Oxy Clean or PBW

After reading a couple discussions and talking to a couple homebrewers, I've learned that oxy clean is just as effective as PBW and at a fraction of the cost. Looking through the basement I've found oxy clean versatile. I've read a lot about oxy clean free (which is odor free). Does it have to be oxy clean free?? Has anyone used the regular versatile oxy clean?

buckeyebing said:

After reading a couple discussions and talking to a couple homebrewers, I've learned that oxy clean is just as effective as PBW and at a fraction of the cost. Looking through the basement I've found oxy clean versatile. I've read a lot about oxy clean free (which is odor free). Does it have to be oxy clean free?? Has anyone used the regular versatile oxy clean?

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A mixture of OxyClean Free and TSP/90 will be even better, though my experience is much like yours; OxyClean alone works fine for most applications. I prefer the OxyClean Free but as long as you are rinsing well and then sanitising your surfaces, the regular stuff should be just fine.

I've used the regular oxyclean for gunk cleaning. As the above poster states, combining the oxyclean free at 70% with TSP/90 from ace hardware at 30% is the basic formula for PBW itself. It works better for dissolving dried on boiled in malt sugar grime.

buckeyebing said:

Has anyone used the regular versatile oxy clean?

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Yes. Just rinse well and don't leave it in a carboy for more than a day. After six hours it loses it oxidative properties. Get it out of there so that there will be no residue.

Thanks everyone, great info

There's OxyClean Versatile and OxyClean Versatile Free. I imagine you would want to use Versatile Free instead of Versatile for cleaning brewing equipment.

One thing about PBW is that it is an alkaline cleanser and it keeps for some time. I keep a 5 gallon batch in a bucket, 1 tbsp per gallon solution of PBW. I used one batch repeatedly to soak and clean eight cases of beer bottles and a case of really nasty old wine bottles over the space of several months. Finally dumped it and started fresh after the wine bottles, but it is very effective for long periods. It has to be rinsed so I don't worry so much if it gets cloudy, just that it continues to loosen and clean any nastiness.

I'm not sure how the math works out, 1 batch of rather pricey PBW but for repeated use, or cheap oxyclean for batch by batch cleaning. I don't feel cheated by using PBW this way, so I get it might be a near wash (pun not really intended, but I'll take it).

kevink said:

There's OxyClean Versatile and OxyClean Versatile Free. I imagine you would want to use Versatile Free instead of Versatile for cleaning brewing equipment.

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What's the difference between Standard OxyClean and OxyClean Versatile?

I haven't seen a difference between Oxy Clean and Oxy Clean Versatile. I think they're the same product. I went to the store and the Oxy Clean Free version actually is called Oxy Clean Versatile Free.

I'm assuming that the ratio of Oxy Clean and TSP/90 mix is going to be similar to PBW??

I've found that the pound of TSP/90 will conveniently fit into the 3lb Oxy. Clean Free package but it makes me wonder if the quantity in the Oxy. package has decreased. FWIW I got both at Fred Meyer (PNW Dept. store owned by Kroger) the Oxy. from Laundry and the Red Devil TSP/90 from Paint.

Be sure to leave some in the kitchen if you do your brewing elsewhere. It does an amazing job cleaning up baked on food after a hot water soak.

I keep PBW and Oxyclean in my home brewery. I prefer Oxyclean for regular cleaning, but if I've got some stubborn stuck on gunk I will pull out the PBW. I use the regular Oxyclean as that is all they stock at the local supermarkets in my area.

I use Oxiclean free myself for everything as I find it work well and is readily available.

I use the spray bottle most of the time due to sheer convenience, and when I need to soak something (like a 5 gal keg overnight) I'll use the powder form.

P.S. It's Oxiclean, not Oxyclean. It seems that everyone always misspells it!

kal said:

P.S. It's Oxiclean, not Oxyclean. It seems that everyone always misspells it!

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Holy crap. Do you know I never noticed that at all??!

Go to the dollar store and get Sun brand oxygenated cleaner. Same stuff as Oxiclean, but cheaper.

evanmars said:

Go to the dollar store and get Sun brand oxygenated cleaner. Same stuff as Oxiclean, but cheaper.

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How do you know the blend/composition is the same?

I don't know about the Sun brand stuff but reading here there seems to be some knockoffs or no-name brands that appear the same but the stuff isn't as potent as Oxiclean as the blend/composition isn't the same so you may need to use more to get the same effect.

Kal

kal said:

How do you know the blend/composition is the same?

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Also read complaints that some of the generic oxi doesn't rinse off as well as the name brand.

A tub of OxiClean lasts me a year. In the end, there's not enough savings to justify buying the cheap stuff.


edit:
Should add that if you found a generic in any big box store that's working well for you that's great. Good chance that they have steady suppliers. But not if you're getting the dollar store stuff where there's no consistency.

I've been using the target brand and it works great! Cleans well and rinses easy.

Sun Oxygen Cleaner and Oxiclean are both sodium percarbonate. Sun has no added surfactants, while Oxiclean also contains non-ionic detergents (they won't react with hard water).
Save your money or not, just throwing it out there.

One difference I have noticed is that Oxi foams a whole lot more than PBW. I built a keg/carboy cleaner using a bucket and submersible pump. The Oxi foams right out of the bucket all over the floor. Not the PBW.

WhiskeySix said:

One difference I have noticed is that Oxi foams a whole lot more than PBW. I built a keg/carboy cleaner using a bucket and submersible pump. The Oxi foams right out of the bucket all over the floor. Not the PBW.

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That would be the surfactants, right?