Best sanitizer that can be had...

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Guigsy

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...at a Home Depot or Lowe's? Anyone know if IODOPHOR or StarSan can be purchased outside the local homebrew shop or online? Are there other options? My local homebrew is not very close and I don't have the patience to wait for it to be shipped...

I have some c-brite that came with my homebrew kit...
 
They have been tracking the purchase of large quanities of Iodine products recently as they are a key ingredient in methamphetamine. That's why many places like lowes or home depot no longer carry the stuff. You don't need much Iodaphor to sanitize, 1 or 2 capfulls depending on the bottle.

Bleach is the same, you don't need much, 1/4 a cup of bleach and 1/4 a cup of distilled vinegar in a 5 gallon bucket will sanitize very well and should not require rinsing.
 
I posted this yesterday in another thread.

Maybe at a resteraunt supply shop for the idophor (It was originally formulated for the resteraunt/bar industry.) It is also labled BTF if you go to a supply shop.

If you go to a pharmacy and there's an older pharmasist there and you talk to him about it, there may be a concentrated iodine tincture there that you dillute. But don't quote me on this. It's just that Idophor smells a lot like betadine solution.

If you have no luck and don't want to order online, then I'd read up on the correct dillution of household bleach and water. Actually the chemist who invented Starsan raved about bleach and water on an interview he did on the http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=radio podcast.

Scroll down till you see these links.



They are both worth listening to.[/QUOTE]
 
Donasay said:
They have been tracking the purchase of large quanities of Iodine products recently as they are a key ingredient in methamphetamine. That's why many places like lowes or home depot no longer carry the stuff. You don't need much Iodaphor to sanitize, 1 or 2 capfulls depending on the bottle.

Bleach is the same, you don't need much, 1/4 a cup of bleach and 1/4 a cup of distilled vinegar in a 5 gallon bucket will sanitize very well and should not require rinsing.

Are you sure about the quantities on bleach to vinagar. I thought that it was supposed to be closer to 1/4 cup Bleach to 1 teaspoon Vinagar. Also, do not mix the two first. You need to put in the vinagar mix into the water then mix the bleach into the water. Vinagar and bleach make a deadly combination if not used right.
 
Revvy said:
I posted this yesterday in another thread.

Maybe at a resteraunt supply shop for the idophor (It was originally formulated for the resteraunt/bar industry.) It is also labled BTF if you go to a supply shop.

If you go to a pharmacy and there's an older pharmasist there and you talk to him about it, there may be a concentrated iodine tincture there that you dillute. But don't quote me on this. It's just that Idophor smells a lot like betadine solution.

If you have no luck and don't want to order online, then I'd read up on the correct dillution of household bleach and water. Actually the chemist who invented Starsan raved about bleach and water on an interview he did on the http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=radio podcast.

Scroll down till you see these links.

They are both worth listening to.
[/QUOTE]

Betadine is Iodine it has other ingredients that BTF does not have but I feel sure it would do in a pinch.

I would just use bleach myself.
 
order a big bottle of star-san. its worth the wait. If you ordered tonight from Williams Brewing, you'd probably have it Monday. use diluted bleach til then.

star-san cannot be beat.
 
I use betadine. If you use bleach, make sure you rinse everything very good or else you will get off flavors in your brew from the bleach. - Dirk
 
+1 on ordering starsan...
if you are in a pinch, like i was on christmas eve day,
run to your local drug store and get betadine, or what ever they have that is
equivalent. it works just as well as iodophore, you just need to use 1.6 ounces instead of 1 ounce, as iodophore is a higher concentration.
 
Beertk said:
Are you sure about the quantities on bleach to vinegar. I thought that it was supposed to be closer to 1/4 cup Bleach to 1 teaspoon Vinegar. Also, do not mix the two first. You need to put in the vinegar mix into the water then mix the bleach into the water. Vinegar and bleach make a deadly combination if not used right.

whats the science behind this bleach and vinegar? I use bleach anymore and rinse afterwards, works very well. How does the vinegar make it so you don't need to rinse?
 
derogg said:
I use betadine. If you use bleach, make sure you rinse everything very good or else you will get off flavors in your brew from the bleach. - Dirk


So you can use betadine...what dillution ratio?

Betadine can be found at most well stocked drugstores.
 
As a guess, the vinegar neutralizes the excess hydroxide (base) in the bleach. In other words changes the pH from basic to acidic. Why this makes it no-rinse, I'm not sure. Though I know that it's harder to rinse a basic solution off a surface than an acidic solution.
 
Revvy said:
So you can use betadine...what dillution ratio?

Betadine can be found at most well stocked drugstores.

I use the 10% betadine (I think it contains 1% free iodine), and mix 1.25 ml per liter or about 1 oz for 5 gallons. Some time ago I researched the equivalant dilution for no rinse iodophor and this is the ratio I came up with and have been using. Some chemistry whiz can correct me if I am wrong. - Dirk
 
Guigsy said:


I have some c-brite that came with my homebrew kit...

c-brite used to be marked as a cleaner/sanitizer and billed as no-rinse at sanitizer strength which is half the strength as for cleaning (IIRC 0.8oz/G for cleaning 0.8oz/2G for sanitizing). I bought the 1lb canister awhile back and have used it for a dozen brews with no issue. Newer packaging only lists it as a cleanser though, not sure why the change.


That said, I'm going to switch to star-san once I run out, seems like it is a lot eaiser to work with and can be stored a lot longer after it is mixed.
 
Revvy said:
Interesting...and for all intents and purposes it is the same as Idophor? And do you use the same ratio of 1 tbs/5 gallons?
Yep, its pretty much the same thing, a diluted iodine solution, for the same purpose, sanitizing a spoilage prone food product. Not sure on the ratios as I know the diluted ratio my grandpa used was much darker than the recommended solution of idophor. Probably because it is more difficult to sanitize an udder.

Craig
 
z987k said:
whats the science behind this bleach and vinegar? I use bleach anymore and rinse afterwards, works very well. How does the vinegar make it so you don't need to rinse?

I just listened to this yesterday so its still fresh in my head. I believe what he said is that adding the vinegar lowers the ph of the solution to where it needs to be so that you do not need to use as much bleach. He said at that concentration it would be virtually tasteless. I don't remember the amounts but its toward the beginning of the interview.
 
CBBaron said:
Yep, its pretty much the same thing, a diluted iodine solution, for the same purpose, sanitizing a spoilage prone food product. Not sure on the ratios as I know the diluted ratio my grandpa used was much darker than the recommended solution of idophor. Probably because it is more difficult to sanitize an udder.

Craig

Looks like I'll be making a trip to the local farm n feed soon...I wonder what other treasures I can find to add to my brewing arsenal....Maybe some interesting fermentation vessels?
 
I was at a Blain's Farm and Fleet today and I saw that Iodine stuff for cow udders, in fact it said something like teat cleanser or something on it. 1tbsp/5gal was the ratio, I didn't buy it because I didn't know if it would be safe for brewing or there might be something else in it though. I'll have to go back and get it. $8/gal.
 
z987k said:
I was at a Blain's Farm and Fleet today and I saw that Iodine stuff for cow udders, in fact it said something like teat cleanser or something on it. 1tbsp/5gal was the ratio, I didn't buy it because I didn't know if it would be safe for brewing or there might be something else in it though. I'll have to go back and get it. $8/gal.


Yep...that be the stuff....8 bucks a gallon? Yeahaw! Looks like I'll be running out there for my next refill.
 
no, not if you use the right ratio of water to iodine. From what I've read the iodine sublimates(or I would think evaporates...is the free iodine ions liquid or solid?) out of solution in the water leaving you with just water.
 
Bleach plus any strong acid is generally a bad idea, as it can evolve chlorine gas, which is toxic when inhaled. Bleach plus a dilute acid (like white vinegar already diluted in water) is generally not a problem. Listen to the podcast on sanitizers -- the president of 5 Star (makers of Star San) says that a dilute bleach solution will be fine as a no-rinse sanitizer. That being said -- I wouldn't do it myself.
 
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