• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

How much idophor do you guys use?

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
also, look at the warnings on the label - the stuff can be quite nasty if used in too high of a concentration...

but typical America - if 1 Tbsp/ 5 gallons is good, then 1/4 cup must be better!
 
also, look at the warnings on the label - the stuff can be quite nasty if used in too high of a concentration...

but typical America - if 1 Tbsp/ 5 gallons is good, then 1/4 cup must be better!

Yep.....there is an article floating around (it may even be on the thread I linked) that mentions that we, as a whole, do use too much iodophor...
 
Yikes, I must not be using ENOUGH Iodophor. I'm just about out of my first bottle of it, but my concentration of it NEVER gets yellow or red at all. Its rare that I can even discern any discoloration in my sanitizing liquid. None of the batches I've made have ever had an obvious infection (is there such thing as a subtle infection?)
 
Yikes, I must not be using ENOUGH Iodophor. I'm just about out of my first bottle of it, but my concentration of it NEVER gets yellow or red at all. Its rare that I can even discern any discoloration in my sanitizing liquid. None of the batches I've made have ever had an obvious infection (is there such thing as a subtle infection?)

It should be straw colored...like I said the recommended dilution is 1 tbs/ 5 gallons...SO you should be able to do some simple math to break down what that should mean in like a quart of water...IIRC it is 1 or 2 ml/quart I have a children's medication eyedropper from the drug store. I use it for small sanitizer measurements and for iodine mash tests.

%7BE376F80E-0156-4056-B6A3-1EC17BAE67C4%7D.jpg
 
Yikes, I must not be using ENOUGH Iodophor. I'm just about out of my first bottle of it, but my concentration of it NEVER gets yellow or red at all. Its rare that I can even discern any discoloration in my sanitizing liquid. None of the batches I've made have ever had an obvious infection (is there such thing as a subtle infection?)

It should be straw colored...like I said the recommended dilution is 1 tbs/ 5 gallons...SO you should be able to do some simple math to break down what that should mean in like a quart of water...IIRC it is 1 or 2 ml/quart I have a children's medication eyedropper from the drug store. I use it for small sanitizer measurements and for iodine mash tests.

spoon-dropper.gif
 
I just dump in a bunch until it's a really good brown or reddish. But then again I don't get taken by buying "idophor". Rather I just buy Iodine for like $8 a gallon.

I am pretty sure that idophor (iodo meaning iodine and phor meaning carrier) is iodine and a surfactant. I doubt that plain iodine a has the same sanitizing effect.

I buy mine at TSC. It is called Iodosan and is used in the milk industry. About $20 for 4 liters. It gets diluted 1/2 oz to 4 gallons for a 12 ppm solution.

Paul
 
I am pretty sure that idophor (iodo meaning iodine and phor meaning carrier) is iodine and a surfactant. I doubt that plain iodine a has the same sanitizing effect.

I buy mine at TSC. It is called Iodosan and is used in the milk industry. About $20 for 4 liters. It gets diluted 1/2 oz to 4 gallons for a 12 ppm solution.

Paul[/QUOTE

It does at the right dillution...but like you I buy mine at the TSC, but I've never seen Iodosan....I have a gallon of THE dionne gentle iodine, but I will definitely look into the iodosan...

:mug:
 
It does at the right dillution...but like you I buy mine at the TSC, but I've never seen Iodosan....I have a gallon of THE dionne gentle iodine, but I will definitely look into the iodosan...

:mug:

I just bought a gallon of this a few weeks ago based on your comments in the Sanitizer Question.... thread. Using 1.5 tbsp per 5 gallons I haven't had any problems with my apfelwein, mead or beer. So it seems to work well.
 
I was under the impression that Iodaphor was iodine and phosphoric acid. Maybe that was a different brand from B-T-F.

Here is the MSDS from National Chem http://www.nationalchemicals.com/downloads/MSDS_Iodophor.pdf

Wll every time I read it I've only ever seen
Butoxy polypropoxy polyethoxy ethanol-iodine complex 7553-56-2 0.1 p.p.m.

Looks like Iodine to me...it doesn't matter what the other ingredients are, the Iodine matters...and it's been used as an antiseptic in the medical and dairy industry forever, so any form will work at ptoper dillution.
 
So which is the correct ppm? I have a 4oz bottle and it says 3/10oz in 3 gallon for 12.5ppm - 3/5 oz for 25ppm. I have a 6 gallon carboy - so 6/10th of an oz for 12.5ppm?
 
Yeah, I bought bulk Dairy Iodophor at tractor supply company for 14 dollars a gallon, so I am set for life....And since I keep a spraybottle full of it with distilled water which lasts nearly forever, I hardly end up mixing a lot of it up.

I thought after a certain period of time after being mixed it loses its effectiveness?

OP: 1tsp per 1 1/2G water.
 
I thought after a certain period of time after being mixed it loses its effectiveness?

Although I generally use iodophor, I do keep starsan mixed in the spraybottle (distilled water) for that reason.

BTW, doing this from memory but the easiest way I've found for measuring iodophor is with a syringe; 3ml/gallon = 12.5ppm.
 
I use 1 Table spoon for 5 IMP gallons and then ad a half cap full or so if I want to fill my bucket to 7 G. Then I store it in a keg and add a half cap full whenever it looks pale.

If my solution looks too dark, I will give things a light rinse afterward.

Does straight iodine do the same thing? and if so, where do I buy it?
 
Does anyone know what Iodophor is like in a septic system? I assume any sanitizer can not be good for the bacteria we want in a septic system. I have been dumping my waste Iodophor on my deck, I call it a deck sanitizer....
 
Back
Top