Cleaning Better Bottle with Brush?

[Monk]

Okay, for real: do any of you clean your BB with a brush or other tool? And have you noticed any scratches?

I'm having a terrible time getting the krausen ring off after each brew, even after soaking with PBW and swirling/shaking and putting a rag inside. I used to always soak my glass carboy and then use the brush to remove the slight residue, but I'm trying not to do that with the BB. Shouid I just lightly scrub it?

 

[MalFet]

I've never needed to, but in any case I'd do anything I could to avoid it. How are you going about soaking it?

 

[Golddiggie]

When I used Better Bottle carboys to ferment in, I would use either oxyclean or PBW (in warm water) to clean them after a good rinse. I would rinse with hot tap water from the spray hose, shaking/swirling the water around to pick up the gunk. This would clean them out really well, making using a brush extremely rare. Often I could use the brush to break free any large clumps after the first water rinse set, then the PBW/water steps would take care of the rest.

If you have stuff stuck to it that hard, you might want to think about shifting to something else. Of course, you should be able to use one of the carboy cleaners (connects to your drill) to clean the rest off. Just not 100% sure it's rated for the PET carboys. I've not used that on any of mine, and probably never will. Especially since I only ferment in SS now. :rockin:

 

[Monk]

I've never needed to, but in any case I'd do anything I could to avoid it. How are you going about soaking it?

Soaking it over night in PBW solution (1 tablespoon/gallon of 115F water).

 

[JoeyChopps]

I had a buddy that used bb and he use to wrap and old shirt around a bottle brush to get the gunk out and never scratched his bottles

 

[danorocks17]

i always use oxyclean with my BBs and that always works, once I had to do it twice. I wouldn't use a brush, it could cause scratches that could harvest nasties.

 

[Monk]

I had a buddy that used bb and he use to wrap and old shirt around a bottle brush to get the gunk out and never scratched his bottles

Hmmm. This is what I was wondering about. This is the way I'll probably go if it comes down to it.

Thanks Joey.

 

[Monk]

i always use oxyclean with my BBs

Do you think Oxyclean is more effective than PBW? I don't have a lot of experience with either--up until now I always soaked my glass carboy with bleach and water, then lightly scrubbed and all came right off.

 

[danorocks17]

Do you think Oxyclean is more effective than PBW? I don't have a lot of experience with either--up until now I always soaked my glass carboy with bleach and water, then lightly scrubbed and all came right off.

I have never used PBW so I can't vouch for it, but I have never had any problems getting crusty junk off my BBs or my glass carboys. I do find that with the glass i sometimes have to give it a once over with the brush in small spots, but nothing major.