Oxyclean and Vinyl Tubing

I've seen a thread on this before but can't pull it up in search. I'm wanting to clean my beer lines which are thick walled vinyl tubing. In the past I've soaked vinyl tubing in Oxyclean and they came out sticky on the surface.. which probably means they were sticky on the inside.. so, I replaced them.

Is there an interaction between what's in Oxy and the vinyl? Or, did I maybe soak too long rather than for just a few minutes? OR, should I be using only PBW for my lines?

I thought Oxy was a good substitute for it all... ??

Thanks for thoughts

The slippery film is simply the residual from the oxyclean. If you use it, you'll need to rinse well. The hose is fine. Remember to flush with hot water and sani-clean before use. Otherwise you should be good to go.

Brew on.

Thanks LS..... Actually.. not slippery.. but very sticky. No amount of rinsing or vinegar or alcohol would change it. That's why I tossed it and bought more.. Which is the purpose of the thread.. grin.

How to clean vinyl beer tubing?

I soaked my kettle in oxyclean for a few days and got a rough crystalization that seemed to be stuck on my stainless steel. I couldn't get it out no matter how much I scrubbed or even with 140F hot tap water.

In the end, I filled the kettle with water and boiled for about 20-30 minutes, and the crystals finally dissolved. I'm switching to PBW as soon as this batch of Oxyclean runs out!

I've used Oxi to clean beer tubing for years and never had it come out sticky. Not much help, huh?

I've definitely had Oxyclean turn tubing cloudy. That may be due to excessive dosage, I'm not sure.

You may want to try some of the many dedicated products for cleaning beer lines. For example:
http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/cleaning-equipment/chemicals.shtml

In my experience, it's the hot water I use with Oxiclean that turns the tubing cloudy. It eventually clears up again.

I use BLC for beer lines and PBW for everything else.
I tried OxiClean and got the cloudy sticky tubing. I couldn't get it clean so I tossed the tubing, bought new and picked up some BLC and PBW. OxyClean never seemed to compare to PBW for cleaning my equipment, it wasn't even close. It could be my water, who knows.

I have had infections due to tubing. I now use it for 3-4 brews and replace with new. Additionally, I boil the tubing before and after each use and run starsan prior to any beer/wort contact.

Until I get a pump and can CIP through it, I'm not taking ANY chances!

That's so awesome that I stumbled upon this thread. I just got finished soaking brewing equipment from Saturday which included hoses, mash tun, and everything else. Probably too long of a soak, but I didn't have time to pull it out and rinse. Noticed my high temp vinyl tubing from my mash tun had some sort of film on it even after rinsing it several times. I bought oxyclean this time because I have no LHBS and ordering PBW is a long process. I get my Oxy from Lowe's. So from now on, based on the info from this thread, I guess I'll clean all my lines with BLC and everything else with Oxy (still) just not a long soak and maybe a more dilute mixture. :rockin:

Using the amount of Oxiclean recommended on package is not only wasteful, it can lead to those crystals. 1-2 Tbsp. per 5-7 gal. of water is plenty.

Damn you Oxyclean! It recommended WAY more than that. Probably more like an ounce or two per gallon! Thought that seemed a bit much.

I use Oxyclean but a lot weaker than recommended. I also just bought a long tubing brush, about 3 feet long that'll reach to the middle of all my tubing. If I ever get 10' beer line for my keg though I'll be outta luck. I haven't had any problems with my current setup.

TopherM said:

I soaked my kettle in oxyclean for a few days and got a rough crystalization that seemed to be stuck on my stainless steel. I couldn't get it out no matter how much I scrubbed or even with 140F hot tap water.

In the end, I filled the kettle with water and boiled for about 20-30 minutes, and the crystals finally dissolved. I'm switching to PBW as soon as this batch of Oxyclean runs out!

Click to expand...

I just had this problem too, except mine is a sort of discoloration (like you would see in a sheen) in the bottom of my BK and up the sides. Is that the same as what you saw?