Carboy cleaning

General Homebrew Discussion
1

Needs some direction.

Ran into a first for me this past weekend.  I forgot about a carboy I had soaking in Oxyclean Free – for about three weeks.  Now there is some clear like deposits all over the glass the I can’t seem to reach completely with my carboy brush.

I have tried a bleach soak for 24 hours and  Red Devil Lye-but that was a first using that product so I am not sure I handled that once correctly - I added 2 tablespoons of Red Devil Lye to the carboy-mixed and waited 24 hours…small little clear whatever-it-is still there.

Next I did the search of the forums- didn’t find anything to what I would call is my problem (-most addressed a white film these are small clear water looking bumps).  I know that they can be removed since I had some on my blow off tubes in a bucket next to it and they wiped off.  What I was thinking is to use my mix stir and drill and thread some green scrubbies through the holes on the mix stir paddles and fill with some more PBW or soap…

And ideas fellow brewers?

2

Use an acid like Star-San or even just a citric acid solution.

3

You could try a vinegar/water solution too.  Vinegar is a cheap - easily available - source of acetic acid.

4

Thanks guys.  Just wanted to report back in that the vinegar solutions worked well and solved the problem.  Thanks again.

5

I had a similar deposit & used CLR to clean it out.

CLR = gluconic acid, citric acid, lactic acid, surfactants, glycolic acid and sulfamic acid