Cleaning new equipment

[LucyT]

Can I just run hot water through the tube and airlocks and bungs, and then use the sanitizer before using them? I've washed my buckets and jugs with a little dawn dish soap and rinsed very well, numerous times. I just don't want to put soap in the tubing. Also, do you use water in your airlocks when they are in use? I've seen videos where some people use vodka or even the sanitizer solution. I don't know why anyone would use sanitizer solution in an airlock.

 

[Ohio Bob]

My opinion...

Depends on how meticulous you are about keeping things clean. Dawn won’t hurt the tubing. I submerge my tubing in hot water with PBW 5 Star cleanser then rinse well.

Airlocks should be filled with cheap vodka, especially if for 3 months. Water with Kmeta can be used for shorter time frames but I’ve seen things growing in my airlocks when I use water. To avoid any confusion between what’s got water and what’s got vodka, I don’t use water in any airlocks.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

I’ve got rum in my airlocks easier for old eyes to see

 

[mainshipfred]

Everyone has different methods. I use unscented, chlorine free OxyClean for washing everything, I find it to be the most cost effective. Air locks get K-meta/citric solution. The dishwashing liquid is also unscented.

 

[LucyT]

I’ve got rum in my airlocks easier for old eyes to see

I have a big bottle lime Rum that I can use!

 

[ChuckD]

Can I just run hot water through the tube and airlocks and bungs, and then use the sanitizer before using them? I've washed my buckets and jugs with a little dawn dish soap and rinsed very well, numerous times. I just don't want to put soap in the tubing. Also, do you use water in your airlocks when they are in use? I've seen videos where some people use vodka or even the sanitizer solution. I don't know why anyone would use sanitizer solution in an airlock.

I put soapy water in the tubing followed by a good hot water rinse. I tell myself I’ll only sanitize before use next time but I almost always wash again and sanitize. I can’t help myself.

 

[Rice_Guy]

In operating a pilot plant I would always run a soap through new equipment and hoses. The concern is that I want to remove manufacturing lubricant. For wine I would stay away from anything which has a perfume in it. As Fred noted above oxiclean works, or straight A, or one step, or PBW or your lime rum. ,,, Sanitizer will not have any effect on machining lubricant.

I have to confess that I buy poly and PEX and vinyl tube and CPVC and copper and galvanized pipe and never clean them. ,,, and the plumber doing changes in the plant installed potable water and it never was cleaned before use. The world seems to live as if the machine oil is not important. ,,, Mineral oil is not toxic but teaspoon quantities can cause the runs.

 

[winemaker81]

I rack One Step through my equipment on a periodic basis, racking from container to container, so the tubes get numerous cycles. Prior to use I rack K-meta water through the tubes to ensure they're sanitized, and splash the inside of all containers as I do so, hitting several birds with one stone.

I've tried a lot of things in airlocks, but have dropped back to plain water. From a technical POV, it doesn't matter what liquid is in there, as long as it's there.

Check your airlocks weekly, regardless of what you put in them. Currently I swap out stoppers and airlocks monthly, as no solution is perfect. New stoppers/airlocks go in, and the used ones get soaked for an hour in Oxyclean then rinsed well.

For carboys, once fermentation is 100% done, I use vented bungs, which also get swapped monthly.

 

[Sailor323]

I usually run water through everything til it comes out clear then I run meta through. Frequently I run dairy detergent through everything-it's designed to rinse easily and completely and is odor free. I always use meta prior to storage and just before use

 

[ChuckD]

I may have to check out that dairy detergent. It’s meant for cleaning milking lines, and I think sanitizing as well.

I still rinse with distilled water after the sanitizer has had a few minutes to do it’s thing.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Farm use is an alkaline detergent formulation which is designed to lift proteins followed by an acid rinse. It is an off the shelf item as at FleetFarm but a small size may be a 20 gallon drum.

 

[ChuckD]

Farm use is an alkaline detergent formulation which is designed to lift proteins followed by an acid rinse. It is an off the shelf item as at FleetFarm but a small size may be a 20 gallon drum.

Maybe I’ll just stick with One Step

 

[G259]

There are a lot of different ways to do things. Me, I just spray a Pot.Meta./ water solution on it, and wash it off. Never had a problem.

 

[Sailor323]

I may have to check out that dairy detergent. It’s meant for cleaning milking lines, and I think sanitizing as well.

I still rinse with distilled water after the sanitizer has had a few minutes to do it’s thing.

It's called "heavy Duty Dairy Utensil Detergent" by Dairyland, available at TSC. I use it for dishes and in the wine/beer cellar.

 

[Sailor323]

Farm use is an alkaline detergent formulation which is designed to lift proteins followed by an acid rinse. It is an off the shelf item as at FleetFarm but a small size may be a 20 gallon drum.

I used to use this when we had a dairy. The acid rinse is not necessary but is used to remove milkstone. Note that milkstone remover has the same ingredients as Star-San