Carboy won't come clean

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Brewddah

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A friend gave me a carboy recently, and he didn't do a very good job cleaning it after the last batch. There is still come crud at the bottom, and I've tried everything to remove it: PBW, star san, soaking it for days, scrubbing with a carboy brush. Nothing works. I'm about to give up at this point, but I was hoping to use this carboy for sours and would like to salvage it if possible.
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I might try the boiling water...hopefully it doesn't shatter in the process! And I thought PBW was mostly oxyclean?
 
Give it some more PBW soaks. Normal cleaning strength solution, extra strong won't make it clean better. Try scraping with a squared wood stick. This might remove some of the surface, then brush and soak again.
 
A 24-hour soak in hot PBW has never let me down yet; granted, I don't let things dry and harden on.

That said, I wouldn't just go straight from room-temperature carboy to filled with piping hot PBW. I'd first half-fill it with warm water to gradually warm the carboy, then drain it and go with the hot-as-it-comes-from-the-tap PBW solution and let it soak for a day.
 
Pressure washer. 3000psi tends to make crud think twice. A little bleach first may encourage the crud to find a better place to be.

:goat:
 
Some hot PBW, or some OxyClean, ( a gallon or so), and a hand full of uncooked rice as an abrasive...........................Slosh it around while the rice is still hard, and careful with a wet, slippery carboy!

No boiling water!
 
:smack:
This sort of advice gets people hurt.

Maybe I should clarify. I'm not talking a huge amount of water; I agree that completely filling it with boiling water is a bad idea so sorry for any confusion. Just a little bit to swirl around. I'd be really surprised if half a cup of water caused enough thermal shock to break the glass.

If you're worried then fill with warm water first to bring up the glass temp. Then replace with hotter water.
 
It often amazes me how so many home brewers are deathly afraid of glass carboys. Yes, they are fragile and can break and cause injury, however, they are not live ordnance. Handle them accordingly and all will be well.

On another note, sand blast sand swirled around the bottom of a dry carboy does wonders sometimes as well.
 
Probably obvious but I'll ask anyway. Are you sure the stains are on the inside of the carboy and not on the bottom? This scenario has caused some heartburn for me in the past.
 
Definitely on the inside. I might try vinegar if this last PBW soak doesn't do it. I don't have a pressure washer, unfortunately. I'm thinking about getting a wooden dowel and maybe nailing a piece of grit cloth to the bottom and scraping with that.

If my buddy had cleaned it well before giving it to me, I wouldn't be dealing with this. I guess this is what I get for accepting free stuff.
 
Do a percarb soak with hot water for 15 minutes (oxyclean will work 30-45 minutes) use a carboy brush to remove build up. If build up is still there soak for several hours. Over night will be fine.

Drain and rinse thoroughly with hot water.

Do a citric acid wash with warm water for 15 minutes.

Drain, rinse and air dry and bung when cooled to ambient room temperature.

Clean and Sanitized and ready for use down the road.
 
aka wood bleach, available at any hardware store.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRk6w9KanZM[/ame]
 
Maybe I should clarify. I'm not talking a huge amount of water; I agree that completely filling it with boiling water is a bad idea so sorry for any confusion. Just a little bit to swirl around. I'd be really surprised if half a cup of water caused enough thermal shock to break the glass.

If you're worried then fill with warm water first to bring up the glass temp. Then replace with hotter water.

Any localized rapid heating can cause stress cracks in silicate glass. Dumping in boiling water is the very definition of localized rapid heating. If the volume of water is small enough to cool down rapidly on contact with the glass, then it's no better than swirling cool/warm water to begin with.
 
Maybe I should clarify. I'm not talking a huge amount of water; I agree that completely filling it with boiling water is a bad idea so sorry for any confusion. Just a little bit to swirl around. I'd be really surprised if half a cup of water caused enough thermal shock to break the glass.

If you're worried then fill with warm water first to bring up the glass temp. Then replace with hotter water.


IMO adding a small amount of boiling water might be even worse than a lot. It will heat the glass where in contact and the rest will be cold making the shock problem even worse.

Take that thing out in the yard and use it for target practice. Then remove the shattered glass to a recycling facility.
 
It often amazes me how so many home brewers are deathly afraid of glass carboys. Yes, they are fragile and can break and cause injury, however, they are not live ordnance. Handle them accordingly and all will be well.

Tell that to these people:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=376523

On another note, sand blast sand swirled around the bottom of a dry carboy does wonders sometimes as well.


I am not deathly afraid of glass carboys, but I opted against them when I first started because of the weight. I am no spring chicken anymore. I have never regretted the decision....
 
Pour straight bleach in the bottom let it sit for a few hours. If that won't take it out nothing will.
Just be sure to rinse it out well. ;)
 
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