carboy santizing when you don't know what was in it?

[idkid]

my father in law is a high school science instructor and his school district is moving him into their new high school...this past week he found a couple of older and smaller carboys in his supply closet which were empty...he has offered them to me but i don't know what has previously been in them...

are there any steps outside of the normal cleaning/sanitizing with starsan that i need to do to be sure that they are clean no matter what was in them or should i just pass them up?

 

[Ize]

Rinse them really well, wash them with a carboy brush and some Oxy Clean, rinse them really, really well again and you should be good to go.

Ize

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Use bleach and hot water- Scub well.

Glass will not absorb the bleach so- rinse 2x just to make sure.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Will Oxy kill bacteria?

 

[Ize]

Will Oxy kill bacteria?

No, my bad, it's not a sanitizer, just a cleaner. You'll still want to sanitize it before you use it. If you don't know what was in it before though I think using Oxy falls into that "better safe than sorry" category. Just make sure you rinse it really well after using it.

Ize

 

[idkid]

thank you all. I was just afraid some strange acid or something was in it and I wouldn't be able to take advantage. Thank you all.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I would use PBW and extra hot water then Star San

 

[denimglen]

Probably had acid in them, but it's from a high school so the stuff that was in them can't have been too dangerous?

 

[malkore]

Probably had acid in them, but it's from a high school so the stuff that was in them can't have been too dangerous?

I dunno, at my high school a couple kids got ahold of a small cube of sodium. Tossed it in a toilet and tried to flush it.
blew the toilet apart and one kid had minor injuries.


I would check the bottoms for stress fractures. I inherited 4 carboys and the bottoms were filled with stress fractures/cracks. they held water, but I was deathly afraid of filling them full and moving them at all. so they got recycled....sigh.

 

[twocylndr]

I got a second carboy from a flea market. I used CLR on it first, Oxy, second...bleached and vinegared it, and then dish soap...rinsed thoroughly after each step.

 

[DUCCCC]

I dunno, at my high school a couple kids got ahold of a small cube of sodium. Tossed it in a toilet and tried to flush it. blew the toilet apart and one kid had minor injuries.

Didn't they know you're supposed to wrap that sodium up in paper? It won't blow until it saturates through. More layers=more delay.

(I had a demolitions expert as a chem teacher in HS)

 

[TexLaw]

If it's glass and in good condition, you should be alright with the good washing and rinsing the others recommended.


TL