Cleaning Glass Carboys

[montanaWineGuy]

I had a dead mouse in one this year. I just tipped it over and he fell out. Iz Dat Enuf?

Hi Guys,

how are you cleaning your glass carboys?

If they are visually clean already from a rinse and dont smell like anything, would a quick spray of Kmeta for 10 minutes than rinse suffice before transferring?

 

[kuziwk]

I had a dead mouse in one this year. I just tipped it over and he fell out. Iz Dat Enuf?

Gross, yeah i have a carboy soaking in 4 tablespoons of chlorinated trisodium phosphate pink cleaner. I just have to get all the cleaner off after. It says its suitable for bottles and what not but everyone is saying to run the other way when it comes to chlorine.

 

[wxtrendsguy]

I use 5 heaping teaspoons of One Step, hot water and let it soak a day or two or more... Pretty much will dissolve and clean anything. Dump it out and a quick rinse and back into the box it goes, top down. When need it next a quick spray with some Kmeta and citric and good to go.

I read earlier that some just use Kmeta....kmeta is much more effective when the PH is 4 or less...hence the reason to acidify your kmeta solution...it works better.

 

[Scooter68]

Agree that just a rinse with sanitizer is a bit risky. At least put a rag or paper towel in there and swirl it around. You will be surprised when you find some color on it even when the glass looks clean.

For small carboys you can use part of a plastic clothes hanger. (I keep breaking them } and they do have some nice curves/hooks that can be used to snag a heavy paper towel or piece of cloth. For larger carboys I suppose a wooden dowel or even drilling a wooden dowel to stick that plastic coat hanger into. Then you could chuck that in a drill keep anything harmful to glass away from the carboy. (Just remember that those plastic hangers usually have a small hole in them so sanitizing them before and after use is a good idea.

Also i bought a box of Scott Paper "Rags" (Yellow or Blue box at Lowe's - They last a long time and most often I pitch them well before they wear out simply because they have gotten stained or dirty. They hold up to all the cleaning solutions and sanitizers I use and normally rinse and dry easily. I cut them up into 4 pieces and tie them with yarn over carboy mouth after I sanitize the carboy and it's getting stored. That lets moisture dry out and keeps any crawlers from taking up residence in a carboy. (You know how old basements are....)

Most often now I do a quick was with a couple of drops of Dawn dish washing liquid into the carboy along with part of one of the Scott towels. I also have a couple of brushes that reach all parts of the carboy once slightly modified with appropriate bends
My sanitizer is Starsan so it's not slippery and much easier to manage.

 

[bkisel]

You'd think the least our spouses could do in support of our hobby, besides drinking the wine, would be to clean the carboys and bottles. Right?

 

[cmason1957]

You'd think the least our spouses could do in support of our hobby, besides drinking the wine, would be to clean the carboys and bottles. Right?

I must be very lucky. My wife, mostly, agrees to be the cellar rat and do all the cleaning. Sometimes she grumbles about it, but often she does a better job of cleaning than I would.

 

[bkisel]

I must be very lucky. My wife, mostly, agrees to be the cellar rat and do all the cleaning. Sometimes she grumbles about it, but often she does a better job of cleaning than I would.

"cellar rat". I've not heard that term before but I like it. Think I'll use it on my wife... "Janet, would you be my cellar rat?"

 

[sour_grapes]

Think I'll use it on my wife... "Janet, would you be my cellar rat?"

That was a teaser promo line from the upcoming smash movie, "Fifty Shades of Burgundy."

 

[Ajmassa]

I must be very lucky. My wife, mostly, agrees to be the cellar rat and do all the cleaning. Sometimes she grumbles about it, but often she does a better job of cleaning than I would.

Well I could never get her to clean carboys. I know hat much. But I do I use that line for everything else. “Your just better at folding than I am”. “Honey do whites get cold water or hot?”
“Just move out of the way. I’ll friggin do it”. Haha. Success.

 

[cmason1957]

She gave herself that title. She likes the making of wine as much as I do. I am better with the theory and math part. She is better at the manual part. I get distracted.... Wait squirrel....

 

[wxtrendsguy]

Cellar Rat is a common term in a commercial winery. They are the people who usually do the thankless jobs of climbing in tanks to shovel them out or clean them or other miserable jobs that require a strong back. Aka interns....

 

[Scooter68]

Cellar Rat is a common term in a commercial winery. They are the people who usually do the thankless jobs of climbing in tanks to shovel them out or clean them or other miserable jobs that require a strong back. Aka interns....

Wow! Sounds like a tough job. Hopefully any residual alcohol fumes are gone. ?? Otherwise i could see them succumbing. Gone, but with a smile on their face. And when they go home they pray they don't get stopped by the police. I can hear the officer - Man I know I got me a DUI I can smell it but the blood alcohol come up below limits. What the ....

 

[mainshipfred]

Cellar Rat is a common term in a commercial winery. They are the people who usually do the thankless jobs of climbing in tanks to shovel them out or clean them or other miserable jobs that require a strong back. Aka interns....

I've climbed inside commercial bladder presses a few times. It's not that bad.

 

[Ajmassa]

Sounds like @Scooter68 is interested too. To play his “get drunk w/ low abv” game! [emoji40]
way back in my day we would call what Scooter wants to do: “Huffing” !

 

[Scooter68]

No thanks - But I'm sure some remember the old story about the boy's uncle who died at the whiskey distillery. Yeah, fell in the vat and drowned. But he valiantly fought off all efforts to rescue him. The nephew reported that his funeral was a remarkable event - The cremation took 7 days.

(yup that's an oldy moldy)

 

[Rodnboro]

I made my own. 3/8" dowel, micro fiber and a small hose clamp. I taped the hose clamp so metal won't hit the glass.

I made a similar cleaning device with a polybutylene sink supply line and cloth, but the cloth keeps winding around the supply tubing. I now just use dawn dishwasher liquid and swirl it around the Carboy.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I made a similar cleaning device with a polybutylene sink supply line and cloth, but the cloth keeps winding around the supply tubing. I now just use dawn dishwasher liquid and swirl it around the Carboy

I personally stay away from any soap products -

I will use oxi- clean (bleach free ) that is about it and the carboy cleaner

 

[Scooter68]

For a 1 gallon carboy I normally use less than a 1/8 teaspoon of soap - then rinse obsessively until there are no signs of any bubbles or anything that could be mistaken for bubbles. Then use my Starsan solution. Unless i am going to use that carboy again ASAP I then tie a paper rag cover over the top after draining. The paper cover keeps out bugs but allows a little evaporation. When in doubt the next time I use a carboy, I do a little more water rinse then a Starsan Shake and Drain. If the carboy isn't coated from top to bottom with bubbles from the Starsan, it isn't done.

 

[dralarms]

I use this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KOVIAO...t=&hvlocphy=9013214&hvtargid=pla-319252289200

With one step or easy clean, then I dump some kmeta in the carboy and cap with a solid stopped. When it's time to use it I dump the kmeta, let it drain for a few minutes and I'm ready to go.

 

[benchmstr]

Hi Guys,

how are you cleaning your glass carboys?

If they are visually clean already from a rinse and dont smell like anything, would a quick spray of Kmeta for 10 minutes than rinse suffice before transferring?

I recently switched to fermonsters of all sizes and stopped using glass...I can put my whole arm in those things and hand clean it.

the bench