Removing wine stains from carboy

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.
I do not know the ingredients on the one you listed. However, most of us strongly recommend the UNSCENTED version of oxiclean with the green lid:

OxiClean Powder Versatile Stain Remover Free - 3.5lbs

GUEST_4ced16b5-9007-4841-b165-dcc72ff6dde1
 
I purchased used 25 and 54 liter demijohns, both of which had ugly red wine stains in and below the neck. OneStep removed a lot of it, but not all. I soaked overnight in Oxiclean (3 scoops in the 54 liter demijohn) and that removed more, but still not all.

My final solution was to add a gallon of OneStep, swirl it, and use a drill-mounted carboy cleaning brush. Use the brush for 20 seconds, swirl the OneStep, let set a minute. Repeated 4 or 5 times until it was clean.

carboy brush.jpg

The moral of the story? Clean your equipment as soon as possible! [Which doesn't help when buying used equipment.]
 
Last edited:
I have acquired some used 3-gallon carboys, and one of them has some red residue/stains from grape wine. I have read here that many use oxiclean to remove organic residue. Is this the one that you use? OxiClean White Revive Powder 5 lbs. Fabric Stain Remover-51652 - The Home Depot If so, how much would you use?
For years I have used denture cleaner tablets with success to remove wine stains from bottles. One tablet per bottle but you likely would need more for the carboys.
 
OxiClean is one of the most effective methods to remove wine stains on the refrigerator and any technique. I would also advise you to use WD-40, but it is very toxic, and you need to use this thing with care. By the way, has anyone here had any problems with removing greasy stains on clothes? It is very important for me now to find some stain remover that is the least toxic because I want to remove stains on my baby's clothes. So far, I can't find anything better than an amazon stain remover. I would be glad to hear your options, folks!
 
Last edited:
Question: after using the oxy do you rerinse the carboy to be safe ??
Dumb question I know!
 
Question: after using the oxy do you rerinse the carboy to be safe ??
Dumb question I know!
Not asking the question would be dumb! The answer is important.

I agree with Craig, I rinse several times with hot tap water.

Generally, I rinse after everything except the things that are specifically no-rinse such as K-meta, One Step, and Star San.
 
Not asking the question would be dumb! The answer is important.

I agree with Craig, I rinse several times with hot tap water.

Generally, I rinse after everything except the things that are specifically no-rinse such as K-meta, One Step, and Star San.
I use StarSan almost exclusively for sanitation and mix with distilled water. Can k-meta be mixed with tap water?
 
I use StarSan almost exclusively for sanitation and mix with distilled water. Can k-meta be mixed with tap water?
Anything can be mixed with tap water. It really depends on your tap water.

We have a well, so while the water is hard and acidic, there's no chlorine. I've gone back-n-forth, but I tend to use my tap water.
 
I purchased used 25 and 54 liter demijohns, both of which had ugly red wine stains in and below the neck. OneStep removed a lot of it, but not all. I soaked overnight in Oxiclean (3 scoops in the 54 liter demijohn) and that removed more, but still not all.

My final solution was to add a gallon of OneStep, swirl it, and use a drill-mounted carboy cleaning brush. Use the brush for 20 seconds, swirl the OneStep, let set a minute. Repeated 4 or 5 times until it was clean.

View attachment 78741

The moral of the story? Clean your equipment as soon as possible! [Which doesn't help when buying used equipment.]
How would you compare oxiclean to PBW? Will PBW remove stains?
 
PBW will remove anything except scratches. Expensive but effective. I’ve yet to find anything it won’t clean; save a flower vase that is etched and cloudy.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top