeze the bag against the sides of the China Cap. Leave it sit a few minutes (or whatever it takes.


The China Cap is also effective if the skins aren't in a bag. I use a skimmer to scoop up the skins and put them in the China Cap.


Steve


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## tonyt (Jan 13, 2011)

I put on a pair of disposable glove (the ones without powder), wash hands with them on, spray hands with K-mata, squeeze like crazy. I do this daily while grape packs are in bucket. If the grape skins are loose in the bucket I squeeze the skins that float. 

BTW, whoever invented the spray bottle of K-meta should get the Nobel Prize for Wine making.


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## Waldo (Jan 16, 2011)

I use the disposable glove method myself. I caried it one step further though and got the purple, grape flavored ones from my Dentist


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## Randoneur (Jan 17, 2011)

Waldo said:


> I use the disposable glove method myself. I caried it one step further though and got the purple, grape flavored ones from my Dentist




I've never tasted mine, I suspect they taste like grape anyway


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## tonyt (Jan 17, 2011)

Waldo said:


> I use the disposable glove method myself. I caried it one step further though and got the purple, grape flavored ones from my Dentist



I didn't know that rubber (gloves) came flavored too.


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