Safely cleaning 6.5 gal glass carboy

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airbrett

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I am about to secondary ferment in a 6.5 gallon glass carboy for the first time. The carboy is brand new from a kit.

What do you recommend, chemical and process wise, for cleaning it for the first time? I have a milk crate to handle it, but was wondering about using PBW, vs oxy-clean, etc.

I have a carboy brush, but am wondering if I should siphon the cleaning liquid out, replace with water and repeat a few times, or find a way to turn it upside down (like in the bath tub with towels laid down) to make it easier and have a more effective rinse.

After reading the horror threads on glass this thing scares me.
 
If you don't mind the cost, just use some PBW and warm water with carboy brush to give it a once-over. Drain this and rinse once with tap water. Drain that and sanitize with something like Starsan right before you transfer your wort (drain the starsan as much as reasonable, but many of us rack the wort into the fermenter with a lot of starsan bubbles still present.)

RDWHAHB
 
I handle glass carboys as little as possible especially because cleaners makes things slippery. To clean them, I lay it on its side on a stack of towels next to the sink with OxyClean in it. Use sprayer to fill it with water...well, half full (it's on its side) and let it sit. Give it a small rotation every 15-20 minutes and agitate (rock it back and forth). After the entire inside has had its chance to soak, dump it and rinse with cool water.

Or sell it and buy a big mouth bubbler.
 
I have no problem getting 'em clean by filling about 1/4 of the way with warm Oxyclean water then sloshing them around (hand over neck, slosh a couple times, rotate maybe one sixth of the way around, slosh again, etc), then repeating a couple times with clean warm water. I've never had to use the carboy brush that came with my beginner's brewing kit, even after various pellet and whole-hop dry-hopping, although I'll soak for a while full of oxyclean water if there's a lot of clingy gunk.

Floppy's right, they get slippery – rinse the outside before picking it up!

For drying, they'll balance neck-down on an overturned folding chair. I use a rubber band to secure the neck to the horizontal running between the legs of the chair, but it's mostly for peace-of-mind; I've never had one fall except when I was rushing through post-brew-day cleanup and dropped it on my toe (the carboy was unscathed, the toe less so). Remember to put a bowl or something below to catch the drips, or you'll mess up your floor.
 
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