Fermenter cleaning

I've got a plastic fermenting bucket and a glass carboy. Can I use dishwashing liquid to clean them as long as I rinse them well and sanitize before use or is there a better way? Everything I'm reading makes me wonder if I should avoid it altogether, but I don't what the alternatives are.

oxyclean free or pbw

I've always used oxyclean free for this. I have one fermenter that I forgot to empty out, and has had oxyxlean in it for almost two months now. Any chance it will ruin the bucket?

Pick up some oxiclean or PBW
fill your fermenter with warm to hot water
add the oxi then stir or shake to make sure the oxi is in suspension
let it sit for a 1/2 day or a day then rinse rinse rinse.

I scrub my plastic bucket fermenter with a sponge and a little dish soap and rinse with hot water sometimes. Works fine. Oxyclean is easier but if dish soap is what you have...

What fills me with hate is cleaning dried krausen out of the crevices in my fermenter lid after a blow off. A toothbrush, dish soap and a lot of work seems like the only way I can dispense with it.

Oxyclean is the easy way. It can leave a residue sometimes. Just rinse really well. I then fill with starsan which will get the stuff off.

I might be incorrect on this one, but i've read multiple places that...unless it's "Dishwasher" soap, then using any form of soap to clean your equipment is bad. The leftover fatty oils ruin head retention...

Like i said...i'm no exert...just something I read.

Correct, so proper rinsing is a must(with HOT water).

I rinse with hot water, soak with a mild bleach solution for an hour, then use a sponge and rinse several times with hot water.

No one yet has mentioned using bleach!

I use exclusively laundry bleach that has NO SCENT OR ADDITIVES

5 tablespoons per 5gallons, 20 min and your everything is sterile. If it was not totally clean, try to clean gently on plastic with soft cloth or hand, then use this same bleach solution but wait 2 days minimum.

I've never had any sanitation issues, not sure why everyone doesnt just use bleach solution then rinse it off. Its in all our drinking water....

I use bleach. I just finished my first batch of wheat beer. Replaced all the fermentable sugars with 3.3lbs of Honey...turned out FANTASTIC, but that's besides the point...i've just been rinsing my bottles and fermenter with clean cold water...and then let them soak in bleach and water solution for a minimum of an hour...should be more than effective enough to kill any little creepy crawlies...that, and you don't have to worry about extensive post-sanitizing rinsing.

One of my friends accidently used soap to clean one of my beer glasses. I poured one of my "Lucky 7" wheat beers into it(named for the 7% ABV) and it killed the head...

PBW or B-Brite has served me well.

Not to beat a dead horse, but which Oxiclean? Or does it matter? I saw a couple of different kinds of powder as well as a liquid .... any differences?

You want the Oxiclean Free, without any perfume.

HighGravity said:

not sure why everyone doesnt just use bleach solution then rinse it off. Its in all our drinking water....

Click to expand...

Chlorophenols give beer a medicinal or BandAid off flavor.
And there's no guarantee that the rinse water is sterile.
StarSan sanitizes on contact, is no-rinse, and does not create off flavors.