Substitute for Star-San?

[David Engel]

Hi All,

Found Star-San at Amazon for a good price… cannot ship to my address. I found Star-san at other sites with shipping that costs more than the product! Any good substitute for it to use as the sterilizing solution?

Dave

 

[bearpaw8491]

Can't ship to you???? Are you not w/i the US?
Kmeta will work but will take a little longer contact time and you may want to rinse depending on application although not really necessary.

 

[David Engel]

Honest… I get this message that says cannot ship to your location. Western Washington.

 

[ratflinger]

Get a PO box in Idaho? Ship to relatives who can bring it by? Heck, send it to me and pay for the reshipping.

 

[winemaker81]

Let's correct a misunderstanding. Star San does not sterilize. It sanitizes.

Use a k-meta solution.

 

[bearpaw8491]

I'd look for a local brew store. Surely there must be a couple in your neck of the woods. If not, order from another on-line brew store like Northern Brewer. Here's a link to their Star-San:

Star San by Five Star

And what Bryan just said!

 

[David Engel]

Correction accepted. There is a brew store in the region, looks like I’ll have to take a drive and pay their price.

 

[TxBrew]

Honest… I get this message that says cannot ship to your location. Western Washington.

When I get that type of message I changed from my PO Box to my street address and they can then ship it.

 

[winemaker81]

Correction accepted.

I replied on my phone, and it probably came across more terse than intended. My intention is to ensure that someone reading this thread 10 years from now doesn't misunderstand.

 

[Jim Welch]

There’s more than one way to skin a cat for sure, it isn’t the only sanitizer but IMO it has a lot of superior properties and is my go to sanitizer. I’d recommend mixing with t with distilled water, it has a near indefinite shelf life then, if stored properly.

 

[rbqricchi]

Amen to that. That's how I use it. A little goes a long way, which makes a bottle last forever. 30 to 60 seconds and you're good to go.

 

[wineview]

Let's correct a misunderstanding. Star San does not sterilize. It sanitizes.

Use a k-meta solution.

Interchanging those words drives me crazy.

 

[winemaker81]

Interchanging those words drives me crazy.

It's like sulfite and sulfate -- beginners may get a completely wrong idea from the wrong word.

 

[wineview]

There’s more than one way to skin a cat for sure, it isn’t the only sanitizer but IMO it has a lot of superior properties and is my go to sanitizer. I’d recommend mixing with t with distilled water, it has a near indefinite shelf life then, if stored properly.

As long as the PH is below 3.0, it’s viable.

 

[David Engel]

I see that 5 Star makes something called PBW... that will ship to my home from Amazon (whereas Star San will not). I haven't seen PBW talked about very much. Is it a sanitizer?

 

[winemaker81]

I see that 5 Star makes something called PBW... that will ship to my home from Amazon (whereas Star San will not). I haven't seen PBW talked about very much. Is it a sanitizer?

AFAIK, it's a cleaner, not a sanitizer.

 

[wineview]

I soak all my used bottles in a bucket of PBW until it fills up with bottles. Could be a week could be two. I rinse them and dry before storing. It insures me clean bottles before sanitizing for my next use.

 

[CDrew]

PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) is a great cleaner for winery and brewery equipment. It's basically a similar chemistry to Cascade dishwasher powder or Oxyclean. You can make a very similar thing with 2/3 Oxyclean Free and 1/3 TSP90 (I think this is sodium metasilicate). It's an excellent cleaner, not a sanitizer.

 

[wineview]

PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) is a great cleaner for winery and brewery equipment. It's basically a similar chemistry to Cascade dishwasher powder or Oxyclean. You can make a very similar thing with 2/3 Oxyclean Free and 1/3 TSP90 (I think this is sodium metasilicate). It's an excellent cleaner, not a sanitizer.

Looked up TSP90. Sounds like a strong industrial cleaner used before painting walls. Description below. I’m no chemist but sounds a bit caustic for wine bottles. Better to buy PBW or Oxyclean without TSP90.


TSP is ideal for cleaning surfaces prior to repainting. It is a heavy duty cleaner —removes grease, soot, mildew and other soils commonly found on walls, woodwork and other painted surfaces.
Cleaner and deglosser
Prepares walls and floors for painting or wall covering
Excellent for cleaning garage floors, interior walls and trim
Removes grease and wax quickly and easily
DO NOT USE ON GLASS, WINDOWS OR MIRRORS. MAY ETCH

 

[CDrew]

Looked up TSP90. Sounds like a strong industrial cleaner used before painting walls. Description below. I’m no chemist but sounds a bit caustic for wine bottles. Better to buy PBW or Oxyclean without TSP90.


TSP is ideal for cleaning surfaces prior to repainting. It is a heavy duty cleaner —removes grease, soot, mildew and other soils commonly found on walls, woodwork and other painted surfaces.
Cleaner and deglosser
Prepares walls and floors for painting or wall covering
Excellent for cleaning garage floors, interior walls and trim
Removes grease and wax quickly and easily
DO NOT USE ON GLASS, WINDOWS OR MIRRORS. MAY ETCH

Note I was careful to say TSP90 which has nothing to do with TSP (tri Sodium Phosphate). TSP I think has been mostly removed from the market. The TSP90 is a substitute for TSP, but it's actually Sodium metasilicate, which has some of the desirable properties of TSP but isn't actually TSP, nor is it nearly as strong in it's action.

I think Red Devil who makes TSP90 wants to remind us it does some of the same job that TSP formerly did, but they chose a deliberately confusing name.