Oxyclean on aluminum

Anyone know what kind of chemical reaction happened when I soaked my brew pot in oxyclean? There is a dark film now and the whole inside is alot darker. In the back of my mind I knew this was not good to do but I did it anyway. Did I ruin my pot for brewing or is it fixable?

I used oxyclean in my aluminum turkey fryer 2 weeks ago. Let it sit overnight. I was black as hell the next day. I ended up trashing it and using as an excuse to buy a SS pot.

Whether it was destroyed I don't know. But it sure looked like crap.

i think oxyclean breaks down the oxidized layer on the aluminum - so you might want to boil water in it again. but i thought the dark layer was good, so who knows.

One should never use oxyclean or any other activated oxygen cleaner on your aluminum pots. Aluminum oxidizes rapidly and the result is, well... that blackened mess you found. It is one of the very few disadvantages of using an aluminum pot.

Chances are the pot is not ruined, but you will need some elbow grease to scrub off all the blackened, sooty 'film' that you can. Once it is clean again, just boil some clean water in it for 30 mins to restore the thin al-oxide layer that is desirable.

SOS pads, or pre-treat with oven cleaner? I think oven cleaner would be safe, not sure though.

I made this mistake early on. I scrubbed it like a smack addict needin a fix and then boiled water for about 30 minutes. I have used that pot many times since and have had no problems.

Well most of this info is good news. Guess I have some work to do.

looks like i just did the same thing. lots of elbow grease and a small cario work out and it was cleaned lol

I've read this before. Someone added oxyclean to an aluminum pot and it turned black.

I always wondered if the black was just a super thick aluminum oxide layer. Something you wanted to create anyway.

On both of my aluminum pots I got a real darkening at the level of the first boil and have lighter successive rings as I pushed their capacities.

I wasn't too worried about it then and beer-stone appears to be collecting now. I figure it's sealed...

Periodically, I use a light amount of Oxyclean on them.

If you don't let it soak too long, it won't be a problem, but anything over about 30 minutes is all the contact you want with an alkaline cleaner on a soft metal like aluminum. I use a plain dish soap (dye and scent free) to clean my kettle and hoses and things, then rinse them off well before I put them away after brewing. A little soap and water and some rubbing with a wash cloth is all you need if you don't wait until it's stuck on. Carboys are the only thing I ever really need OxyClean on, although I use it on my MLT out of laziness sometimes (no scrubbing with oxyclean)