I use a 3/8" clear poly siphon tube for racking and bottling. I have two problems. How do you clean the darn thing? Related to that, after rinsing thoroughly it takes literaly days to dry. The warm and humid days are coming soon and I am worried about the possibility of mildew. Does anyone have any great tricks for cleaning and drying?
cleaning siphon tube
- Thread starter kboroff
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Actually the best thing to do is get a pce of PVC with a solid cap on one end and a screw cap on another and fill it with k-meta solution and keep all your long stuff in there. That being said I just wash it immediately and hang it up to drip dry and then sanitize it before its next use, thats also what I do with all my hoses. Welcome to the forum and hope you stay around.
AlFulchino
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Wade has it right..its a similar issue w filters and bottle fillers and such...k meta after and before each use, drip dry...just remember that k meta will work to rust metal surfaces, so dont leave it in contact ( like i did once, in a metal pan that was used to sanitize some airllocks)
djrockinsteve
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I clean and K-Meta my tubing before and after each use then rinse with warm water and hang to dry. If you have that much of a problem buy some tubing at a bulk price and rotate them while soaking the others in solution.
I have never had a problem with mine but dohave a back up tube just in case.
I have never had a problem with mine but dohave a back up tube just in case.
Green Mountains
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We just started using a tall kitchen garbage can (new of course) filled with sanitizer solution to store our taller stuff. We don't leave them in all the time but it is a great place to ensure your entire spoon or racking cane is totally safe to use.
I believe someone makes a long, flexible brush, kind of like a bottle brush with a long wire handle (6 ft), that is for cleaning out tubing. Kind of like a giant pipe cleaner. As around at the LHBS or contact George at finevinewines.com.
If you go to a grocery store, which has a bakery (like Wal-Mart), they will give you any of several sizes of food grade icing buckets, that seal pretty well. If you need more depth than a 5 gallon bucket, get a Rubbermaid, food grade Brute at Loews or Home Depot. Pour a little Kmeta in the bottom, put your tubing in the bucket and close the lid. If you keep your tubing in this container when not in use, and replenish the Kmeta from time to time, you won't have any problems with mildew or anything else growing in your tubing.
With Kmeta, it's the fumes that sanitizes.
If you go to a grocery store, which has a bakery (like Wal-Mart), they will give you any of several sizes of food grade icing buckets, that seal pretty well. If you need more depth than a 5 gallon bucket, get a Rubbermaid, food grade Brute at Loews or Home Depot. Pour a little Kmeta in the bottom, put your tubing in the bucket and close the lid. If you keep your tubing in this container when not in use, and replenish the Kmeta from time to time, you won't have any problems with mildew or anything else growing in your tubing.
With Kmeta, it's the fumes that sanitizes.
Before and after I do anything with the tubing, I siphon a large amount of k-meta solution into a carboy using it. Usually I'm doing this to sanitize the carboy I'm going to use, and then the carboy I just finished using. I keep mine hanging to drip dry between uses though.
