Question about cleaning bottles in dishwasher

[lurivera]

Hey guys! I am ready to soon bottle my first batch and my kind winedrinking friends have given me a slew of used bottles. I have removed the old labels ad rinsed them thoroughly. Is there any problem with giving them a good wash cycle in the dishwasher? Looking at some of the other forums, some people have suggested not using soap. I intend to sanitize them with Easy Clean before I put any wine in them.

 

[Sacalait]

Can't hurt but doubtful much water will reach the inside. The drying cycle will serve as a sanitizing.

 

[Wade E]

Theorietically Easyclean is a cleanser and not a sanitizer so Kmeta solution should really be used to sanitize the bottles before filling them.

 

[Conquistadude]

when I remove labels, I use the bathtub (like most people here lol) I let them soak for a good long time, then remove. since It was sitting it a large amount of water, that has floating chunks of removed label and a good amount of adhesive Residue in the water, my bottles have a slippery kinda felling, Kinda like a shampoo bottle that was handed when you have shampoo on your hands. Or the surface of a drinking glass that you used when eating pizza, that felling. So I run them to remove that felling.

 

[lurivera]

When I got my winemaking kit, it came with a container of Easy Clean and that is what I have been using all along to sanitize my equipment (carboy, wine thief, etc.). You say I should be using Kmeta instead?

 

[Wade E]

Its actually hard to say that Easyclean is a sanitizer or not but its not listed as 1. It takes a lot of money for testing of the above mentioned chemical and for the government to actually list it as one and EasyClean corp doesnt want to spend the money to do so. Many have used it just for that but it is more expensive and who wants to take the chance especially if making an expensive batch. It really is a cleaner but could be a sanitizer. I clean all my stuff with Walmart brand (Sun) Oxyclean and then sanitize with either Na-Meta or K-Meta and together its cheaper and I feel safer this way.

 

[lurivera]

As this is my first batch, I want to play it safe. So, if i make up a bit of the sanitizing solution, I just need to run it through each bottle prior to filling (as well as my racking/filling equipment)?

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

I use a cleaner and then I use a sanitizer like starsan. I haven't had problems but I think it's mostly what folks are used to using and what works best for what they are doing. I've been trynig different solutions to figure out what works best for my habits.

I haven't tried K-meta as a sanitizer, but I have some on my shelf.

 

[Wade E]

Starsan is also an excellent sanitizer along with Iodophor but those are very expensive in comparison but are highly recommended for making beer. NA-meta is the cheapest of all but I dont use that in my wines so k-meta is what I usually keep on hand but right now I have a big bag of both as i bought the Na-meta by accident.

 

[Malkore]

I don't feel star san is expensive at all. $13 for something like 24oz, and each oz makes 5 gallons of solution, that will remain 'active' for weeks at a time.

in my beer making, Ill make 2 gallons of star-san on brew day, then keep it in my bottling bucket for 3 weeks, and use the same solution that day ...including sanitizing the kegs.

 

[smurfe]

This is an ever going dilemma. Easy Clean and One Step are normally listed as cleaners. You still can't convince me that the Sun O2 cleaner or Oxi Clean isn't the same stuff. Sometimes these are categorized as sanitizers at some LHBS. Like Wade says, a chemical has to go through a very expensive FDA certification process to be able to be labeled as a sanitizer. With this said, can it be used as a sanitizer? Well, I can't officially tell you that. But I can tell you that many batches have been made at my house when I have ran out of Na Meta or Star San.

There are plenty of inexpensive options out there though. Star San may seem expensive but a little goes a long long way. It can be used over and over and will keep for quite a while. I use it until it either quits foaming or turns a cloudy, milky white. K-Meta or Na-Meta (what I use) is very cheap and last a long time as well. If it burns your nose, it is still emitting sanitizing sulfites. I use Star San for beer and Na-Meta for wines.

The real thought here is to keep your stuff very clean. There is cleaning and there is sanitizing. If you clean your equipment after use, and I don't mean just rinse it off, but clean it. You are going to have very little chance of bacterial contaminations. Clean stuff real good and keep a spray bottle of a Na-Meat or K-Meta solution to spray the item down and you are good to go. If you don't clean well, the spray down of sanitizer may not do it for you.