Was it me?

[SliPPery_PiGLeT]

I use a hot water+ oxy-clean to clean most my equipment including my 6gal and 5gal carboys combined with a steel wool wad on a cleverly bent coat hanger to get the hard to reach stuff.
Could that steel have scratched my carboy's to produce valley's for the baddies to live on? Im considering switching to Star sanitizer for its foaming quality to overcome any scratches i might have. Thoughts?
My last beer became infected and im trying to narrow it down in my system where it could have come from.

 

[brandonhagen1]

yes it is possible,and star san is a +

 

[SliPPery_PiGLeT]

think it will overcome the damage?

 

[Jbear]

You mention Oxy-clean and then mention you are possibly switching to Star-San. What have you been using for sanitizer? Oxy-Clean is only a cleanser so it should be followed by a sanitizer (Star-San, Idophor, etc)... If you've only been using Oxy that is probably a bigger issue than the scratches.

 

[SliPPery_PiGLeT]

i do use Idophor, forgot to mention

 

[JRems]

Steel wool won't scratch glass very easily, even if it did steel wool is very fine and shouldn't Pose any sanitation problems.

 

[SliPPery_PiGLeT]

Steel wool won't scratch glass very easily, even if it did steel wool is very fine and shouldn't Pose any sanitation problems.

these are plastic and i should clarify further, it is less steel wool and like a wad of steel shavings? its hard to describe other than what i know it as: steel (other word for a kitty cat)

I guess my solid question is, will the Starsan overcome the potential for nasty's from the scratches if there are some?

 

[Dawnhulio]

Eeeee-yah. Steel wool would scratch plastic like crazy....even if its only tiny scratches that gives bacteria a place to nest, and any amount of sanitizer would likely be unable to get all of it. I'd call it a lesson-learned and replace the potentially scratched equipment to save from future heartache. Personally on any plastic equipment I use my hands and a little elbow grease, but know that a Carboy has some major barriers... go glass, use one of the elbow-shaped bristle brushes and sanitation chem of your choice...good luck!

 

[Calichusetts]

Try saniclean by fivestar...its a higher concentration of starsan that needs to be rinsed. I soak my pots in it for like 15 minutes then do a star san soak...no scrubbing. Saniclean is the bomb for getting out beer stone or speeding up the cleaning process...no idea why no one mentions it on here.

 

[samc]

Scratched plastic is going to be a continual fight to keep clean. How many lost batches before it is a financial loss vs. replacing carboy?

 

[Spartan1979]

I just use 2 tbsp of PBW in my Better Bottles and they come clean after an overnight soak. Once in a while I have to do it twice.

 

[BrewPirate]

Overnight soak in oxyclean and you will not have to use too much elbow grease on it. I give it a light scrub with a carboy brush just be safe and then a good rinse. Rinse out any dust and then sanitize just before use.

 

[JonM]

Usually you can just drop a soft cloth rag into the fermenter with some water and, holding the jug on its side, just gently move the fermenter back and forth. That'll make the rag slide along the krausen ring, which will gently scrub it off without makin any scratches.

 

[SliPPery_PiGLeT]

so the verdict is just get some new carboys and use star-san for now and forever