Plastic Carboys and brushes

[nhindian]

Hi all, I'm looking to buy more fermentors and found a decent deal on two ported Better Bottles. He said he'd also throw in cleaning brushes, but I paused when I heard this since I heard using brushes on plastic is a bad idea since it could scratch it and be a bear to sanitize afterward.

I asked if he used the brushes on the carboys and no answer yet... are my fears founded?

 

[LuiInIdaho]

I have a carboy brush that I used on the glass carboy but I will not use it on the better bottles. I don't want to scratch them and risk infections. I do use the Carboy Cleaner on my better bottles. It works well and does not scratch.

 

[mpcluever]

No brushes when I used Better Bottles.

 

[maida7]

no brushes on the better bottles.

 

[kh54s10]

Soak the Better Bottle with 1/3 to 1/2 a scoop of Oxyclean overnight, empty, rinse add a little water and a washcloth and swirl. Rinse well and done. The longest part is filling the BB with water.

NO BRUSHES!

 

[nhindian]

Thanks for the responses guys. He said he's only used it to brush the top part of the inside and with a rag around it, so no scratches.

Seems like a dumb question, but will any scratches not be immediately visible? I'd like to get these.

 

[241]

As a BB user I would say that if there is any concern at all whether or not these are scratched up or not, it's probably not worth it. You're going to dump wort and yeast in there that took good $$$ to create/buy, why skimp to save a few bucks? That's just me though.

I never use a brush on mine. I do have a very soft, small microfiber towel that I will drop in there with diluted and HOT PBW to get some "wiping" action in on krausen crust if soaking for a few hours doesn't get it. Never a brush though. Also the handle of the brush can scrape up the neck of the carboy, even if a rag was around it.

 

[Cathedral]

I use brushes on mine. Never had a problem.

The effect here is the same as with everything else: the harder material will scratch the softer one. In much the same affect that diamond can scratch anything, and nothing can scratch diamond--except another diamond--softer plastics used in brushes will not scratch the harder plastic of the bottle.

THAT BEING SAID, the differences in hardness between the two isn't that much, so you do have to worry about abrasion. More importantly, most brushes have a twisted metal core, which will definitely scratch.

So there's that.

 

[passedpawn]

I used a brush for years on my BB. Not sure what the fuss was about.

It got a bit rusty, and a lot of the bristles fell out, so I bought one of those blue cloth whirleygigs that you connect to your drill.

 

[blaster_54738]

I've brushed mine as well with no problems. But I also just found these if you're worried

https://bellsbeer.com/store/products/Soft-Bristled-Brush-for-PET-Carboys-and-Buckets.html

 

[jwalker1140]

I've used a bottle brush on a PET carboy for years without any problems. I think the fear over little scratches on carboys and buckets is overblown. The way I look at it is if bacteria can work it's way into some scratch then so can my StarSan and kill it.

That said, I do try to clean out as much of the crud as I can with hot water, OxiClean and a dish rag. Most of the time that's enough.

 

[eastoak]

I've used a bottle brush on a PET carboy for years without any problems. I think the fear over little scratches on carboys and buckets is overblown. The way I look at it is if bacteria can work it's way into some scratch then so can my StarSan and kill it.

That said, I do try to clean out as much of the crud as I can with hot water, OxiClean and a dish rag. Most of the time that's enough.

my last lager went into a better bottle that held a sour for a year. the crud ring was scrubbed off with a bottle brush and i sanitized it with star san. after fermentation and a month of lagering it went into a keg where it lasted a month or so, no sign of off flavor or infection. lucky? i don't think so. i brew sour, %100 brett and clean beer using all of the same equipment and have never had an unintentional sour beer. in all of the time i've been doing this, about 3 years, i should have seen an infection if in fact scratches mean infections. the whole scratch thing has a pretty powerful hold on some brewers and many "my beer is infected" posts include "i'm chucking all of the plastic" or advice from others to do so because the plastic fermentor is forever ruined for clean beer. not true.