Carboy cleaning question

I do not know what you mean by waxy build-up? Is the build up soft or hard? In my case, I used CLR (calcium remover). I sprayed the inside of the carboy with CLR and wait for a few hours. Then I scrub the inside of the carboy with a brush until the marks are gone. After that I rinse several time, sanitized and rinse again. Before use I sanitize and rinse again. Other times when calcium remover is not working I have used automobile tire cleaner soap. I spray the inside of the carboy, wait for about 5 - 10 minutes, scrub, rinse and sanitize.

Do you have access to an air compressor and a spray nozzel? You could slip (such as) an engine spray nozzel down in there and with a little water jet them off.

I wonder if spraying steam in from a carpet cleaner or a shark or whatever the little handheld steamer is called.

Oxiclean has worked on everything I've had to clean out of a carboy.

Andy

When carboys are store wet and empty for a long time they will develop calcium water stains inside. Subject the hardness of your water the removal of these stain is tough. These calcium stains will in turn attract wine sedimentation. The only way I was able to remove these stain patches was with CLR (used to remove calcium deposits). Now when my carboys are not in use I make sure that they are dried and sealed.

Try a 10% bleach solution. Mix up a quart or so and just swirl it around the carboy and let it sit for 10 minutes. That sounded like mycoderma but I can't say for sure. Get it out before you reuse them especially since you don't know what it is.

If that does not remove it maybe fill it with hot water as a 10% bleach solution. That kills most anything, it's just 10% household bleach and

Joe

I use vinegar for all our calcium buildups at home. More obnoxious smelling tho....

never use vinegar anywhere near wine in any way shape or form, unless you want to start MAKING vinegar.

Good advice if one uses cider or wine vinegars, etc., but ordinary white vinegar is made by diluting pure acetic acid. I doubt there's any acetobacter present in the cheap stuff. Residual taste might be an issue if one is careless about rinsing, though.

Sterile vinegar ain't gonna make vinegar.. acetobacter makes vinegar. lolol

The wine was infected with what is described as "Fowers of Wine' on jack keller's website. A waxy film covered the surface of the wine and, as I discovered when I tossed it, also coated areas inside the carboy. My wine-making has come to a halt, as I can't use these two carboys until I'm sure I won't infect what I put in it.

I'll try a bleach solution this weekend.

Matthew, It will work. Flowers of Wine is Mycoderma. I had a minor infection abot 10 years ago because I did not have good seals on my carboys. The mold lines on the air locks were not removed and caused a slight seal leak. I used bleach and never had a problem.

Joe.