idofor in a spray bottle

[cpz28]

When ever I sanitize my fermentor,bottling bucket, carboy ect. , I always fill up a spray bottle with the idofor solution and use it later on. I've read some posts on here saying that idophor loses it's effectiveness in a few hours. So if I have it sealed in a spray bottle does it lose its effectiveness? Is doing this bad practice?

 

[surfbrewer]

I wouldn't say that it loses any effectiveness over a few hours but it definently loses power from one day to the next. I also use a spray bottle with idophor and have had no problems as long as I use the solution the same day. Anything over that and I make up a new batch.

Cheers

 

[billtzk]

I sometimes keep it more than 24 hours but rarely more than 48. Purchased by the quart it is pretty cheap as sanitizers go.

Here's an interesting article about Iodophor that another brewer wrote. He included information he obtained from discussions with the general manager of B.T.F., who is also a medical microbiologist. B.T.F. is the company that makes the Iodophor that is most often sold in home brew shops.

 

[homebrewer_99]

That's why most of us who use spray bottles use Star San in them.

 

[malkore]

+1 homebrewer 99

i loves my star san.

 

[DAAB]

Chlorine in tap water denatures the iodine in iodophor fairly quickly. If you make it up with filtered water or shop bought water it will last for weeks if not months. Similarly Star San must be made with a low carbonate water, in most cases tap water isn't suitable so there is no advantage over one or the other in this respect. Using iodophor in a spray is an economical and effective way to sanitise.

 

[Revvy]

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!

 

[SixFoFalcon]

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.

 

[denimglen]

I've used it after it's been sitting in a spray bottle for up to a week for sanitising small things - although if I was brewing a new batch of beer I would make up more iodophor to be on the safe side. I haven't seemed to have had any problems yet but I do keep the iodophor mixture in the kegerator. Might stop keeping it though.