General cleaning

[Floandgary]

IMHO,,,I am a firm believer in keeping ones equipment as sanitary as possible throughout the winemaking processes. Personally a spray bottle of K-meta in sanitizing strength is, I believe, sufficient to keep any bugs at bay while you work.
For cleaning I am in favor of aggressive "hot -water-only" method. I have noticed on various posts the reference to use of soaps/detergents in the cleaning process. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the function of a soap is to break down oils/greases so they can be flushed away. I don't know of any instances where such substances would be introduced to winemaking equipment.
I suppose what I'm getting at is, is the use of soap potentially more detrimental to the winemaking process than it is worth??

Thots,,

 

[sour_grapes]

I pretty much do what you do, too. However, let me point out where oily/greasy substances are introduced: biofilms. The walls of cells (yeast and other microbes) are basically proteins and grease.

 

[Floandgary]

Biofilms ehh! Hadn't considered that. Tho enough to warrant soap? I just see soap as too hard to get totally out. Much more rinsing.
Thx for comeback..

 

[vacuumpumpman]

If anything needs to be washed per say - I use oxy clean -works great !!



make sure you purchase the one that has no dye-perfume or chlorine.