Ran out of sanitiser....

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AdamSon

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Hi folks, so I have ran out of the bag of sanitiser that came with my starter kit. And I had to make a blow off tube as my youngs AIPA got a bit lively, and now that it's calmed down the tube is a little blocked so I would like to put the air lock back in. I was wondering if it would be ok to use Dettol surface wipes to wipe down the air lock? Obviously I will rinse afterwards with cool boiled water.
 
Prbably ok. Not sure what chemicals are in the surface wipes though. I'd just use boiling water if it was me. Or if you have any thin bleach around the house dilute some and use that as a sanitiser. Make sure you rinse it off thoroughly though
 
Prbably ok. Not sure what chemicals are in the surface wipes though. I'd just use boiling water if it was me. Or if you have any thin bleach around the house dilute some and use that as a sanitiser. Make sure you rinse it off thoroughly though

Cooled boiled water? Or will the air lock hold up to boiling water? I have domestos?
 
Not dettol ffs if it blows back as I've had it done your brew will be fooked.just clean it out and refill with cooled boiled water and that will be OK unless you are paranoid then get some asap.I use Milton what they clean baby's bottles with,any supermarket for just over a quid
 
Cooled boiled water? Or will the air lock hold up to boiling water? I have domestos?

I wouldn't use domestos as I think it's thick bleach and probably perfumed too. If you boiled the air lock It probably wouldn't stand up to it but I think you should be ok if you just boil some water put it in a jar or a bowl or something then put the airlock in there and leave it there fo 15 mins. Should kill any nasties
 
Thanks for the help, boiled water it is for now. Pay day Thursday so I can get some starsan!
 
As Godsdog say, as long as it's clean and not covered in gunk it should be ok. I'm a bit paranoid about wild yeast infections (as I've had a couple in the past) and would star san my airlocks (if I used them, which I don't). So it depends how paranoid you are whether you want to sanitise the airlock
 
To be fair. I would rather keep the tube in there incase it over flows again, would running water through that to clean it out, then giving it a good clean with water be ok to put back in? Don't know if it's any different to an air lock as far as contamination risk goes.
 
To be fair. I would rather keep the tube in there incase it over flows again, would running water through that to clean it out, then giving it a good clean with water be ok to put back in? Don't know if it's any different to an air lock as far as contamination risk goes.
You takes it out it needs a clean and a sanatise as the brew is at its most vulnerability to infection,
 
Just shove back it in (dons tin hat and hunkers down for the oncoming barrage)
 
Not dettol ffs if it blows back as I've had it done your brew will be fooked.
Absolutely not Dettol! It will contaminate your kit with it's smell for ages.

In addition to Starsan and VWP I also use economy 'Thin Bleach' from Sainsburys (alias 5% Sodium Hypochlorite solution) which is about 40p for 2 litres.
 
absolutely not dettol! It will contaminate your kit with it's smell for ages.

In addition to starsan and vwp i also use economy 'thin bleach' from sainsburys (alias 5% sodium hypochlorite solution) which is about 40p for 2 litres.

no no no detol

Its like suggesting mouth wash or tooth paste
 
So should I not use Dettol? Lol. I did say the surface wipes and not Dettol cleaner by the way, I know that would be a stupid idea, I've used gallons of the stuff for tattoo studio cleaning, although I do love the smell I wouldn't go near my brew with it!
 
Hi!
The guy who invented StarSan suggested this for a cheap, very effective no-rinse sanitiser.
5 gallons water, 1 oz. cheap unscented bleach, 1 oz. white vinegar. Mix the bleach with the water and then add the vinegar [never mix bleach and vinegar directly].
I know that 5 gallons is a lot, but you could scale it down (30ml is just over 1 us floz).
 
On the subject of paranoia, if I remove the airlock I fold up one square of toilet paper and sellotape that over the grommet to stop anything getting in. I do this when I move the FV at bottling time as when I lift the FV it sucks on the airlock (perhaps that's why they're such good friends) and can draw the liquid in the airlock into the FV, it's boiled water by why take the chance. Once when struck by genius I tried fitting the grommet into the lid when it was on the FV and the yeast had been pitched, the last I saw of it for two weeks was it plunging into the depths of the wort. Resisting the urge to immediately go after it I just sellotaped the folded square of toilet paper over the hole and left there for a fortnight and it was great. Any excess CO2 could get out but no nasties could get in, result!!
 
On the subject of paranoia, if I remove the airlock I fold up one square of toilet paper and sellotape that over the grommet to stop anything getting in. I do this when I move the FV at bottling time as when I lift the FV it sucks on the airlock (perhaps that's why they're such good friends) and can draw the liquid in the airlock into the FV, it's boiled water by why take the chance. Once when struck by genius I tried fitting the grommet into the lid when it was on the FV and the yeast had been pitched, the last I saw of it for two weeks was it plunging into the depths of the wort. Resisting the urge to immediately go after it I just sellotaped the folded square of toilet paper over the hole and left there for a fortnight and it was great. Any excess CO2 could get out but no nasties could get in, result!!
Try chewing gum...worked for me
I dont do technical
Keep it simple stu....
 
Try chewing gum...worked for me
I dont do technical
Keep it simple stu....

We've had far too many discussions on here about mouth contact with wine or beer in syphon tubes (no, I'm not starting that one again) to take the chance. I still remember Bruin Tuns, four brews on the bounce infected, 160 pins down the drain (I'm filling up here) it's enough to put anyone off.
 
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