Oxyclean free vs. PBW

Quick and hopefully easy one. A brewer friend of mine reccomended I use oxyclean free as cheaper equivalent to pbw. I see a few threads on here saying its a good substitute but I wanted to see if there where any other opinions before I gave it a go. Thanks !!

I'm pretty sure it's used more often than PBW for homebrewers. It's all I've ever used.

Awesome !!! That's what I wanted to here. I've always for at least the last few years used pbw with great results but the oxyclean is $8 for a big tub of it opposed to $12 for a small pbw. How much oxyclean should I use ? Is it similar to the amounts for the pbw?

Even one step further if you are trying to save on money. I use a product from the 99 cent store called Sun, (I believe) It's less than a dollar a pound. It is like oxyclean free in the it is not scented.

The active ingredient in OxiClean is sodium percarbonate (Na2CO3•H2O2), an adduct of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).[3]

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-Wiki

I looked up the ingredients on the cleaner at the 99 cent store and as far as I can tell they are the same.

Dan said:

Even one step further if you are trying to save on money. I use a product from the 99 cent store called Sun, (I believe) It's less than a dollar a pound. It is like oxyclean free in the it is not scented.

-Wiki

I looked up the ingredients on the cleaner at the 99 cent store and as far as I can tell they are the same.

Click to expand...

I have been using oxyclean for years (in brewing) my 1step and PBW is still in a drawer.

Good info Dan on the Sun, I'll take a look. That would be significantly cheaper yet.

Dan said:

Even one step further if you are trying to save on money. I use a product from the 99 cent store called Sun, (I believe) It's less than a dollar a pound. It is like oxyclean free in the it is not scented.

-Wiki

I looked up the ingredients on the cleaner at the 99 cent store and as far as I can tell they are the same.

Click to expand...

Funny you bring that product up as well ...... I actually did see that at my dollar store and saw the ingriedeients were the same I was just gun shy to by it.

Like I said I think it is called Sun but might be wrong on that. I went to the cleaning aisle and started looking, ended up buying 10 pounds of the stuff but don't remember the name fore sure. Haven't brewed this summer much, just to darn hot outside. Some people say it's harder to rinse than oxiclean but I haven't noticed any problems. Just use very hot water.

I've used PBW, OxiClean, and Sun (in decreasing order of cost). I've had good results with all three.
Recently, OxiClean switched their packaging from a round container to a rectangular container, and I've had some problems with kegged beers cleaned with the new OxiClean. After a week or so in the keg, I am noticing a slight sour taste to the beer, and some sediment in the bottom of the glass. This has never happened before, but it has happened in each of my last 5 batches. I don't think it has anything to do with the OxiClean, because I use that to clean my primary as well, and everything seems fine until after it has been in the keg for a week or so.
Has anybody else had a similar problem with OxiClean in the rectangular container?

-a.

I've used OxiClean Free and Sun as well as PBW and I have to say that Sun works just as well as any of the others at a much lower cost. Sometimes my wife will get a really good deal for OxiClean with coupons, but either way you should feel comfortable going to Sun or OxiClean. They work just as well as PBW and at a significantly lower cost.

In response to ajf, remember that OxiClean and Sun are typically laundry cleaners, so after you soak, rinse the bottles and equipment very well with hot water and then sanitize. I have noticed that both leave behind a slight residue if not rinsed very well with hot water after soaking.

I use one from the 99cent store called Oxi-awesome or something like that mixed with TSP (the ORIGINAL TSP with Phosphates, not the other stuff) with great results

Where is everyone buying tsp ?

Aschecte said:

Where is everyone buying tsp ?

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use either Red Devil TSP from ACE Hardware or I find my TSP from Lowes/HD

Very weird I used the oxyclean free for the first time and it foams like crazy I wasn't expecting that at all. I filled the scoop to like 1.5 and the sliminess seems to be similar to PBW maybe a bit less, it's normal for this stuff to foam right ?

Yep, the suds and slippery soapy feel are normal for oxyclean. I use that slippery feel to gauge when the bottle is thoroughly rinsed...when its no longer slippery, its rinsed. I've never used anything besides oxi free and have zero issues.