Cleaning demijohns

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Intelekt

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Right I've managed to get myself 18 demijohns from eBay :eek: :eek:

They're a bit dirty and brownish in places, so I am going to have a BIG cleaning day on my hands :nah:

What's the best way of getting these Demi's clean enough ready for sterilising?
Does anyone know a good chemical or technique for cleaning and shining these things?

:cheers:
 
VWP was amazing when I used it. overnight soak in a strong solution, and a 20 year old brew with the airlock blown out just lifted off with a warm water rinse.

be careful with hot water - particularly if the DJ's themselves are cold - shocking them can break them, if not now, when they are under pressure with a gallon of wine in :lol:

you may wish to invest in a bottle brush too, not just a great tool for major clean ups but fantastic for removing hard to reach krauzen marks :thumb:
 
I have used magic balls for cleaning my glass carboy and Demi johns they are designed for decanters they seem to work really well I have used two packets they are available on amazon and in places like Lakeland and johnlewis. They are basically copper ball bearings
 
VWP does the trick, but still the cheapest and one of the most effective tricks is bicarb of soda (baking soda), it'll clean most anything from anything, just dissolve it in water and swirl.
 
All my DJs are 2nd hand and I cleaned them with VWP and a bottle brush, then left them for a whole day with a strong VWP solution in them. Not had a problem with them yet!
 
I knew I'd get some good answers :party:

When you use VWP, do you use it in one at time and transfer it after a day to the next and so on?
I ask because I have visions of making up 18 gallons of solution :eek:
 
Being tight, and given the quantity, I would go for soda crystals for cleaning and Tesco value bleach for sterilising in the 1st instance. Give each an overnight soak with the soda crystals and the gunk should lift off, then sterilise with the bleach and rinse several times.
 
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