Revvy said:
Over the holidays I was listenning to a bunch of archived podcasts on TBN and Basic Brewing Radio. On one of the shows, I can't recall which, they recommended using RO or Distilled water if using idophor in a spray bottle for quick sanitization.
I dunno...After I'm finished with my bottle of idophor I'm planning to switch to star san myself. I never did like the iodiney smell of idophor.
Plus I don't fear the foam!
Yep, I was thinking of the same BBR podcast. It was in the Q&A section at the beginning, as a follow up to one of the Iodophor segments from a previous 'cast.
The bottom line was that the properties advertised on the bottle reflect assumptions of "real world" conditions, and not ideal conditions. So if you use tap water that isn't 100% pure, and you expect it to kill "x" amount of microorganisms, you need to use the ratio on the bottle and it will only be effective for so many hours if you leave it sitting around exposed to the air in a bucket, for example. But if you take those variables and get them closer to the "ideal" conditions, shelf life will improve remarkably. They just can't market it that way if anyone other than an experienced lab technician is expected to be using it.
Using RO or pure distilled water, and putting it in a clean spray bottle, away from heat, light, etc. will make it last much longer than a few hours. As DAAB points out, ideal conditions can easily extend the shelf life into the weeks and months. And if you are using it on surfaces that are very clean to begin with (not much bio-load), you won't have much to worry about.