Beer Bucket lifespan

Searched around and found the usual thoughts on using buckets for fermenting and the possibility of eventual scratching and contamination. I was never aware of this until joining the forum this year. I have been brewing on and off for about 10 years now, and I still have my first bucket and have used it recently with good results. So I am curious, are there any others who have long lasting buckets? Maybe one type is better than the other? My two oldest are the common ones you see at most brew shops, one has "ale pail" in gothic font on it, and the other has a blue beer mug logo. All my others I have gotten from morebeer.com and I like them as they are just slightly see through so you can see your levels better. but, they were all bought within the last year. I have never had a bad batch that I attributed to a bucket, but I will be spending a little extra time sanitizing them from now on

Keep the cleaning pads away from them and they should last forever. I have 1 that I use from 7 years ago without any problems.

cool, I have always just used my carboy brush on them. They need little more than a good rinse out to get all the trub out.

A good overnight soaking and a soft sponge are all I use.

I have more buckets, but still use the initial 2 primaries that I purchased in 1994...15 years and going strong.

homebrewer_99 said:

A good overnight soaking and a soft sponge are all I use.

I have more buckets, but still use the initial 2 primaries that I purchased in 1994...15 years and going strong.

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A sponge is the only cleaning tool that touches any of mine. I wash them out good with a sponge and dish liquid (Dawn, Palmolive, etc.) Then I rinse thoroughly and put them away until needed. Sanitize with Star San before use, and I'm good to go. I don't anticipate any problems -and for an indefinite period- using these methods.

I'm at 3.5 yrs and going strong. Like mentioned above... cleaning is key by not scratching them...

My carboys are not limited to sitting on a shelf or holding wine/mead in them for longer periods of time...