clean and star san or just star san?

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chris24300

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Is cleaning required before using star san? I don't see why if there's no visible sediment or residue in the pail after a wash.

Also, star san'ing a pail can just be spraying the entire bucket rather than immersion? the bottle says to keep the surface wet for at least a min or something like that.. would conserve a lot of star san as I don't have an additional bucket to keep the solution sealed in
 
clean then sanitize. better safe than sorry.

i put a gallon or so of star san in my bucket, swirl it around for about a minute, dump it and pour in the wort.
 
I always wash it out with soap, then star sans. Like atom said, better safe than sorry. Its just good practice to have, since sanitation and cleanliness is a big part of homebrew.
 
I do a very careful spray of the entire interior of the bucket, making sure no spots are dry. As it drains to the bottom I try to swirl it around and recoat the bottom and as much of the sides as I can just as a precaution.

Cleaning is always a good idea. Sometimes you'll get clear residue or small patches of residue. There might also be dust and other air particulates in there you don't see. I'd at least give the bucket a good rinse with hot water before sanitizing.
 
right I meant a cleaning agent like my homebrew kit came with a few packets of C bright or something like that.

I thought star san had to air dry, like overnight or some extended period.
 
right I meant a cleaning agent like my homebrew kit came with a few packets of C bright or something like that.

I thought star san had to air dry, like overnight or some extended period.

No, you don't want it to dry because then you'd have to re-sanitize! Use it wet. It is supposed to stay wet for a minute, then you can use the item.
 
yes definately do not wait for it to dry. i know it is odd pouring into your bucket or carboy while there are bubbles still in there, but it is ok. if you read the side of your starsan bottle it even says do not rinse and after it has been on contact for approx one minute you are able to use it. remember starsan is food quality sanitizer and is designed for this use. it is pretty amazing and awesome!
 
I prefer to use both of five star chemicals products,as they are made for this purpose. The PBW will soak just about anything clean. Great stuff. Just have to rinse it off when done. Then I'll pour a gallon of starsan into the fv by pouring it over the lid into said FV. Then swirl it around & up & down. Drain back into my jug & continue on. I keep a spray bottle of starsan around for those little quickies as well.
 
I haven't used my brushes for 6 or 7 batches now. I always soak my fermenters overnight with warm oxyclean solution. It will remove everything and pull most of the scent out of a plastic fermenter if given 8-12 hours to work. Rinse it twice with hot water. Then I either store them, or give them a coating of StarSan to sanitize. After a few minutes they are ready for wort/beer contact. Always use StarSan wet.
 
Good timing. I grabbed two carboys that I thought contained cleanser (they seemed sudsy), scrubbed, rinsed and star-sanned them, got two batches of funked beer; found out the second one was bad just yesterday. Turns out they were filled with plain water. Yeah, go ahead and spend a nickel on PBW or Oxy-clean - it's a cheap insurance policy.
 
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