Mold on grape press wood

[Pc12556]

Got a call that my pinotage grapes from South Africa will be in shortly and I began going through my materials and noticed that the wooden pieces of grape press appear to have mold or mildew on them. After pressing my grapes in September I cleaned all the parts and stored them in a sealed brute container in my garage however they were not entirely dry. My mistake. The press basket and stand which I store separately are fine however the pieces all appear to have either mold or mildew on them. I cannot find just the press pieces online and was considering boiling them in salt water and than soaking them in metabisolphate. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[salcoco]

make a solution using 3 grams k-meta and 11 grams tartaric acid in one gallon of water. use a brush to wash the solution onto parts let units dry/ before using press take same solution and spray all exposed parts.

 

[mainshipfred]

Is there a reason you use tartaric instead of citric?

 

[stickman]

Tartaric with sulfites is ok if you use the solution quickly, otherwise on storage it will drop tartrate crystals, for that reason most solutions use citric acid.

 

[Pc12556]

make a solution using 3 grams k-meta and 11 grams tartaric acid in one gallon of water. use a brush to wash the solution onto parts let units dry/ before using press take same solution and spray all exposed parts.

Thanks for the suggestion

 

[salcoco]

I use tartaric instead of citric as a lay over from using this solution with wine. don't want citric in my grape wine if not necessary. citric will work as well. just reducing the ph of water to make the k-meta more effective.