Iodophor lost color after 45 minutes

Tonight, I was racking one Carboy while starting a new batch in another. In between finishing the first Carboy and sanitizing the second, the color of the water went from a pretty dark Amber color, almost completely back to clear water. There was almost no noticeable tint. It had been sitting and sanitizing other equipment for about 45 minutes - 1 hour at this time. Just to clarify, this was in my garage during the night, in around 70 degree weather using room temperature water.

So my question is, if Iodophor looses its color within that short of a time span, is it still effective, or am I going to end up dumping my new batch?

Do I need to continually dump iodophore in to maintain its color? or is Star San more effective for longer periods?
Really appreciate anyone's help on this, thanks!

Still effective, don't go by the color.

Your best bet to test its effectiveness is to buy test strips. But I have always been told/read that once its color is gone, so is its effectiveness.
But that seems strange that it lost color that quickly.


To answer your other question... Once mixed Iodophor typically has a life span of about 24 hours. So, if you're using it in a blow off bucket or airlock, technically it wont protect your beer for the duration of fermentation (which is why I use starsan)