using Clorox

[ArcLight]

For a plastic bucket fermentor would using a 10:1 water to Clorox mixture with a 5 minute exposure time be a good disinfectant, when rinsed off immediately after and followed by a star san soak?

Is that a short enough time that the Chlorine wont get into beer during later use?

Is 5 minutes at that concentration sufficient to kill bacteria and wild yeast?

 

[JoeyChopps]

I would skip the Clorox and just use star San. When used properly it does a perfect job of sanitizing. You can us stuff like pbw or oxy clean for cleaning. My vote is stick clear of the bleach.

 

[Fordzilla]

I wash my buckets with unscented dish soap and a soft cloth, then sanitize with StarSan. I never use bleach on plastic, and will only rarely use it on glass.

 

[ArcLight]

I have an Enteric bacterial infection so I really want to make sure everything is dead. And if its wild yeast I want it dead too.

 

[JoeyChopps]

If it was me I would just pitch the bucket in the trash. For me a 15 dollar bucket is not worth screwing up a batch of beer.

 

[ArcLight]

The thing is I don't know which bucket.
So I'd rather not toss 3 buckets, a bottling bucket, and a better bottle unless I have to.

I'm ok with tossing the bottling bucket, but if possible I'd like to salvage the other stuff.


I tossed all the other plastic stuff (spigot, siphon, tubing, filler, stirring spoon)

 

[JoeyChopps]

Yeah I understand that. There is a dilution rate on the back of most bleach bottles. I would go with there recommendations. I would let it soak for at least 30 mins ( unless the bottle says other wise) than I would rinse it with cold water at least three times maybe more. This may be overkill but better too much than not enough.

 

[progmac]

i think bleach makes some sense in this application. john palmer has said 1 Tablespoon per gallon, soak for 20 minutes. i would think about soaking for more like 2 hours in your case.

 

[wailingguitar]

At a proper dilution, you can leave the stuff soaking for days. No worries.

 

[ArcLight]

I just came across this thread here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/sanitizing-equipment-bleach-had-infection-149899/

I followed the link:
http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=basic-brewing-radio-2007

(this one: March 29, 2007 - Sanitizing with Bleach and Star San)

They said 1 gallon + 1 ounce Chlorine + 1 ounce white Vinegar (added to the water mix, not to the Chlorine)

 

[jro238]

10% bleach solution will kill most everything in 5 or 10 minutes on a hard surface (like your bucket). I wouldn't leave it in the bucket for more than a couple hours though because some plastics don't get along very well with bleach (vinyl tubing for example).

When we need to sterilize anything in the lab I work in (fume hoods used for cell culture), we use 70% ethanol. This will pretty much sterilize on contact. Bleach is much cheaper for your use though.