Sanitation every time question

So I just want to be sure what I'm doing is within acceptable sanitation guidelines while I'm doing the "cheapy" recipes. I would hate to start a bad practice when I get into the more pricier kit wines later on. Basically I keep all my supplies (plastic spoon, thermometer, hydrometer, test tube, turkey baster) in a plastic tub with a lid on it to keep any dust from getting on them. They, of course, have all been deep cleaned and are rinsed off after every use. Since I use each of those multiple times a day, or at least once a day, what I've been doing is using a spray bottle with the sanitation liquid in it, I just spray down what I'm using real well, give it a few seconds, shake the excess water off and then use them as intended. My question is, is that enough? Do I need to let the sanitation water sit on the tool longer? I'm just making a few batches of Welch's grape wine now, but I know later on I will get into the kit wines and really don't want to ruin one of those batches by contaminating it by being lazy.

On a side note, I've found a great way to "protect" my hydrometer and make it easier to store. My turkey baster was purchased at the Dollar Tree, and it's the perfect size to put my hydrometer in, skinny end towards the tip of the baster. Then put the "bulb" of the baster over the end where it belongs encapsulating the hydrometer. The baster then fits very nice and snug inside the hydrometer test tube creating a water tight seal at the mouth. I've sprayed the sanitation water in the tube and put the baster in there as described too, hoping the fumes will keep everything sanitized that way too. Any thoughts on that? (I can attach pictures later if needed)

sounds like you are going everything pretty good. I like the method of storing the hydrometer.

Sounds like you are doing well, but there is one thing you should note. It depends on what kind of "sanitation liquid" you are using. Some kill essentially instantly, but others, like StarSan, need a few minutes of contact time in order to kill all the nasties. Which product are you using? Does it have a label with instructions?

Always the contrarian, I would be a little anxious about storing your hydrometer inside a baster. At least my tendency would be to pull down on the top to "open" the baster rather than pull the bulb up and away. And pulling down is liable to cause the hydrometer to snap... If you have a testing cylinder you might want to store your hydrometer inside that (my hydrometer came with a protective plastic box). Murphy's law - Your only hydrometer always breaks when you really it.

jayhkr said:

I just spray down what I'm using real well, give it a few seconds, shake the excess water off and then use them as intended.

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Assuming you are using K-Meta (or Na-Meta), the contact time is longer for santization. Using 3 tablespoons to 1 gallon, the contact time is 2 minutes.

sour_grapes said:

Sounds like you are doing well, but there is one thing you should note. It depends on what kind of "sanitation liquid" you are using. Some kill essentially instantly, but others, like StarSan, need a few minutes of contact time in order to kill all the nasties. Which product are you using? Does it have a label with instructions?

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Pretty positive I made a gallon with either easy clean or the campden tablets......my memory just isn't what it used to be.

jayhkr said:

Pretty positive I made a gallon with either easy clean or the campden tablets......my memory just isn't what it used to be.

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Easy Clean is an oxygenator, and has a 2 minute contact time. I do not know about storing oxygenators once they are mixed.

Campden tables is k-meta, and an expensive way to get k-meta for sanitation purposes.

richmke said:

Easy Clean is an oxygenator, and has a 2 minute contact time. I do not know about storing oxygenators once they are mixed.

Campden tables is k-meta, and an expensive way to get k-meta for sanitation purposes.

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So basically it sounds like I'm not doing it entirely proper. I'm almost positive I'm using the tablets, as I vaguely remember my local supply store saying to use 2 tablets in a 1 gallon jug and it would keep for a few months and to use that. Might have to look into other things.

jayhkr said:

Might have to look into other things.

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Yeah, you can get a pound of pure potassium metabisulfite, rather than using the Campden tablets. Much cheaper that way, and more convenient, except for the purpose of doling out small amounts.

Two tablets of Campden is not anywhere near strong enough for use as a sanitizer. That is only equivalent to about one half teaspoon per gallon. You need 2 to 3 TABLESPOONS per gallon.

grapeman said:

Two tablets of Campden is not anywhere near strong enough for use as a sanitizer. That is only equivalent to about one half teaspoon per gallon. You need 2 to 3 TABLESPOONS per gallon.

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Yeah, I'm looking for a better solution to my solution.....lol. Thank you everyone for the help. This is why I ask questions while in the "learning phase" before I get into the more expensive kit wines later on.

jayhkr said:

Yeah, I'm looking for a better solution to my solution....

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I use Star San.

richmke said:

I use Star San.

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That's what I was leaning towards. Thank you!

So where I work at was going to throw out this item called "Monogram Clean Force Manual Bar Glass Sanitizer" It has 18.7% Trichloromelamine in it (which I assume is a 3 part mixture of chlorine) and has a 100ppm chlorine for 8 hours. This mixture is 1 packet to 3 gallons of water. If I were to reduce the water to 1 gallon, would that effectively make this 300ppm? Or at least a little stronger than 100ppm? Also would this hold longer than 8 hours if I kept it sealed up? I was able to get quite a few packets from them so one way or another I won't let them go to waste. Just seeing if anyone has had any experience with it for our applications!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

jayhkr said:

So where I work at was going to throw out this item called "Monogram Clean Force Manual Bar Glass Sanitizer" It has 18.7% Trichloromelamine in it (which I assume is a 3 part mixture of chlorine) and has a 100ppm chlorine for 8 hours. This mixture is 1 packet to 3 gallons of water. If I were to reduce the water to 1 gallon, would that effectively make this 300ppm? Or at least a little stronger than 100ppm? Also would this hold longer than 8 hours if I kept it sealed up? I was able to get quite a few packets from them so one way or another I won't let them go to waste. Just seeing if anyone has had any experience with it for our applications!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

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I personally wouldn't use anything with chlorine in it.

What Jim said.

Chlorine can cause TCA (wine taint) to form. So, avoid anything with chlorine in it.

Great to know. To bad it won't help me but I'm glad I asked first! You guys are the best!!

Your routine sounds good. Just keep it up and you'll be wondering why others are having so many problems!! I'd go with powdered K-meta like Paul said. Easier to work with. Store it in refrigerator.

I use a Kmeta solution, 3 tablespoons per gallon, keep it in I gallon glass jugs. All of my stuff (spoon, bungs, air locks, wine thief, thermometer, racking tubing, etc.) is in an old juice bucket with about half gallon of solution in it. The lid is airtight. When I work, I dunk my hands in there and come out with the tools I need, rinse and use them. They get cleaned and replaced after each use. Pretty quick and easy access, never had any issues.
The solution will, however, make some plastic items turn a bit hazy over time.
Solution gets changed every couple of weeks.
Hold your breath when you put your face over it to get things out!!!

This is a great help to me. I have been sanitizing and cleaning every single tool every use. I need to fill up a bucket as per John's recommendation. I have gone through a lot of k-meta lol. I was wondering about this as I had been soaking my bottles, after already being rinsed, then spraying with a pink cleaner(can't remember the name, but meant for cleaning wine making tools), then rinsing, then sanitizing with k meta and rinsing again 3 more times with water before putting the bottles on the bottle tree for bottling. Do you all think this is ok, for my bottling as of now?