Scratched bucket for bottling?

Hi!

I have recently been advised to use a bottling bucket and I have a good bucket that will do the trick, however, it's quite old and it's been cleaned with a coarse dishwashing sponge a few times which resulted in the bucket being slightly scratched. Would a cleaner and a sanitizer rinse be safe enough to use the bucket for bottling or shall I chuck the bucket away and find something else for bottling? How easy is it to contaminate beer that is ready for bottling?

Thank you.

If the scratches are pretty light,I don't worry about them. I think that bit is a bit exagerrated. You could try cleaning it with PBW,rinse then sanitize with starsan. I fit has a spigot,remove it & clean it & the mounting hole area. Clean the seal & lock lug too.

Thanks!
The scratches are very light, but having read a lot about scratched plastic ruining batches I'm a bit worried there =)

I intend to rinse the bottles in sanitiser in this bucket before using it as bottling bucket, so it should be pretty clean by the time beer gets into it.

When I sterilise a bottle, how much time do I have before the bottle is not safe to use any more?

mChavez said:

or shall I chuck the bucket away and find something else for bottling?

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This^^^^^. Bottling buckets are cheap. You can even make one with the 5-gal food grade buckets they sell at Lowes (just add a spigot).

It's not worth risking a whole batch using an old scratched one.

I am actually sick of cleaning my spigot out, found some nasty stuff growing inside it a month or so ago. In the future, going to use a simple siphon to bottle. Buckets are cheap, you're "probably" fine with a scratched bottling bucket, but is it worth it to save $15? Each batch of mine runs $40 - $50, so it is a (probably minor) risk.

If you can see scratches I would replace the bucket. About $12 for the bucket. About $28 for ingredients and wasted time if you infect your beer. Do not throw the bucket away though there are many uses you can make of a bucket other than using it with beer.