Sanitized Equipment Good for How Long?

[bkisel]

Hi, Did searches but could not find and an answer...

Once sanitized for how long is the equipment good to go? I'm hoping to hear about 24 hours because, at times, I'd like to do some or all of my sanitizing the day before I do my racking or bottling.

Thanks...

 

[Runningwolf]

Your pushing it. Difficult question also when we don't know what the environment is like there including animals, temperatures and humidity.

 

[Elmer]

I generally use equipment within 24 hours of sanitizing.
I sanitize wine bottles and wait for them to dry if it takes longer than 24 hours I will spritz was some K Meda swish around and then wait to dry and bottle.
I usually store wine bottles upside down so nothing can get inside them.

I usually keep carboys covered with bungs and airlocks. A day before racking I will fill wasn't came out a solution swish around and let dry as best as possible.
Before racking I tend to spray down or spritzed down any equipment I'm to use and let it dry but I don't always wait for the dry completely.

YMMV!

 

[Turock]

Carboys and vats with meta solution in them and capped are fine. The gas from the sulfite is a good sanitizer. But I don't like doing bottles ahead of time and when we sanitize them we never let them dry. They come out of the meta solution and are bottled. The small amount of meta in them is not a problem and may be a good thing. I find a bottle tree to be one of the most unnecessary gadgets ever made for winemaking.

 

[cpfan]

Hi, Did searches but could not find and an answer...

Once sanitized for how long is the equipment good to go? I'm hoping to hear about 24 hours because, at times, I'd like to do some or all of my sanitizing the day before I do my racking or bottling.

Thanks...

IMO, sanitize and use immediately. Cleaning the day before is fine, but not sanitizing.

For example, I would make sure that my bottles were clean and ready-to-go a day or two before planning to bottle. Then quickly sanitize just prior to bottling.

Steve

 

[Runningwolf]

I find a bottle tree to be one of the most unnecessary gadgets ever made for winemaking.

I agree with everyone that says sanitize and use immediately. Do not worry about drying.

I disagree with Turock about bottle trees. I own four of them and use them all the time. After washing or unlabling bottles it's nice to put them on the tress to drain. This is when I separate the bottles as I box them.

When bottling day comes the bottles are already boxed by style and color making it easier to pick them out. I then sanitize what I need and place them on a few 90 bottle trees right next to when I'm bottling. This works great at home when bottling by yourself or just one other person.

 

[cpfan]

I agree with Runningwolf. We use our bottle trees the same way. I wouldn't be might mine.

Steve

 

[GreginND]

Some will most definitely argue with me, but if you have treated your wine properly, it is self-protective for the most part (enough alcohol, enough acid, enough SO2 to keep any bacteria at bay). If your equipment is CLEAN and DRY then up to 24 hours after sanitizing should be no problem. When in doubt, however, spritz with some acidulated potassium metabisulfite solution or your other favorite sanitizer.

 

[bkisel]

Some will most definitely argue with me, but if you have treated your wine properly, it is self-protective for the most part (enough alcohol, enough acid, enough SO2 to keep any bacteria at bay). If your equipment is CLEAN and DRY then up to 24 hours after sanitizing should be no problem. When in doubt, however, spritz with some acidulated potassium metabisulfite solution or your other favorite sanitizer.

I think your reasoning makes sense just so long as I don't push it past one day.

This is what I did earlier today. Just spritzed having cleaned and sanitized yesterday. I really do think it'll be okay. BTW this was just a racking not bottling.

 

[DoctorCAD]

K meta is a wet sanitizer, it is only sanitizing while it is wet.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Depends on what equipment you are talking about. These kinds of threads are great, shows the paranoid types We clean then sanatize our carboys, drip dry them upside down and then stuff a paper towel in them and store for however long, if its dry what can grow there, the towel keeps out the dust, if you store them wet its a worry if the bung is always on etc, store them dry for years. You add KM to your wine at bottling time, your bottles better already be clean before you use them, so what does sanitizing them right before bottling do besides give you peace of mind, add an extra step while you are busy, and add even more KM to your wine after you already dosed it? Your racking tubes and canes should have been cleaned and stored dry also, a good flushing with KM right before use for these guys is a good idea as this is a common point of contact between all your batches of wine. Sanitize your buckets and turn them upside down, as long as no bugs crawl up in there you are good for weeks and weeks, again what is going to grow on clean upside down surface (without bugs). If its cleaned, sanitized and dry you are ready, I see so many people waste their time resanitizing everything all the time, I guess it makes people feel better and safer. I have watched a few commercial places, they just take the bottles out of the box and fill them up after flushing with CO2. WVMJ

 

[cimbaliw]

BK, I suspect most of us have some sort of sanitizing drill that we do and doesn't take too long, especially with k meta. For me, my carboys are stored with a 1/2c kmeta and are at the ready. Racking canes, tubing and small parts get sprayed and thrown into a plastic storage bin "gas chamber." Clean bottles (which may still be a little wet inside) are placed upright in bottle boxes and laid on their side. Each bottle gets a single spray of k meta, the lid of the box is closed and the bottles are placed upright. I do roll bottles upside down before bottling to drain excess, which isn't much. By myself, this takes no more than 15-20 minutes and there is no question of readiness.

 

[tonyt]

Great thread Bkisel. This comes up every now and then and I always learn more from the posts. Varied techniques posted reminds me of a post someone made before, "you dont have to wash a plate before you eat off it if you washed it after the last time you used it". I know that is not exactly the same as winemaking but does point out some of our paranoia. I fall somewhere in the middle here. I clean tubes carboys and buckets after use and spray with PotasiumMeta. I store tubes dry and carboys and buckets sealed and wet. Everything gets rinsed and sprared again prior to use. I store clean (no PMeta) and run through dishwasher day before use then rinse with KM an hour or so before bottling and drip dry on bottle tree. I spray everything right prior to use with spray bottle of PMeta. Its quick and easy so no worry how long it lasts. I soak or submurge anything in PMeta just spray.

 

[Turock]

We store all equipment dry. Not a believer in storing carboys or buckets with meta in them. If you look at your airlocks that have meta solution in them, over time you get some "growth." So why store equipment wet? "Wet" is a good medium for culturing bacteria and fungus--dry storage is better.

 

[LaughingWaterWine]

So does anyone use One Step?

 

[LoveTheWine]

I clean my equipment after each use with Sani-Brew or if there are no deposits just a good hot water rinse and usually give it a quick K-META or San-Star spray. 1/2 hr before needing to use something I once again spritz K-META solution or I spray it down 1-2 minutes before use with with San star.

 

[Runningwolf]

All of my carboys are stored with a meta/citric solution in them with a solid bung. There is not a think that will grow in there. I've had some stored for close to a year and when I popped the bung off they still had a strong meta smell which surprised me. The fumes alone will keep the vessels free from harmful bacteria.

 

[J-Gee]

I recently popped the bung on a carboy that had been in storage for over a year.The whiff from the light k meta solution about knocked me over.I was surprised that it was still that potent.

 

[garymc]

K meta is a wet sanitizer, it is only sanitizing while it is wet.

And, on the other hand we have Runningwolf "The fumes alone will keep the vessels free from harmful bacteria."

Leaves me wondering.
DoctorCAD, do you mean it's useless after it dries out? That would make sense. I would imagine if left in solution in an open container for a long time, it would be useless after the sulfite gas has been released and drifted away. But I'm amazed at how long the stuff lasts in solution. I've had it in a spray bottle for a year and when I spritzed it in a bucket and then stuck my face over it I still got the sinus opening fumes.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

You guys could save your poor noses and just store dry and clean There is no reason to store KM solution in anything to "Keep" it clean if it was already clean before you stored it! WVMJ