Cleaning S shape airlocks

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Jal5

Supporting Members
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2017
Messages
507
Reaction score
283
Never had a problem like this before. Took off an airlock to bottle wine that had been aging since April. Tiny black spots on the inside plastic and nothing washes them out. Oxyclean solution made them smaller but still there. Can’t seem to get any tool in there to really scrub. Any ideas?

Tried pouring boiling water, OneStep cleaner, Dawn kitchen cleaner, salt water.
 
This is why I prefer the two or three part airlocks. Easier to clean. I no longer use my one piece airlocks (and they are glass, somewhat historical, and so I won't just throw them away ...)

Never tried a breathable bung, mainly because they are not available where I am. But, honestly, I like to see the water level at the end of fermentation, where you can see that there is a pressure difference between inside and outside the fermenter/storage tank, and thus know everything is indeed air tight, rather than just "trust" a bung.
 
Ended up soaking it overnite in oxyclean that really did it. Just make sure to wash and sanitize good after the soak.
Joe

If you ever have the problem again, use your vacuum cleaner to pull a piece of string through the airlock and tie an appropriate sized cloth to the string. Puts some cleaner on the cloth and pull it back and forth through the airlock.
 
If you ever have the problem again, use your vacuum cleaner to pull a piece of string through the airlock and tie an appropriate sized cloth to the string. Puts some cleaner on the cloth and pull it back and forth through the airlock.
I like that idea. Thx
 
If you ever have the problem again, use your vacuum cleaner to pull a piece of string through the airlock and tie an appropriate sized cloth to the string. Puts some cleaner on the cloth and pull it back and forth through the airlock.

Sounds like you've been spending too much time watching electricians.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top