Use of Star San on ALL surfaces?

Okay,
I'm new to Star San... never used the stuff.
Do you guys sanitize all of your equipment with this stuff?
Including plastic buckets, funnels, etc.?
Anything I should avoid?
Thanks!

Avoid not using starsan.
Go to Wally World and get one of those $8.00 garden chemical sprayers. You can use it to mist your buckets and Carboys, as well as EVERYTHING else in your brew session. It makes it very easy and saves a lot of starsan. You just need to wet the surface of your equipment. You don't need 2 gallons of solution in the bottom, so the spray is really economical. I even spray the counters and sink before I brew.

Sweet!
Thanks!

The guy at my LHBS told me that starsan was harsh on plumbing pipes when I asked if he carried it? From all the people on here who praise it, I tend to doubt him. Anything to this?

Blackhawkbrew said:

The guy at my LHBS told me that starsan was harsh on plumbing pipes when I asked if he carried it? From all the people on here who praise it, I tend to doubt him. Anything to this?

Click to expand...

I would doubt him as well. I'm guessing he doesn't carry it?

I've heard a few accounts of people etching their polished granite countertops, so that's something to keep in mind. Some have found that double-strength concentrations will remove paint from Corona bottles, which makes the granite etching seem a little more plausible. Personally, at the proper dilution, I think it's pretty much harmless to everything except the bacteria you're using it to kill.

Hey Guys,
Do I need to let this stuff completely air dry?
Am I okay to use my carboy or tubing if it still has a bit of liquid in it?

The wetter the better!!! Seriously though, the foam is your friend. And you do not need to dry it at all before using. It will not hurt anything unless you chug the bottle.

Blackhawkbrew said:

The guy at my LHBS told me that starsan was harsh on plumbing pipes when I asked if he carried it? From all the people on here who praise it, I tend to doubt him. Anything to this?

Click to expand...

Total nonsense. I've kept starsan in a plastic bucket non stop for the last 6 months (freshen it up every 3weeks or so) It has had zero effect on the plastic.

I would be cautious of using it on Formica. I let a bottle or something dry with it on my Formica and it bleached it.

It does strip the oxidation off metals but I would seriously doubt that it could do the same job that nitric and sulfuric acids could do to metal pipes.

I dumped a bucket full of old star san on my driveway the other day while it was raining and 10 minuets later my driveway looked like a giant bubblebath.

what about Star-San on the thin aluminum that you find on the inside of some freezers? I wanted to sanitize my keezer with it when I found small tufts of mold, but was worried that it would eat the aluminum.

With any sanitizing agent you need to be careful on surface you care about preserving color and appearances.
This is what concentrated Star San can do to laminate surfaces. The same is true of
carpet and countertops.



By comparison, Iodophor stains.

I use starsan for all of my brewing equipment. I do not use it on my aluminum pots, because it isn't warranted. I suspect that it would remove the Oxidation layer and I don't want that.

For surface cleaning, I would use a household product or a bleach solution.

Blackhawkbrew said:

The guy at my LHBS told me that starsan was harsh on plumbing pipes when I asked if he carried it? From all the people on here who praise it, I tend to doubt him. Anything to this?

Click to expand...

Harsher than Drain-O??

Phhhht.

If you are concerned flush your drains with water.

I forget which sanitizer I used, wasn't star-san, but I accidentally sprayed it on my fence and it rusted the sh*** out of the iron with in a few days.

I have an epoxy painted garage floor and Star San bleached or etched the clear coat. Even with that I love the stuff. A spray bootle works great for your hands, air locks lids and all the other stuff that is to big to dunk in sanitizer. I'll spray the top of a keg before racking in to it, spray the outside of my auto siphon, etc it all gets wet with star san before going near my beer.

If you ever listen to the brewing network there is an interview with the creator of Star san back in early 2007 I think. You can drink the stuff if it is mixed right and it is a yeast nutrient so pitching on to the foam is good for the yeast.

Linc