Storing Star San solution in a plastic bucket?

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Anbrew

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Is this fine to do for extended periods of time? I want to make 5 gallons of Star San with some distilled water and use it as many times as I can, I'm currently running through it way to fast.

Is it ok to let it set in plastic for extended periods of time? (I seem to remember reading something saying to limit star sans contact time with some material, it may have been stainless now that I think about it...)
 
I had a bucket of Star-San spring a leak in my laundry room a while back. I don't know if the Star-San weakened the plastic or if it was just a defective bucket but I have since "re-purposed" one of my old bucket fermenters for Star-San storage.
 
I have also read that extended (>1 month) storage in a corny keg is bad too.
 
I think the clouding is from reaction to minerals in water. Nevertheless, it is an acid based sanitizer and is likely to react with most container materials (except perhaps glass) so keep that in mind...

I do know I have accidentally left rubber stoppers or my turkey baster bulb in there and they do start to break down getting sticky.
 
Huh... I had always avoided storing it in stainless because I thought it would etch it. I guess I know what to do with that old banged up keg now!
 
Hmm, this is what I was afraid of...guess I'll have to sacrifice a smaller carboy as a sanitation vessel!
 
You will want glass or stainless. Plastic will cause it to go white and get slimey looking. Here is a summary of a podcast over Five-Star's chemicals. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/charlie-talley-five-star-chemicals-notes-brewcasts-58928/

I had discovered this too -- being lazy, I had left my autosiphon parts sitting for most of a week in some cheapo clearplastic bucket I had mixed it up in. There was a definite bit of the white slime there. I guess I should start looking for a glass jug for this or something.
 
So, does this white slime thing happen in the plastic spray bottles too? It seems a lot of folks (myself included) use the good spray bottles like you can buy from Lowes or other home improvement store... I haven't notices the slime in there but haven't really looked either.. Can this be a problem, or are those good plastic spray bottles made for this type of thing?
 
I have never had an issue with my spray bottle that is always full of StarSan. I think most of those are supposed to be chemical resistant to some degree.
 
I mix up a gallon at a time and use the water jug the gallon of distilled water came in to store it...then pitch it after a few months when it's time for a new gallon.
 
I seriously need to look into whether or not I'm related to Charlie Talley......lifetime supply of Star San sounds real nice.:ban::ban::ban::ban:
 
I just mixed a new batch in a keg this weekend and dumped out the old stuff that had been in a plastic bucket for a few months. The plastic that had been dissolved away was very obvious. It looked like a puddle of melted plastic in the bottom of the bucket. Won't be doing that anymore.
 
So, are these plastic buckets that are dissolving fermenting buckets? I've been using my bottling bucket, which is a fermenting bucket with the spigot, for months at a time with breaks only to use the bucket for bottling. No issues at all. No dissolved plastic puddles, no leaks around the spigot, no warping, nothing.

If I have to give up my bucket, I'm not going to be a happy camper. I'm trying to never use a glass carboy ever again for any purpose.
 
I had some in a milk jug. And the StarSan ate through it. (twice)

I also had some in a milk jug. And the StarSan ate through them (twice as well).

I'm looking for an alternative that is not glass (I have enough glass carboys as it is) and takes up about as much room as the milk jug.
 
As others have said, I too, have noticed the slimyness in my frementing bucket (where I used to store it).

I think I'm just going to use a 1 gallon glass cider jug or two now!
 
Am I the only one that's used a regular bucket and had no problems? I've had starsan in the same bucket almost a year and have had no problems with it.
 
I too use plastic bakery icing pails and haven't noticed any problems. I stored some in a gallon glass jug though and the inside of the jug turned cloudy. I always mix a new batch every month or so. Does Star-San say how long the sanitizing effect lasts?
 
Goto WalMart or Costco or whatever and get a 5 gallon water bottle with Reverse Osmosis water. Add 2.5 Ounces of StarSan concentrate to that, put the lid on and shake it.

I have kept a solution like this in the garage for over a year with no change in pH.
 
Thanks for the thread! I have a real heavy duty blue barrel that has metal air tight snap ring I had Starsan in with my syphon for a week or so now- Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't micromatic tubing come with yellow letters? Mine are now WHITE! The barrel had residue on the surface, but no appearant damage. Maybe just because I was cheap and used tap water in this mix (plus the yellow from the letters dissolving).
 
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