It is ok to use a cleaning solution made from oxyclean to clean out beer draught lines and then run some sanitizer through the lines? Or should I go for the commerical ‘beer line cleaner’.
I’ve used Oxiclean for beer lines for years and it works great. I think beer line cleaner may work better if you have beer stone problems, though.
I’ll second that it works fine
Rinse thoroughly with warm water after a 20-30 minute soak and your good
If you can still find Oxiclean Free, that’s even better–no perfumes or dyes. I think Oxiclean reorganized its product line. I also found a fragrance-free percarbonate cleanser in a store brand… I think Safeway.
Whatever else is in the Oxiclean Versatile that I use has no impact.
Agreed . .as Jeff mentioned, good rinsing is the key. Oxiclean is the best. I can’t remember the last time I had to use a brush on a carboy or keg. It cuts right through all the gunk. I would still use BLC or similar after every half dozen kegs or so just to remove any vestiges of beer stone, like Denny said.
That’s good to know. Maybe they consolidated into one powdered product and just quietly made it “free.”
I’d like to think so, but I doubt it…
Oxyclean works fine. But don’t leave your hose soaking in it for days. Same for your SS corny kegs. Some sort of film builds up that is impossible to get off the hose. You can get it off the SS keg, but it takes a lot of scrubing. Learned that the hard way.
I wrote Church & Dwight to ask about the formulation of Oxiclean Versatile. I have sensitive skin and noticed a difference between the old “regular” Oxiclean and Oxiclean Free–plus I could smell “regular” Oxiclean on equipment even after careful rinsing. I’ll report back.
Thanks! I’ll be looking forward to what you find out.
I pump oxyclean thru my pump, hoses, chiller plates, HLT and kettle after every use. I run near boiling water after that. Have had no problems as of yet.
TimO
+1! 
What a timely thread! I was just looking at my hoses and shaking my head. What? Lines are three years old and only some hot water flushed through a couple times. I’ve got oxyclean and was wondering if it was appropriate. With kegs it works like a charm!
I could run a quart or so of solution through the lines from a free keg and clean those puppies up.
Thanks!
Put in new lines
+1
Lines should be replaced once a year.
I think as homebrewers we tend to go overboard on things. How often do you think a bar replaces their hoses? Just keep em clean, unless you got an infection running through your setup.
Thanks for all the advice!
I I flushed them out with an oxyclean solution and then some plain water.
Brewers Association Draft Beer Quality Manual (http://www.draughtquality.org/) says vinyl direct draw lines should
be replaced every year.
I used nothing but hot water for years, then finally figured I was pushing my luck, so I bought a jug of no rinse sanitizer at Sam’s club for $4.77. Makes 128 gallons and doesn’t leave any taste behind.
Reality is a different story.