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

 

[peebee]

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.

I never realised there was an issue knowing the concentration to use? But there are plenty of links referring to it as a no-rinse sanitiser. One mention I looked at said:

1.25ml/l is the usual concentration. 2.5ml/l is the maximum no-rinse concentration.

Humm, it's perhaps one of those "user to verify for self" mixes. Nothing unusual, I stick bleach in the same category. I certainly won't be saying bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is "more efficacious". I was surprised not so long ago how far down the list of effective sanitises it appears. And far from being dangerous, it can be quite tame (e.g. "Milton" for cleaning baby's drink bottle is a sodium hypochlorite preparation).

But I've taken my focus off chlorine and iodine … I'm messing with Hydrogen Peroxide … more destructive (for bugs) than either (and "Starsan",et al) for "no-rinse". But there's a bit of research and work to do with it: It's insidiously "neutral", it's just like water! I need an indicator that it's present and still active (it does breakdown to oxygen and water … but before then, err ). Even the NHS have stopped using it 'cos it's quite happy having a go at the skin of health workers (skin cells, microbes, all the same for peroxide)!

 

[peebee]

Ha! One of the links above (for Io-Star) has the following:

Sodium Percarbonate, Peracetic Acid. Well known brewery cleaners. The "Per" means it's linked with "Hydrogen Peroxide"! Though I wouldn't have thought "Percarbonate" would have generated enough hydrogen peroxide to be very effective? I may be wrong?

[EDIT: And I buy 25Kg sacks of Percarbonate. £1.49 for 100g, that's insane! Perhaps I should put up ads about here and start putting it in hopelessly small packets? What ever else, Percarbonate is a fabulous cleaner. But no-rinse sanitiser? … Not so sure about that!]

 

[aolcot]

Sodium Percarbonate, Peracetic Acid. Well known brewery cleaners. The "Per" means it's linked with "Hydrogen Peroxide"! Though I wouldn't have thought "Percarbonate" would have generated enough hydrogen peroxide to be very effective? I may be wrong?

I use sodium percabonate for cleaning my kegs as it doesn't foam like crazy unlike chemclean or other similar mixed brewery cleaners and does a decent job.. I've never read that it could be used as a sanitiser like that - but i'm no expert on chemicals