Cleaning 120 bottles in a tub...

So I just submerged 120 bottles in oxiclean in my tub in VERY hot water. As I had expected they started to float so I had to hold them down with my hands...ouch. Thats what I get for doing all my bottles at one time.

Do the bottles have to be upright or will the oxiclean do its job as long as the entire bottle is filled with the solution?

No should be fine. Just wait until you have to rinse. Your back will be so sore. Good luck,

thank you mosquitocontrol...I tend to be overly concerned about cleanliness. I will have to see how this all comes out but my sore hands will be sure to let you know.

mosquitocontrol said:

No should be fine. Just wait until you have to rinse. Your back will be so sore. Good luck,

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You are right. Your back will be hurting. I just cleaned about 200 the past 2 days. I am tired of it.

I dont bottle beer(Keg it baby!) But I do bottle wine and soaking them and delabeling them sucks but when you get them all fro free its worth it in the end! I usually do about 45 at a clip with OxyClean in there with them.

I once cleaned six just received kegs in the bathtub. Filled the tub with hot oxy water and let the cornies soak, then scrubbed the crap out of them. They were NASTY.

I picked a weekend when SWMBO was out of town, and got all the nasty black crap cleaned up before she got back. She never knew...

Cpt_Kirks said:

I once cleaned six just received kegs in the bathtub. Filled the tub with hot oxy water and let the cornies soak, then scrubbed the crap out of them. They were NASTY.

I picked a weekend when SWMBO was out of town, and got all the nasty black crap cleaned up before she got back. She never knew...

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So true.. my wife gets pissed every time I clean the cornies in the tub. She bought me a tub mat but haven't told her that I won't use it because it's a bacteria factory.

BTW - use a metal dowel (like a metal racking cane) to push the bottles down rather than use your hands.

As for soaking cornies in the tub...

will the rubber handles on the keg start leaving black marks everywhere? If so what's the best way to clean the entire keg without this happening (or is this inevitable)?

thebigo said:

As for soaking cornies in the tub...

will the rubber handles on the keg start leaving black marks everywhere? If so what's the best way to clean the entire keg without this happening (or is this inevitable)?

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Not black marks so much as "black dirt". Little bits of black plastic or carbon.

It washes out of the tub just the same are regular dirt.

I generally wash new kegs outside, but I think that was last January and outside was a bit frozen at the time.

I've done the tub thing before and found it to be a major pain in the .... back. Now I take bottles and set them upright in buckets. Then I heat up (usually I'm re-heating) some PBW in my electric kettle and fill the bottles and bucket (fill bottles first or they will float). The next day I empty the used PBW back into my kettle to be re-heated, rinse the bottles, and do another batch. I usually do three buckets at a time since my kettle is 15 gallons. This system works so well for me that I use it for every empty bottle, not just ones that need the label removed. Sure, its overkill, but I have piece of mind knowing that on bottling day there isn't a single speck of filth in any of my used bottles.

I do mine in the tub too. I just let them soak overnight, drain the tub and then pull them out. Remove the labels rinse the outside in a bucket of clean water with a dish brush to remove the glue. Then dump and hit the inside with the bottle/carboy washer that I have set up in my bathroom sink. Then just dry and put in a case until I'm ready to sanitize. Goes pretty fast.

alright...so I just got done delabeling and rinsing all the bottles that I had soaked in the tub. You were right...my back is sore; very sore. This leads me to my next question.

Is it best to sanitize the bottles right after washing so they do not get any spots? OR...is it ok to rinse them well and sanitize just before bottling? (1.Sanitize now AND before bottling or 2.just rinse now and sanitize before bottling?)

t...w...o...

thebigo said:

Is it best to sanitize the bottles right after washing so they do not get any spots? OR...is it ok to rinse them well and sanitize just before bottling? (1.Sanitize now AND before bottling or 2.just rinse now and sanitize before bottling?)

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I do both.

Soperbrew said:

I do both.

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so as long as the cleanser hasn't sat long enough to leave a deposit (mineral or otherwise) on the glass it is alright to leave sanitizing until just before bottling. That is what I'm getting.

ALSO...does soaking cornies damage the rubber on the handle at all?

1) You don't need to use hot water to remove the labels. I don't.

2) It's easier on the back if you just strip down and get in there with the bottles and/or kegs. Use an old shoe brush or tooth brush to really get the gunk out of the bung holes.

passedpawn said:

It's easier on the back if you just strip down and get in there with the bottles and/or kegs. Use an old shoe brush or tooth brush to really get the gunk out of the bung holes.

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WOW!!.......TMI.

Sorry I had too.

I soak mine in a cooler on the patio, sometimes two coolers. I find the less I annoy SWMBO with my hobbies the better.

thebigo said:

alright...so I just got done delabeling and rinsing all the bottles that I had soaked in the tub. You were right...my back is sore; very sore. This leads me to my next question.

Is it best to sanitize the bottles right after washing so they do not get any spots? OR...is it ok to rinse them well and sanitize just before bottling? (1.Sanitize now AND before bottling or 2.just rinse now and sanitize before bottling?)

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I opted for sanitizing the bottles NOW and just before I use them. I came to this option because the spots that remained on the bottles after rinsing them bother me (as much as I rinsed I could see a light hazy film from the oxiclean).

After sanitizing, the bottles are coming out spotless (I picked this route because of what I read about the vinegar OR sanitizing solution thread used to get rid of dried on cleaner and mineral deposits).

I just didn't want any cleaner to continue drying on the bottles...ANY COMMENTS ON THESE POINTS?

OK...so I have some confusions for you all. I am just getting a bit frustrated as I think I will have to CLEAN these bottles again before using. Here are some bullet points:

1) the cleaner slightly dried on the inside of the bottles after cleaning (I forgot to rinse the inside until 12 hours later).

2) after sanitizing the bottles, to get any leftover dried cleaner that was not removed by rinsing, I still see some haze at the bottom of a some of the bottles (I am assuming it is some stubborn dried oxiclean).

3) This is more of a question: I sanitized the bottles and after they dried (as I am not using them yet) there was a thin oily film over the bottles. Is this normal if you let Starsan dry?

Will any of this affect the beer (cause contamination)? Should I clean the bottles again? I am just FRUSTRATED since this has been a long process and I am not getting the results I expected.

**ps- I know starsan becomes ineffective when it gets cloudy from use. Just a note as I have been using the same 5 gal batch for all the bottles.** HELP

Actually my wife likes when I do the bottles in the tub cause it does make a mess in there so I have to scrub the tun down, which she then doesnt have to do. It does bother the back and I have a bad back (2 herniated discs in which I have to get an epidural every 2 weeks) but I like to get a lot done at once and then relax with a brew or glass of wine.

I think I need a bottle brush...

I think I need a beer!

Oxyclean works better when the water is hot, I've found.

And to keep bottles from floating, I start the water going and fill each one from the tap as the tub fills. They sink right to the bottom then. Once all bottles are in, throw in the oxyclean and finish filling the tub. The oxyclean will work it's way into the bottles just fine to clean the inside while they delabel themselves.

And I can get hundreds of bottles done without hurting my back at all. I have a special technique for this. I walk out in the living room and tell my 16 year old daughter that the bottles are ready for her to scrub and rinse.

The slick feeling on the bottles is from the oxiclean not being fully rinsed off. If there is residue still in the bottles, yes, you need to clean them again unfortunately! At least using best practices that is.

cyberbackpacker said:

The slick feeling on the bottles is from the oxiclean not being fully rinsed off. If there is residue still in the bottles, yes, you need to clean them again unfortunately! At least using best practices that is.

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So the slickness was not from the Star San? It only showed up after I sanitized them...

ps: is oxiclean always this difficult to rinse off?

I'm amazed at what people go through (with respect to removing scale) to save a little money on oxyclean vs PBW.

thebigo said:

So the slickness was not from the Star San? It only showed up after I sanitized them...

ps: is oxiclean always this difficult to rinse off?

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It's easy to rinse off, the scale it leaves behind is not.

remilard said:

It's easy to rinse off, the scale it leaves behind is not.

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What do I do about this scale? Do I sanitize it to rid the scale?

Will I not have this leftover scale if I use PBW instead of Oxiclean?

Actually, depending on how hard your water is, oxiclean does take a bit more attention to rinse off... not hard, you just have to be thorough.

cyberbackpacker said:

Actually, depending on how hard your water is, oxiclean does take a bit more attention to rinse off... not hard, you just have to be thorough.

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I'd say so...my jet bottle washer will not get all of the scale out of the inside of the bottles even if I rinse them twice.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/pbw-same-oxyclean-86475/

So I just read this thread and found an answer to my frustration. My .02 is that I have always used PBW and never had the FRUSTRATION of rinsing multiple times and the bottles were always crystal clear (that satiated my OCD and made cleaning enjoyable). I will use OXI for grimy bottles followed by PBW to ease my rinse but will use PBW on the norm.

To all who use OXI this is no offense...just my opinion. WOULD RATHER BE BREWING THAN RINSING.

***ps...I'm still fighting my OCD with wanting to sanitize after cleaning AND before bottling AND leaving sanitization until bottling day. (I know REVVY does both so if you see this REVVY let me know)***

I use a rubbermaid bin for bottle cleaning. I pack it as full as possible with upright bottles. I get a scoop of oxyclean and drop a tiny bit into the mouth of each bottle, then I sprinkle another half scoop over all of them. I then fill each bottle with hot water (from a hose connected to my tap) and finally fill the whole bin. Takes about 10 minutes to set up. I soak this for 24 hours and then the next day I dump out and rinse each bottle and put them into clean bins for storage.

The benefit to using a bin is that you can keep the tub free and let the bottles soak for days if you want.

thebigo said:

What do I do about this scale? Do I sanitize it to rid the scale?

Will I not have this leftover scale if I use PBW instead of Oxiclean?

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You need some sort of sequestering agent. PBW contains one, if you use Oxiclean and then star san to remove the scale, you are using star san as the sequestering agent.

To get rid of the "scale," the residue from oxyclean, you use a weak acid solution, Starsan works great, but you can also use a dillution of either vinegar or lemon juice in water.

When I am processing my bottles I fill one sink with whatever weak acid I use, soak my bottles inside and out with them for a couple minutes and re-rinse.

If you use starsan in this way, it DOESN'T COUNT as a sanitization step....at least I don't think of it that way, I still sanitize them on bottling day. It's only a step to remove the scale. And if I were using lemon juice it wouldn't sanitize at all.

You should never think of sanitizing ahead. You should really always do it at the point of use, be it bottling or brew day.

No rinse/wet contact sanitizer are double edged swords. Literally. They kill two ways. They kill everything on the object prior to sanitizing, and then as long as they are still wet they form a sanitizer barrier that kills everything that comes into contact with object.

If you let the sanitizer dry any micro organism that comes in contact with the sanitized object, rather than being killed by it, makes the object no longer sanitzed.

I delable my bottles and hit them with starsan after I do so, But on bottling day I still sanitize them again. There's no such thing as too much sanitization.

Listen, I can do my entire bottling process including sanitizing my bottles in under an hour. So do a lot of folks.

I outline my process in this thread, along with other people, apply a few tricks and tips, and you'll have no problem santizing and doing everything else on bottling day.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

thebigo said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/pbw-same-oxyclean-86475/

WOULD RATHER BE BREWING THAN RINSING.

***ps...I'm still fighting my OCD with wanting to sanitize after cleaning AND before bottling AND leaving sanitization until bottling day. **

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Wow, that's a lot of sanitizing...no wonder the rinsing gets ya

http://www.essind.com/Cleaners/GC-chemistry.htm

Good overview of chelating agents, surfactants and why you want to use a cleaner (read PBW) that has them. Note that sequestering ions during cleaning is better than removing them afterwards.

I would use unscented automatic dishwasher detergent if I didn't want to use PBW for some reason as it at least has chelating agents. PBW has the advantage of being designed for brewery applications (eg, preventing beer stone).

Why is this "scale" not an issue for kegs or fermentation items? Or have I missed the step where everyone does a rinse with vinegar.

GreenMonti said:

Why is this "scale" not an issue for kegs or fermentation items? Or have I missed the step where everyone does a rinse with vinegar.

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I never had an issue with this scale when I used PBW...but on a side note I may start rinsing with vinegar even after cleaning with PBW (1 reason):

1) I want to make sure there is no cleaner on my bottles when I go to sanitize as this will make my sanitizer less effective sooner (any cleaner left on the bottles will use up the star san)

**Just my insight on this**

Just got done 1) washing with oxyclean 2) sitting bottles in vinegar solution 2-3 minutes 3) rinsing again...they are drying now and will get back here after.

Anyone: please correct me if I am wrong.