Cleaning & Sterilising

[Scorpio1974]

Bought a couple of Cleaner / Steriliser powders recently - the latest one im using is from Wilko - "Bruclens Cleaner & Steriliser"

They all seems to do the job fine BUT when it comes to rinse things off (Bottles, testing flasks, fermenters, etc..) it doesnt matter how much clean water i use, there always seems to be a white residue left behind by the cleaner. Does this matter? I've used brushes, sponges, clothes, nothing seems to shift it completely.

Also, (and this is probably me going over the top as well) - once i had cleansed / sterilised plastic items, they seem to gain a "rough" texture to them - almost like plastic has been roughed up in some way. Not sure if this is again due a residue I cant shif being left behind.....

is it just the stuff im using, or am i missing a trick? I've followed all the instruction that come with the product, but at the end it just says "rinse with cold water", which clearly isnt cutting it......

Thanks in advance.....

 

[Chippy_Tea]

@Scorpio1974

This subject has been covered many times in the forums they call it sterilising but its actually sanitising if you use the link below you will find lots of answers while you wait for help here -

Click - Search

 

[Irishwizard]

Spot on Chippy - actually a correct and sensible reply!!
Big difference between cleaning, sanitising, pasteurising and sterilising
FWIW I just use boing water in my fermentation vessel put the lid on and give it a swirl
Saves a fortune on chemicals - I dont recommend this to anyone else because I dont want to start an argument! Ta

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have always used Milton tablets.

It doesn't help when the manufacturers add to the confusion -

 

[labrewski]

I use a soft sponge fairy liquid to clean everything
Then I rinse very thoroughly in the bath with shower at high temperature
Then I sanitize with starsan no rinse sanitizer
Never had a problem until I had 3 dodgy brews in nearly 4 years that I narrowed down to soaking fv in bleach to bring back white
I will never ever use bleach again

 

[damienair]

I use a soft sponge fairy liquid to clean everything
Then I rinse very thoroughly in the bath with shower at high temperature
Then I sanitize with starsan no rinse sanitizer
Never had a problem until I had 3 dodgy brews in nearly 4 years that I narrowed down to soaking fv in bleach to bring back white
I will never ever use bleach again

Exactly the same method. Sponge, warm water and washing up liquid. Give everything a good clean and a rinse. Then I use Chemsan. So far so good.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

I use a soft sponge fairy liquid to clean everything
Then I rinse very thoroughly in the bath with shower at high temperature
Then I sanitize with starsan no rinse sanitizer
Never had a problem until I had 3 dodgy brews in nearly 4 years that I narrowed down to soaking fv in bleach to bring back white
I will never ever use bleach again

Using washing up liquid to clean kit is great, but for removing, say machine or manufacturing oils from new equipment. You then need to use sonething like PBW to clean it off. This is because it clings to surfaces and is very hard to remove, just as you shouldn't use washing up liquid to clean your beer or wine glasses.

I'd imagine the problem you had with bleach wasn't the bleach itself, but not rinsing throughly as bleach at the correct concentration is the best no rinse sanitiser (according to Charlie Talley, the man who came up with Star San).

 

[labrewski]

Dumping a full keg is painful I can't trust myself with bleach anymore

 

[chthon]

Bleach can be rinsed nicely with a metabisulfite solution.