Walmart brand Oxyclean - Wow!

[samc]

I have yet to try One - Step but it is a no rinse cleaner. In my mini research I came across FREE samples today . . . what could be bad about that

LOGIC, Inc. - HomeBrewer Samples

I have used Straight A before and it works better than Oxyclean but more expensive.

 

[sjlammer]

I used bleach before i learned the virtues of Oxyclean. It is great. I will never use bleach again. +100000 for oxy. I use a little less than a scoop in 6 gallons

 

[Spine]

I used to buy PBW but now I only use oxiclean free. It's so much cheaper and seems to do just as good of a job for me. I do have to use a little more Oxiclean but in the end it is far more economical. I think the key is to get the solution very hot, like 170 dF hot, which is probably hotter than most hot water heaters get. I heat up the solution in my kettle which really helps get rid of the beer stone.

 

[The Pol]

Yah I heat up my PBW in the kettle, so I might as well heat up the Oxy too eh?

 

[avaserfi]

I just use the hottest tap water I can - no issues getting anything clean, ever.

 

[The Pol]

I bought the SUN brand... the chlorine free kind. It doesnt say scent free or anything, but there was not that option... I have mixed some up and there is no smell whatsoever.

I get a kick out of spending $1 per pound as opposed to like 4-$5 per pound!

 

[Rick500]

I use whatever generic brand (scent-free) is available.

I use one tablespoon in a whole carboy with hot water and I've not had to scrub one yet.

 

[The Pol]

ONE tablespoon is less than what PBW recommends using, they recommend an OUNCE per GALLON... OUCH

 

[beerthirty]

Pol, since you seem to be economic minded, try washing soda next time you need to buy a cleaner and post your results. You might find it works just as well for a fraction of the cost.

 

[Dwain]

Washing soda is sodium carbonate aka soda ash which is often sold in bulk as a pool chemical. I usually use pH-up aka sodium carbonate to raise pH in my pool. The product sold for pools is the industrial grade, as is many pool chemicals, whereas the A&H product is more refined to make it a #1/consumer grade product.

I saw this while googling soda wash. - Dwain

 

[The Pol]

Pol, since you seem to be economic minded, try washing soda next time you need to buy a cleaner and post your results. You might find it works just as well for a fraction of the cost.

Well there is no need in wasting dough... I mean, I can buy hops for $4 or for about $1 an ounce, that decision is easy too. I am obviously looking for the BEST cleaning bang for my hard earned buck. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I just picked up another tub of the Wally World oxy. $1.89 or $6, it is an easy call. Ate the trub right off the Better Bottle, as always.

 

[The Pol]

I just picked up another tub of the Wally World oxy. $1.89 or $6, it is an easy call. Ate the trub right off the Better Bottle, as always.

Why would anyone buy PBW? I feel so stupid

 

[thedude123]

People buy PBW because it doesn't have Soda Ash, which is what makes you have that slimy residue on the carboys after you wash them.

I have always used Oxy Free but I bought some PBW because it was on sale to try it. I will most likely stick with Oxy. I just clean rinse then sanitize everything and have never had a problem.

 

[507Brewery]

I use 2 parts of the cheapest fragrance free oxy clean and one part phosphate free "TSP" cleaner.

Oxy Clean gets you the Sodium carbonate and sodium percarbonate

phosphate free "TSP" cleaner gets you the Sodium Metasilicate

per the MSDS sheet http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/msds/pbw.pdf 1/3 is pretty close to the 30% listed there.

That gets almost all the ingredients of PBW, minus the surfactants. Works like a charm for me.

phosphate free "TSP" cleaner is pretty cheap too - like $12 at Ace for a huge bag of it. probably cheaper at home depot or online. the stuff I got was 100% Sodium Metasilicate - confirmed by online material data sheets.

 

[LooyvilleLarry]

I use 2 parts of the cheapest fragrance free oxy clean and one part phosphate free "TSP" cleaner.

Oxy Clean gets you the Sodium carbonate and sodium percarbonate

phosphate free "TSP" cleaner gets you the Sodium Metasilicate

per the MSDS sheet http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/msds/pbw.pdf 1/3 is pretty close to the 30% listed there.

That gets almost all the ingredients of PBW, minus the surfactants. Works like a charm for me.

phosphate free "TSP" cleaner is pretty cheap too - like $12 at Ace for a huge bag of it. probably cheaper at home depot or online. the stuff I got was 100% Sodium Metasilicate - confirmed by online material data sheets.

Nice Touch!!!

 

[kal]

Been using "Oxyclean Free" for a few years now and always liked the results. I hear it's the same as "Oxyclean Baby" (both are fragrance and dye free).

I came across a pre-mixed spray bottle of "Oxyclean Baby" at Walmart the other day so I've been using that for small stuff:

It's more expensive but so much faster to use on the small things - just spray a bit and scrub.

Kal

 

[HenryHill]

She lost my nearly new tub of Oxy Free, so I today went to wallys to look for some. They had a small tall tub of Sun oxygen cleaner, but no wally brand, and nothing else.

I got another tub of OF for $6.50.

 

[Minky]

So using Star San... an acid sanitizer... which is a no rinse sanitizer, would do this well? Rinse the caustic AND be the rinse (no rinse)? It has worked for me thus far, just checking to make sure I have not been like SUPER lucky

Hey Pol,
This is a quote from the Brewery Cleaning and Sanitizing info on the Five Star website:
"Sanitizers Will NOT WORK in presence of alkali cleaners."

I don't know what cleaners besides PBW are alkaline, but a good rinse is probably always a good idea.

 

[The Pol]

Hey Pol,
This is a quote from the Brewery Cleaning and Sanitizing info on the Five Star website:
"Sanitizers Will NOT WORK in presence of alkali cleaners."

I don't know what cleaners besides PBW are alkaline, but a good rinse is probably always a good idea.

Cool, I dont think that Oxy is alkali, so I am safe there.

 

[The Pol]

I JUST switched over to an off brand OxyClean in place of PBW. I put about 6 gallons of 190F solution in my fermentor (2 scoops of Oxy) and within one hour the nasty krausen ring is gone. Awesome stuff.

 

[jason.mundy]

Hey Pol,
This is a quote from the Brewery Cleaning and Sanitizing info on the Five Star website:
"Sanitizers Will NOT WORK in presence of alkali cleaners."

I don't know what cleaners besides PBW are alkaline, but a good rinse is probably always a good idea.

This is a good reason to rinse with a mixture of vinegar and water before you sanitize. The vinegar neutralizes the base in the soap.

 

[JPicasso]

Vinegar is made by the acetobacter (sp?) bug.
I don't know if a bottle of vinegar from the store would contain any of this,
but no way I'm using vinegar on my stuff. Even if my starsan procedure is top-rate,
why knowingly expose your equipment.

 

[jason.mundy]

Vinegar is made by the acetobacter (sp?) bug.
I don't know if a bottle of vinegar from the store would contain any of this,
but no way I'm using vinegar on my stuff. Even if my starsan procedure is top-rate,
why knowingly expose your equipment.

I should have qualified vinegar as "White distilled vinegar". I am confident that the acetobacter is gone after the distilling process. And like you say, I follow up with StarSan.

I've not had any problems with it. I guess your mileage may vary.

 

[Minky]

OMG,
Billy Mays DIED!!

 

[grlz]

thats crazy. ill miss his yelling. i was just talking about him and that shamwow guy yesterday.

 

[HBHoss]

OMG,
Billy Mays DIED!!

I heard that too. I guess he was involved in a small plane accident and suffered a head injury but died in his sleep. 50 yrs old.

 

[Homercidal]

I've used PBW a couple of times and Oxiclean a time or two for some basic cleaning chores, but this weekend was the first time I ever tried cleaning a carboy with it.

My carboy had a light film on the inside from the last secondary use and I thought it was a good time to try the PBW/Oxyclean that I've heard about.

I filled the carboy up into the neck with PBW and let sit overnight. Next day there was a lot of orange gunk floating in the neck. I drained the PBW and rinsed well, and that sucker was shiny clean!!

I then got out some oxiclean and washed some bottles and a couple of vases that had massive amounts of gunk on them. They only sat a couple of hours, but with a light wipe with a dishrag they too came out shiny!

My understanding is that PBW is basically Sodium Metasilicate and phosphates and surfacants, according to their MSDS.

Oxiclean is Sodium Carbonate and Sodium Percarbonate. One of those is also the same stuff as Arm and Hammer Soda Wash.

You may feel the need to rinse with an acid wash after using PBW or Oxiclean, and Starsan would do the trick. I would assume that once you use the Star-san to rinse the Oxi, then the Star-san woudl not be reusable and would not be considered a sanitizer during the rinsing process, and the alkalinity of the Oxi/PBW would ruin it.

I would always sanitize again just before using the container anyway.

 

[40yr@HB]

After I racked my raspberry wheat into a corney, I poured the trub and spent raspberries into the toilet.
I then put a scoop of the oxyclean into the glass carboy and filled it full of hot water, after a half hour of soaking all of the krausen was gone, nor carboy brush required.

Thanks for the tip guys, it's nice working smarter not harder.

 

[pvpeacock]

13 years, 104 days later....