Is my LHBS right? Re: Silicone Tube

[SmokeyMcBong]

Hi all,

I picked up some lengths of silicone hose today and the guy behind the counter at my local hbs said it needs to be cured before I use it? He said I should bake it in my oven for an hour at 300F to purge any nasty chemicals? Almost doesn't sound right to me, isn't this stuff food safe?

Anyway, did you guys and gals do anything special to your silicone tubing before use? Or just some PBW and starsan?

Thanks in advance for the knowledge...

 

[passedpawn]

Haha. There might be some good explanation for it, but I've used a bunch and never heard the need to "cure" it.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

First I have heard of it. I just wash it with the rest of my brewing gear. Perhaps this behavior will bring me an early death. Hard to say at this point.

 

[Bobby_M]

Silicone does need to be cured but it should be done by the extruder or molder of whatever the silicone object is. I'm not aware of a silicone product that has to be user cured. I'm afraid someone heard a rumor and never checked.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Nice guys, thanks for the replies.

He said that it can be done by boiling as well but he didn't know how long to boil for because he always bakes his. He warned that it would stink out my house pretty good too.

So pretty safe to say that I can just go ahead and use my silicone tubing?

 

[AlCophile]

First, I'd soak in a mild soap sol'n., such as dishwashing soap, nothing stronger, for a few hrs.
THEN, what you shoulda done FIRST, is look in a plastics manual, or see descriptions in McMaster-Carr, and select food-grade. Your tubing may have a code embossed in it. If it does, try to match with catalog specs.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

What I shoulda done FIRST??

I did what I shoulda done, I went to my homebrew supplier and purchased the silicone tubing that they sold to homebrewers to assist in the process by enabling the transfer of wort or beer between vessels.

How could that be anything but the right course of action??

I know its food grade, or else they wouldn't be selling it as such, I was just curious about the curing process I was told to perform. I was skeptical because I'm a chef and baker and have never had to cure any silicone bake ware or silicone mats prior to use.

 

[passedpawn]

First, I'd soak in a mild soap sol'n., such as dishwashing soap, nothing stronger, for a few hrs.
THEN, what you shoulda done FIRST, is look in a plastics manual, or see descriptions in McMaster-Carr, and select food-grade. Your tubing may have a code embossed in it. If it does, try to match with catalog specs.

Should have read a plastics manual? Awesome! Thanks for that.

 

[Bobby_M]

Maybe the tubing came from china and it needs offgassing. Who knows. Cut a 1" piece off, wash it with dish soap and rinse well. Then microwave it in a coffee mug with some water for 3 minutes. See how the water smells and tastes.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

So, I did what Bobby suggested and washed a small section of hose with dish soap, rinsed excessively well and nuked it in some water for almost 4 minutes. No smells came off of the hose at all, I let the water cool off with the hose still in it to taste. It just tasted like warm water so I'm not going to worry about it.

I will say though, that there was a lot of oiliness on the hose before I washed it with the dish soap. It was hard to notice how slippery the hose was till it was clean and had very little slipperiness left. If the lhbs employee was just putting this stuff in the oven without washing very well, make no wonder he was stinking out his house.

Anyways, thanks again to all who participated...

 

[brick_haus]

First, I'd soak in a mild soap sol'n., such as dishwashing soap, nothing stronger, for a few hrs.

THEN, what you shoulda done FIRST, is look in a plastics manual, or see descriptions in McMaster-Carr, and select food-grade. Your tubing may have a code embossed in it. If it does, try to match with catalog specs.

So let me get it straight, first soak it in dish soap, the, first again

 

[brick_haus]

First, I'd soak in a mild soap sol'n., such as dishwashing soap, nothing stronger, for a few hrs.

THEN, what you shoulda done FIRST, is look in a plastics manual, or see descriptions in McMaster-Carr, and select food-grade. Your tubing may have a code embossed in it. If it does, try to match with catalog specs.

So let me get it straight, first soak it in dish soap, then first again look in a plastic manual?
Which first should we do first?

 

[paledragon]

Curing is in reference to the polymerization process used to crosslink the silicone. There's either platinum or peroxide variations:

http://www.dowcorning.com/content/publishedlit/52-1077-01.pdf

 

[Bobby_M]

If anything comes off the tubing, it's going to be talc which is commonly used on the extruding equipment to keep the raw silicone from sticking.

 

[AlCophile]

Sigh!
ALWAYS research any item which is going to contact humans. Go to the experts, the mfgrs.; Look for info online; whatever it takes. Go to a chemistry dept....they won't bite(bring pizza).
ONLY thing I can think of, you may have a tiny bit of mold release agent on it. That's why I suggest soapy water, not pure soap.
NEVER heat any synthetic material(and, this includes microwaving food in plastic containers), as you may begin a slow process of disintegration. Never use the material for other than its stated use.
Now, for your local LHBS: these folks are businesspersons, not physicians or polymer chemists.
Remember the Chinese selling poison dog food?
How 'bout Lumber Liquidators with the formaldehyde-soaked flooring?
Caveat Emptor!