Oxiclean ruined my bottles!

So I recently had a unique problem while cleaning/delabeling bottles. I put them in my 7 gallon bucket with a scoop of oxiclean like I always have, let them sit overnight and pulled them out. They all have junk stuck to them (inside and out). It's almost like salt or something and only comes off with serious scrubbing. I've used the water from my tap before with no issues but this all of a sudden just started. I figured it was from the water softener so I go outside and get a bucket full of a water from the spigot (doesn't go through the softener), put in a scoop of oxiclean and some bottles and let them sit over night. Same thing. I have no idea how to get this crud out of the inside of my bottles. Tried a bottle brush and it works...somewhat. Dishwasher didn't do much. No real good way to scrub the inside. Any ideas? Also what could be causing it. I'm guessing my oxiclean may be bad since I eliminated the softener? It isn't generic oxiclean either.

I've seen oxyclean leave a soapy residue on bottles that dries like hard water stains, that may be what is happening to you. Try soaking the bottles in Starsan if you have some. That seemed to do the trick for me last time.

Instead of using just Oxyclean, try a mixture of 3 parts Oxyclean to one part TSP/90. This is very close to Powdered Brewery Wash which works very well, but is very expensive.

Mark

You can remove that residue with just about anything acidic. Star San will work really well. If you don't have any Star San, you can use some distilled vinegar. It doesn't need to be full strength. You can dissolve a little bit in some water and soak for a while. Depending on how bad the residue is, you may only need a small amount of vinegar in a bucket of water.

sounds like you are using cold water. Probably was warm enough during the summer to disolve things, but not now.

joelmole said:

I've seen oxyclean leave a soapy residue on bottles that dries like hard water stains, that may be what is happening to you. Try soaking the bottles in Starsan if you have some. That seemed to do the trick for me last time.

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bpgreen said:

You can remove that residue with just about anything acidic. Star San will work really well. If you don't have any Star San, you can use some distilled vinegar. It doesn't need to be full strength. You can dissolve a little bit in some water and soak for a while. Depending on how bad the residue is, you may only need a small amount of vinegar in a bucket of water.

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I will try a starsan soak when I get home. Thanks

Well they have been soaking and the junk is still on the bottom so starsan didn't work

bpgreen said:

You can remove that residue with just about anything acidic. Star San will work really well. If you don't have any Star San, you can use some distilled vinegar. It doesn't need to be full strength. You can dissolve a little bit in some water and soak for a while. Depending on how bad the residue is, you may only need a small amount of vinegar in a bucket of water.

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Try this it has worked for me as well

I have had this happen before. I believe it was because undisolved PBW/Oxyclean was in contact with the bottles for an extended period of time with greatly fluctuating temperature. It created a scale or stain that I couldn't get off with scrubbing or starsan. Try a 15 minute warm soak in PBW, followed by an immediate warm rinse. This has worked for me when I had a similar scale build up inside a carboy from an extended PBW soak.

After you remove the residue, continue to use Oxyclean but use much less.

I use about 1/4 - 1/3 scoop in a 5 gallon bucket and it works well. I may have the right water chemistry but I have left bottles soaking for more than a week with no problems.

I used OxyClean once and had the same results. Was worried about having that residue on my glassware, so I boil all of it and then air dried. A bit time consuming, but piece of mind that I had removed it all. Vinegar and hot water is a good idea.

Relax, you can get these deposits on bottles after soaking with Oxy in harder water. My work-around is using less Oxy to begin with.

Removing the deposits is pretty simple too, soak em in hot water with a few cups of vinegar. I've never found starsan to actually remove the deposits, but hot water and vinegar works.

I have the same problem. Rinse with a little vinegar and there you go. Scale is removed.

That Oxyclean residue happened to me before as well. Boiling water or the steam cycle in the dish washer does the trick too. In the end, I switched to PBW, and no longer have that problem. If you buy PBW in bulk (the 8 lb bucket lasts me a little over a year for $30.00), it is about the same per oz price as the typical 2-3lb grocery store oxyclean tub.

Where do you get an 8lbs tub of PBW for $30.00?

Yeah, I double checked, and I was a little off...My LHBS sells 8lbs for $38.00, and we get a 15% discount through my brewclub, so $32.30 + tax = $34.56 total.

Still not bad for about a year's supply of really good cleaner.

Nice price, only place with 8lb tubs up here charges more than double that price.

hmmmmm...reading these comments I'm curious if anyone actually reads previous threads. This has been discussed many times....and is easily fixed.

The white deposit is very common with hard water, long soaks, or with too much Oxyclean. It is "base" bonded to the surface and easily removed with any mild acid. The cheapest way would be to use a few cups of cheap white vinegar in a few gallons of water. Starsan also works well...BUT the process will increase the pH of the Starsan and reduce its effective lifespan.

Even when no deposit is visible you should rinse very well before sanitizing with starsan, in order to keep the Starsan effective.

PBW and Oxyclean are very similar...essentially PBW is uncut Oxyclean. Oxyclean is diluted with inactive ingredients to reduce the transportation restrictions.

lopatkam said:

Instead of using just Oxyclean, try a mixture of 3 parts Oxyclean to one part TSP/90. This is very close to Powdered Brewery Wash which works very well, but is very expensive.

Mark

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amazon page for Red Devil - TSP/90 says "Gloves Recommended, Do Not Use On Glass"

amazon page for Red Devil - TSP/90 says "Gloves Recommended, Do Not Use On Glass"

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There's about 454 discussions on this very topic on the board. You certainly can't use a 100% mixture of TSP/90, but that's why you cut it/dilute it 3/1 with the oxyclen Problem solved (until next time)

pwkblue said:

hmmmmm...reading these comments I'm curious if anyone actually reads previous threads. This has been discussed many times....and is easily fixed.

The white deposit is very common with hard water, long soaks, or with too much Oxyclean. It is "base" bonded to the surface and easily removed with any mild acid. The cheapest way would be to use a few cups of cheap white vinegar in a few gallons of water. Starsan also works well...BUT the process will increase the pH of the Starsan and reduce its effective lifespan.

Even when no deposit is visible you should rinse very well before sanitizing with starsan, in order to keep the Starsan effective.

PBW and Oxyclean are very similar...essentially PBW is uncut Oxyclean. Oxyclean is diluted with inactive ingredients to reduce the transportation restrictions.

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Well you must not have read my post in the middle of the thread then either because I said starsan didn't work. They still have the said saltyish residue on the bottom and some on the sides that won't come off. I did try the vinegar in one of the bottles too and nothing, still stuck solid to the bottom.

I could care less about the beer bottles but this was primarily wine bottles that I will need shortly

Try giving it a rinse with straight vinegar then.

BigRob said:

Try giving it a rinse with straight vinegar then.

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I did try that as well as the solution of vinegar and water. Just poured it in and let it sit and the crud is still there. I tried getting a picture of it but my camera sucks

I have used CLR to get scale off of my bottles and kettle. Cuts through the crud well, just make sure to wash really well to get all of the cleaner off.