Any benefit to longer Iodophor soak?

Greetings All and HAPPY FRIDAY!!

I tried to search the threads as much as possible before posting a repeat question. I hope I'm not repeating here...but I have a question about using iodophor.

According to the research I've done, you only need a 1-2 minute exposure to sanitize equipment for our home-brewing purposes. I also found that a 10 minute exposure will sanitize to hospital standards which leads me to believe that longer exposure = better santizing.

My question: Do any of you use Iodophor for longer soak/exposure times to get better sanitizing effects? I realize that it's pointless to leave a solution longer than, say, 24 hours because it won't be worth much past that. But does anyone use it for 10 mins or more to get better results?

Is there any reason I should NOT do a longer soak? Like if my bottles all soak together and I pull them one-by-one to fill them, then theoretically the last bottle out of 48 will have had a longer exposure...any harm or benefit?

Thanks in advance!

-Tripod

If the equpment is clean before going in the iodaphor then the 2 minute soak should work just fine. I have a 10 gallon container that I mix 5 gallons in and let stuff soak until I need it because it's convienient.

If you have a dishwasher you can use the top rack for the bottles to drain and the door for the filling. I used to do 12- 18 at a time and never had any problems.

Tripod said:

My question: Do any of you use Iodophor for longer soak/exposure times to get better sanitizing effects? I realize that it's pointless to leave a solution longer than, say, 24 hours because it won't be worth much past that. But does anyone use it for 10 mins or more to get better results?

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Not for better results, but I tend to put things that will fit in the bucket in the bucket and leave it there. And pluck it out when ready to use it (stoppers, funnels, hoses, whatever).

It's more of a "ready when I want to use it" thing.

I think the only downside would be increased staining if that kind of thing bothers you.

fratermus said:

Not for better results, but I tend to put things that will fit in the bucket in the bucket and leave it there. And pluck it out when ready to use it (stoppers, funnels, hoses, whatever).

It's more of a "ready when I want to use it" thing.

I think the only downside would be increased staining if that kind of thing bothers you.

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First: Thanks for the fast replys!

Second: Fratermus, I'm with you on that. I was more thinking that I could sanatize all at once and then pull items as needed. I'm not too worried about staining but I wanted to be sure I was not going to hurt anything by having some items exposed longer than others, etc.

The more I study about sanatization, the more I see that it has to be done but it's not like I have to shave the dog. I need to be wary but not kill myself to create a sterile operation-room-ready environment. So my bigger concern was too much exposure to Iodophor (or any other chemical) but it looks like I don't need to worry about it. Aside from the obvious, that is...(like oxyclean on metal...)

-Tripod

Blender said:

If you have a dishwasher you can use the top rack for the bottles to drain and the door for the filling. I used to do 12- 18 at a time and never had any problems.

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Blender, I like the dishwasher rack idea. That sounds like a plan I could use. I'm curious about something...do I need to sanatize the rack itself and, if so, how do you guys do it? Could I just spray some of the Iodophor onto the rack before I move sanatized bottles onto it? Or am I taking this a little too seriously?

-Tripod

I have had about 45 bottles draining in my dishwasher at once. you could just run the dishwasher and it will be sanitized, you may taking it to seriously, RDWHAHB

Tripod said:

Blender, I like the dishwasher rack idea. That sounds like a plan I could use. I'm curious about something...do I need to sanatize the rack itself and, if so, how do you guys do it? Could I just spray some of the Iodophor onto the rack before I move sanatized bottles onto it? Or am I taking this a little too seriously?

-Tripod

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I never did and I don't think it is needed. No more bottling for me though as I went the keg route.

Thanks all for helping me piece this out. I'm just trying to cover the angles before the mistakes are made. Once I have some, I'll RDWHAHB.

BTW, first brew happens Monday...so ready!!


-Tripod

Thanks all for helping me piece this out. I'm just trying to cover the angles before the mistakes are made. Once I have some, I'll RDWHAHB.

BTW, first brew happens Monday...so ready!!


-Tripod

I use Idophor and mix 1/4 tsp in a spray bottle. I spray everything down that comes in contact with the wort, but that's about it (no 2 minute soaks). I might be playing with fire, but I haven't had any infections issues yet. Although I believe sterilizing is necessary, I think some get to anal over it.

Idophor and other iodine based products if used correctly should do it's stuff on contact, that's why it's used in surgery.
The mixture gets less effective with time. Eventually it will become useless. I've left a solution in a jar and it's stated to grow mould within a week.
So no. A longer soak is not needed.

Tripod said:

BTW, first brew happens Monday...so ready!!

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Let us know how it goes!

do you guys rinse or just let your equipment air dry that has been sanitized with iodophor ? i read an article that said that you don't even have to rinse or let air dry (article was referring to a carboy).

No arm done if a little is left behind.
I always let it drip but don't bother with the dry. I don't wan to leave it open to airboure boogies any long than I need too.

A proviso to my earlier post is that we dilute so a longer then "instant" exposure is needed.

fratermus said:

Let us know how it goes!

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I can't belive I didn't discover home brewing sooner in life! First batch brewed yesterday (brewer's red ale from TheHomeBrewery.com) and it was a blast! I can see now that I have some techniques to work on like cooling the wort a little faster but, overall, I LOVE BREWING!!

As far as using Iodophor: I ended up filling the bottling bucket about half way (3 gallons...) which was enough to completely cover airlock/cork, tubing, hydrometer, etc. while my water was heating up. I just left things in there until needed and pulled it out and used it. If something needed to be re-sanitized I just dropped it back into the bucket and left it until needed again.

For my ferm. bucket, I layed it on it's side and propped it at a small angle so that I would not have to mix 6.5 full gallons of solution. (I'll take pictures of the wood-block I used to prop it so it would not roll on its own. It needs a "V" shaped wedge cut in it to work right.) Then I just rotated the bucket a few degrees every couple of minutes so that all surfaces were sanatized and kept doing that during the boil until needed...think rotisserie.

It may not be the best solution but I can tell you this...my air-lock is bubbling like CRAZY so it can't be all bad. I could probably use the spray-bottle trick and use less Iodophor on certain things...but I am pleased so far. I have to wait until the whole thing is done to report on the final results but I understand a bubbling airlock is a good sign!

-Tripod