treating copper after using steel wool

If I use steel wool to clean the green off my copper wart chiller do I need to treat it with anything before letting it come in contact with my wart? Is there anything that can be done to keep it looking nice and shiny?

Don't worry about it being nice and shiney. Just hose it off well after using it to get the sticky stuff off. It will be sanitized next time you drop it in your boil kettle.

If you are getting green oxidation develop between batches I would guess you are leaving an acidic scum on it from your wort or maybe a sanitizer you are hosing it with ?

Anyway a dull frosted copper/brown color is all you want or need. Green I would just wipe off with a rough rag before your next use.

Bar Keepers Friend and a green scotch bite pad will make it clean, shiny

Just be careful your friends don't catch you scrubbing your chilla.

After the first boil in your wort, it will look brand new.

That green stuff is called verdigris and its not something you want to ingest. Copper itself is pretty safe.

Using steel wool will impregnate bits of iron into the copper and will eventually rust (same thing with stainless)

bar keepers friend and a scrubby is pretty good advise.

I had that happen on mine. You can also use a nice warm distilled white vinegar soak and scrub. It worked wonders to get the green off my chiller.

Any mild acid will clean it up. Star san, diluted soldering flux, vinegar, soda pop, Bar Keepers friend...

SKMO said:

Don't worry about it being nice and shiney. Just hose it off well after using it to get the sticky stuff off. It will be sanitized next time you drop it in your boil kettle.

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Yeah, I just hose mine off too, after I pull it out of the kettle.
Vinegar works better than Star San. I've used both.

klyph said:

After the first boil in your wort, it will look brand new.

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So if you put a dirty looking wart chiller in your wart and when you take it out it looks clean wouldn't that mean all that "dirt" is now in your beer?

Yeah the 'dirt' is now in the wort and in your gut....

I hose mine off and hang dry, on occasion I'll hit it with a SS scrubby to break through the beer stone build up. Every year I give it a 20 minute soak in Star San or vinegar. I've used the same IC for 6 years and no issue yet.

Well if it has dirt on it, I assumed you'd know to rinse it off. I thought he was talking about the brown tarnish that copper develops.

When I said "dirt", I was referring to the brown tarnish.

I'd be very careful using a steel scrubby on soft copper...frankly, I'd not do it as you are likely to cause some significant scratching and take off more copper than oxidation.

Use the methods described in this post with a 3M pad or even a simple sponge or cloth.

Good luck!

de5m0mike said:

When I said "dirt", I was referring to the brown tarnish.

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I never worry that the copper is tarnished when I'm dropping in my chiller, it won't hurt ya.