How to clean an ancient (found!) carboy?

[bigbeergeek]

It looks clean from across the room, but closer inspection shows a very hard, scaly, stippled organic material on the inside of the carboy. Hot water/oxyclean didn't do it. Hot water and a lot of bleach (~10%) didn't do it. An extended crackhead-scrubbing with my carboy brush barely removes them, but NO WAY am I doing that all over the inside of this thing. It's an awesome 7.5 gallon fermentor. How can I get this stuff off? I have PBW, but I don't want to waste it if it's not going to work. Thoughts?

 

[passedpawn]

Quit trying so hard. If oxyclean didn't do it, just use it.

 

[bigbeergeek]

I appreciate the reassuring words, but my concern is the surfaces harboring infections etc. down the road. Would you use a carboy with crap on the inside of it, oxyclean be damned?

 

[Misfit]

Did you try soaking it over night?

 

[pauljmccain]

Let is sit in an oxyclean solution overnight.

 

[Shockerengr]

hot pbw

 

[bigbeergeek]

I tried hot oxyclean and hot bleach/water, both times overnight. I only have about 3/4 lb PBW left, I'd hate to waste it if its not going to loosen the stuff.

 

[dutchoven]

Sounds like you've tried the alkaline cleaners ... I'd try acidic. Starsan soak may work.

 

[brandonhagen1]

a vinager and bleach mix might do it just mix bleach and water first then add vinager

 

[Dhruv6911]

a vinager and bleach mix might do it just mix bleach and water first then add vinager

umm unless you want to breath Cl2 (gas), don't do it...

 

[Vector]

How about CLR? It removes all kinds of built up deposits. Get it at most supermarkets and hardware stores.

Original formula CLR Calcium, Lime, & Rust Remover uses a powerful, EPA-approved formula to blast through calcium, lime, and rust on a variety of surfaces, without rubbing or scrubbing.

Patented formula quickly and easily dissolves calcium deposits, lime scale, and surface rust

Safe and effective on glass, tile, brick, stucco, fiberglass, porcelain, chrome, and stainless steel

Use on tubs, toilets, sinks, shower heads, and other bathroom and kitchen fixtures

Great for appliances, including coffee pots, humidifiers, dishwashers, and washing machines

Non-abrasive formula is septic safe and uses no phosphates, ammonia, or bleach

Safe, fast-acting CLR Calcium, Lime, & Rust Remover quickly zaps calcium deposits, lime scale, and rust, leaving surfaces clean as new.

 

[emjay]

umm unless you want to breath Cl2 (gas), don't do it...

The amount of molecular chlorine produced is nearly negligible. Vinegar + bleach is widely used as an effective cleaner. I could get into stoichiometry and demonstrate the various chemical reactions of bleach with various acids, but I've done it before, and they can easily be found with Google, if you don't know how to figure out the reactions on your own. Chlorine gas is not a normal product of these reactions.

Although it's amazing how widely the belief that (insert household chemical here) mixed with bleach will create chlorine gas - vinegar and ammonia probably being the most common. We've all heard the stories about some poor soul just trying to boost some cleaning power and suffering a similar fate to a World War 1 soldier. These stories hold an obvious - though morbid - appeal, so it's no wonder they're so widely believed.

Anyways, the only acid that most people can get a hold of that, when mixed with bleach, can create dangerous amounts of chlorine gas is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the simple, chlorine-containing acid itself - HCl, hydrochloric acid (sometimes sold as muriatic acid). Interestingly enough, the danger of chlorine gas is actually that it converts back into (mostly) HCl after inhaled into the lungs.

All that being said, I don't have much of an issue with how widespread the urban myths are, as it's probably a good thing that it helps prevent people from mixing chemicals without understanding the potential reactions. In fact, I'd even encourage anybody who may want to use bleach + vinegar or whatever NOT to just simply take some guy on a forum's advice on such things, without further checking, even if that guy is me!

 

[wyzazz]

CLR, a nice acidic soak will get it spotless in 24 hours or so.

 

[medusa1066]

+1 for CLR

 

[mredge73]

CLR is expensive!
I have been able to get it to work well in high concentrations, but not so much highly diluted.

 

[commonsenseman]

I picked up a couple used 5 gal carboys off C.L. for free not that long ago. Filled with dirt/sludge, pretty sure they had been in the shed/garage for a few years. Nothing that a good soak in Comet, followed by a rinse, then some scrubbing with a carboy brush, then more rinsing, then even more rinsing & scrubbing the outside, then starsan couldn't fix. Keep at it, you'll get it clean eventually.