I’ve been using Star San as my sanitizer for some time now. Normally, I make a bucket full of it and replace it whenever it starts getting cloudy or dirty; this usually happens once a month.
The last two batches of Star San that I made gets cloudy in a few hours. I bought a bottle of the sanitizer this past spring.
Any suggestiohns?
Are you making it with the same water?
The general consensus is you’ll get the greatest lifespan from your StarSan by making it with purified (distilled or reverse osmosis) water.
My Starsan gets cloudy in a few hours because of calcium my water source. I still use for about a month before making a new batch.
Yeah, cloudy Starsan solution is nothing to lose sleep over. I believe this was covered recently so there may be more information in another thread. Someone at 5-Star mentioned the cloudiness being “no problem” and I have been using it for the better part of 25 years and it’s always been cloudy and it works.
This cloudiness is a new thing for me. It started only this week. And I use the same water: New York City tap water has low levels of calcium.
As long as the pH is below 3 it’s good, cloudy or not.
I also had cloudy Star Scan and have used it for years with no problem, as long as the pH remained low. Recently fixed the cloudy issue by using RO Water
Sadly, StarSan, according to StarSan, is only really good for a few hours after being mixed, cloudy or not. Learning this really bummed me out since having some at the ready in a spray bottle was sooooooo convenient. I know that a ton of home brewers have been ignoring this fact without suffering any ill effects. I suspect it is because after being treated with sanitizer the solution stays clean in whatever vessel until used as a clean, but not sanitizing, rinse. Sorry to be the bearer of sad info…
I believe that this might be an EPA spec. Northern Brewer and More Beer both say that up to a month in a sealed container is OK, if the ph is 3 or lower. Just a thought.
They only warrant it for a short time because lawyers.
That is good news. Thank you.
Even better!
Exactly! Because this is used for food prep, their official labeling needs to follow strict FDA guidelines and approval. Thankfully, the actual science doesn’t have to follow FDA approval. As an acid-based sanitizer, the pH is truly the determining factor in effectiveness.
Slightly off-topic but there was a discussion regarding iodophor and how it works with a wider-spectrum so that it’s more effective against various types of bacteria. Starsan has always worked nicely for me and there is no staining like you might get with iodophor. But occasionally I will mix up a batch of iodophor and use that thinking that I’m showing the bacteria another tool I have in my toolbox and that will scare them away. 
I always use iodophor for starters
I have a similar use case for iodophor – I’ll roll it into the mix from time to time, especially in the odd case that I get an infection in a beer, or have a keg that hosted a diastaticus strain, etc. I probably use it every other batch or thereabouts with my fermenters.