Soda crystals for cleaning bottles

[Grealish]

I'm sure I read somewhere that soaking bottles in soda crystals is a good way to get crud off them, but I can't find it anywhere. Have I imagined it?

 

[An Ankoù]

I'm sure I read somewhere that soaking bottles in soda crystals is a good way to get crud off them, but I can't find it anywhere. Have I imagined it?

Don't know whether you imagined it, but soda crystals are excellent for general decrudding.

 

[Grealish]

Don't know whether you imagined it, but soda crystals are excellent for general decrudding.

What amount do you use them in?

 

[An Ankoù]

Can't remember as I was and cap my bottles the morning after using them as I got fed up batch decrudding. Just follow the instructions on the packet. Not that, while they're good for cleaning and degreasing, they are not a sanitiser. You'll need to sanitise your bottles after you've cleaned them- and they come up really sparkling!

 

[Cwrw666]

I use it all the time for bottles. I just put enough in a bottle so that no more will dissolve. After I've drunk a beer I rinse out the yeast then fill with the concentrated solution and let it stand for a few hours before draining it into the next bottle. Rinse out the cleaned bottle and stand it to drain. When dry I put a bit of clingfilm on the top so it keeps any dust out and it's ready to be sanitised for filling whenever.
I re-use the solution over and over again and there's no need for bottle-brushing unless you've got really baked on deposits in there.

 

[-Bezza-]

I'm guessing soda crystals (Sodium Carbonate) is not a million miles away from OxiClean (Sodium Percarbonate), so just a question of the difference in the oxygenatingness of it all.

 

[uDicko]

oxygenatingness.

Loving this word.

I've just ordered sodium percarbonate from fleabay as I was looking into a pbw replacement and the two main components were sodium percarbonate and TSP. Need it working with stainless steel with no pitting so figured the percarbonate can do the heavy lifting and I'll continue using starsan after a rinse.

Pretty sure a cheap sack of percarbonate would do the job as well as soda crystals

 

[-Bezza-]

Loving this word.

I've just ordered sodium percarbonate from fleabay as I was looking into a pbw replacement and the two main components were sodium percarbonate and TSP. Need it working with stainless steel with no pitting so figured the percarbonate can do the heavy lifting and I'll continue using starsan after a rinse.

Pretty sure a cheap sack of percarbonate would do the job as well as soda crystals

Percarbonate would do a better job than soda crystals because of the oxi action, I would have thought.

I'd be interested how you get on with the homemade PBW. I'm not sure there is an agreed on recipe for the stuff and have read in places that the magic ingredient is sodium metasilicate rather than trisodium phosphate, but since TSP is a lot easier to get hold of it would be good to know if it works.

 

[uDicko]

Percarbonate would do a better job than soda crystals because of the oxi action, I would have thought.

I'd be interested how you get on with the homemade PBW. I'm not sure there is an agreed on recipe for the stuff and have read in places that the magic ingredient is sodium metasilicate rather than trisodium phosphate, but since TSP is a lot easier to get hold of it would be good to know if it works.

I wasn't going to bother making a PBW replicant, only using the cleaning power of one of the component parts. I had this down as sodium percarbonate (I could be wrong). I would intend to clean most gunk, hard to remove stuff with this and then rinse and use starsan as a secondary application and sterilise and let dry.

 

[-Bezza-]

I wasn't going to bother making a PBW replicant, only using the cleaning power of one of the component parts. I had this down as sodium percarbonate (I could be wrong). I would intend to clean most gunk, hard to remove stuff with this and then rinse and use starsan as a secondary application and sterilise and let dry.

Sodium Percarbonate does give a lot of the cleaning power and using that on its own would be perfectly sufficient.

If I understand correctly (based on internet reading), the sodium metasilicate is good at breaking down organic compounds which is why PBW becomes so powerful a cleaner. The reason why I'm not so sure this is the correct answer is that Wikidpaedophile doesn't give a great deal of info on sodium metasilicate and talks about it being "an emulsifying and suspension agent" when used in soaps and detergents.

For TSP, Wiki says it's a degreaser and good at removing hydrocarbons. It's also an approved food additive by the EU. But then it goes on to say that sodium percarbonate is used as a less-hazardous substitute for TSP, so the point pretty much comes full circle.

So long way of saying, sticking with sodium percarbonate on its own is probably fine!

 

[uDicko]

Sodium Percarbonate does give a lot of the cleaning power and using that on its own would be perfectly sufficient.

If I understand correctly (based on internet reading), the sodium metasilicate is good at breaking down organic compounds which is why PBW becomes so powerful a cleaner. The reason why I'm not so sure this is the correct answer is that Wikidpaedophile doesn't give a great deal of info on sodium metasilicate and talks about it being "an emulsifying and suspension agent" when used in soaps and detergents.

For TSP, Wiki says it's a degreaser and good at removing hydrocarbons. It's also an approved food additive by the EU. But then it goes on to say that sodium percarbonate is used as a less-hazardous substitute for TSP, so the point pretty much comes full circle.

So long way of saying, sticking with sodium percarbonate on its own is probably fine!

Exactly my thoughts... Although you did a hell of a lot more research than I did

The only issue now is finding sodium percarbonate at a reasonable price in its raw form. Not sure what is 'decent' as a price point for benchmark.

 

[Cwrw666]

Soda crystals are about a quid for 1 kg from Tescos and using them the way I do a bag should last you for a year or more. And I don't know how anything else can be `better' - my bottles look absolutely spotless without any need for scrubbing or other mucking about.

 

[uDicko]

Can you use soda crystals safely with stainless steel do you know?

 

[Cwrw666]

Can you use soda crystals safely with stainless steel do you know?

Now that I don't know, only ever used it on glass myself.

 

[-Bezza-]

And I don't know how anything else can be `better' - my bottles look absolutely spotless without any need for scrubbing or other mucking about.

Better would possibly refer to situations where the crud in the bottles is really baked on. Washing out immediately after use is a whole different ball game to cleaning bottles that have been left dirty for some time.

Can you use soda crystals safely with stainless steel do you know?

Surely someone from Sheffield should know the answer . I can't see why it wouldn't be safe though, especially given sodium percarbonate is safe.

 

[strange-steve]

Can you use soda crystals safely with stainless steel do you know?

Fine with SS but there are some metals it shouldn't be used with, I think aluminium is one.

 

[Dutto]

Okay, as the Thread has moved to "Cleaning" I give you:

"Son of Bottle Cleaner" (Used to clean bottles.)

and "Father of Bottle Cleaner" (Used to clean Growlers.)

They both fit in the drill. The small one is used to clean out bottles, DJ's and narrow-necked PB's and the big one is used to clean out wide-necked PB's and Growlers.

Well happy with the performance of both of them!

 

[uDicko]

Are they cable ties??

 

[Dutto]

Yes. On the smaller one I have added a small length of chamois leather as well.

 

[private4587]

Soda crystals are about a quid for 1 kg from Tescos and using them the way I do a bag should last you for a year or more. And I don't know how anything else can be `better' - my bottles look absolutely spotless without any need for scrubbing or other mucking about.

how do you store the solution and do you make a full batch of solution from the packet of soda cystals, and finally how long do you keep solution before making new batch