Aaaarrrrgghh!

[MilesDavis]

People who put their winemaking equipment away dirty are certainly frustrating.

Backstory; I bought four carboys (two-3-gallon, a five, and a six gallon) two 3-gallon Better Bottles, an unopened acid test kit and some related equipment from a Craigslist ad. It was a really good buy, but all of it had obviously been stored dirty. Like barely rinsed after the last batch, and chucked into a damp basement.
I had to throw away a couple of airlocks as they had mold in them. It took me an hour to clean the BBs with a stout Star-San solution and a washcloth wrapped around my carboy brush handle. The three gallon glass are sitting overnight with bleach in them. Hopefully the crud in the bottom will loosen by then.

Heck, my five gallon carboy that had served as an accidental mouse trap for five years was easier to get clean.

 

[cedarswamp]

Bleach is chemical non grata in wine making. I'm not sure why.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

It can contribute to cork taint, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. We went to an estate sale once, they had 7 gal carboys, all had thick dried crud on the bottom, they sold for 20$ each, first bidder took the whole lot of about 15 carboys, his choice. I now kick myself in the arse for missing that one, novice ignorance, could have started my carboy farm much sooner! PBW might also help clean those nasty ones out without all that bleach smell seeping into everything. Good luck, WVMJ

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Typically oxyclean will clean most carboys with the aid of the carboy cleaner tool. If I had to use bleach - I would do it outside

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Star san is a sanitizer not a cleaner. One Step or some of the Craftmeister cleaners along with a carboy cleaner attached to a drill works wonders. Stay away from bleach.

 

[MilesDavis]

Bleach is chemical non grata in wine making. I'm not sure why.

I certainly wouldn't use it for day to day winemaking sanitation for obvious reasons. However, it rinses well from glass, and does quite a number on organic material. Chlorine evaporates away fairly quickly, and is driven off even more quickly in sunlight.
I do think I will pick up some oxy-clean and maybe some one-step.

 

[Julie]

I still would not use bleach around my winemaking equipment and room. You are on the right track with oxy-clean. My carboys get very stained after making wine from grapes and one scoop of oxy-clean and fill with water and leave it sit for a couple of hours then drain get them looking like new.

 

[oreoman]

PBW is fabulous for cleaning very dirty equipment. I have cleaned carboys coated inside with mud--filled carboy with water and PBW and let set. Came crystal clear. Then use starsan as the sanitizer.

 

[GreginND]

Some may not agree with me, but bleach is perfectly fine if care is taken to use it properly. Bleach causes a problem when it impacts with wood products and sits around in drains. For glass, plastic, steel it is perfectly fine and if properly rinsed away, will not cause problems. Most of us in a home winemaking scenario will never have a problem with cork taint from bleach.

KEEP bleach out of floor drains
KEEP bleach away from any potentially treated wood
RINSE all bleached items well into a sink.