Sterilising with Videne

[Elliott 22]

Thanks @peebee and @aolcot
This is exactly where I’m at, I would bin any cheaper fermenters but unfortunately I have 2 new fermzilla with all the bits so £250-£300 I don’t want to bin them

 

[Elliott 22]

Videne is an iodine based antiseptic. The bugs it's killing die whether they're on your skin or fermenter! Fivestar (makers of "Starsan") make a product "Io-star"; similar to Videne.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodophor

I'm slightly cautious of it, because I believe (most likely wrongly) I can taste residual "iodine" in the beer. And because things do stain brown. If you are in the habit of "soaking" things in spray-on sanitiser, and then forgetting to rinse it out ... don't use iodine based sanitisers! Otherwise, you can be sure iodine kills microbes it contacts ... you can't be quite so sure with the likes of Starsan.

Sadly can’t find lostar anywhere atm

 

[Larse]

The point I was making earlier about Videne's application to the skin compared to fermentation gear is that it;s used neat normally, so I would assume dilution would severely limit its efficacy.

Dilute bleach would be more efficacious imo. Easily cleaned out afterwards with hot water and left to stand for a bit. Easy to tell if it's been fully removed because of its distinctive smell.

 

[aolcot]

Sadly can’t find lostar anywhere atm

If you are keen on the IO star route, I've found this supplier, seems to be in stock, never used them before though so can't vouch for them - assume they are ok:

https://brewco.uk/products/io-star-32oz-dual-neck-bottle-946ml