Cleaning Plastic Fermenting Vessel with Hot Water Only

[zyx345]

I use the Coopers plastic fermenting vessel. When I am finished with a batch, I am normally able to get all of the solids out with just hot water and a soft, non-abrasive sponge.

I sanitize with Star-San before each new batch.

My question is, as long as I can remove all of the solids, is it safe to just clean my plastic fermenting vessle with hot water only?

The last time I soaked with very little bleach and a lot of water but it took a lot of rinsing and I don't care for bleach in general. I figure the less chemical I use the better...

 

[Pappers_]

Hot water is just fine - if you clean right away, without letting it sit, you should be able to get it pretty clean. Be careful, of course, with scrubbing, even with the sponge - you don't want to scratch the inside.

What I do FWIW is as soon as the carboy is empty, I rinse it well and then fill it with water and little bit of Oxiclean. I let it sit for a few minutes, then empty and rinse a few times. Works every time for me.

 

[samc]

Oxyclean is better than a sponge. It just takes one little hard grain of something on the sponge to scratch and create a point of bacterial growth inside the fermenter. I let the Oxy sit hours to overnight depending on how lazy I am being. Remove that spigot and clean the threaded area as I recall finding gunk in mine.

 

[zyx345]

Thanks to all for the replies. I have some Oxiclean Free on hand for cleaning bottles so I may try that method but I want to go as chemcial free as I can.

 

[AiredAle]

Water will not "wet" most plastic surfaces. Adding some Oxyclean or dishwasher detergent will reduce the surface tension of the water and allow it to wet the plastic surface, and the crud stuck on the walls of the fermenter. Use a non-scented, cheap generic or store brand of dishwasher detergent if you can't find the Oxyclean free.

By the way, water is a chemical. It's really hard to go chemical free.