how do you clean tubing?

I mean if it's been carrying sugar and yeast etc, how do you clean it?

Reply to
billb
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Thorough rinse with running water, then siphon a little bit of met solution through it. Never had a problem. (met = sodium or potassium metabisulfite)

Reply to
Doug Miller

I simply flush I well with hot water immediately after use and hang it to drip dry.

Reply to
Greg Cook

I rinse it immediately after use, then put a few ml of sulfite solution in it, slip the loose end of the tubing over the end of the wand so it is a sealed unit, and hang it up.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

That's all I do, too, and I make sure I get to it before it has a chance to sit and fester.

For a more thorough cleaning, there is a product I use on my beer lines called BLC (yes, it stands for Beer Line Cleaner). It can be ordered on-line if your local shops don't carry it.

Or just give them a good long soak in your cleaning solution. If something got really crusty, you COULD try sourcing a long small diameter pipe cleaner thing like I got with my line cleaning kit. However, being lazy, I would just be inclined to chuck it and buy some more tubing.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Lundeen

I punctured a piece of tubing trying to scrub some nasties off the inside with a homemade pipe cleaner... new tubes are cheap if stuff is caked on.

Reply to
Charles H

I've been using common chlorine bleach to clean up for ages; I have never had a bad batch from dirty equipment, or any off-tastes.

Reply to
BOB

"Charles H" wrote

I like this one I saw in one of his movies the other night: "We were crossing the Himalayas one day when we lost our corkscrew! We were compelled to live on food and water........ for several days....."

Reply to
BOB

I have used my air compressor and a little wad of paper-towel soaked in sanitizer to clean tubing. Load the wad in one end and blast it through. Go the other direction and do it a couple of times. Takes like 60 psi. Watch for kids and be careful where you aim. I know it sounds anal, but it's the engineer in me. ; ) Ken

Reply to
Ken Anderson

Billb,

I run a solution of Onestep (an oxygen based cleanser) through the tube after racking, and hang it to dry. Occasionally I'll twirl them to spin out most of the remaining water. I do this on my deck where I can't hurt the ceilings, vases, pictures, cats, etc... ;) Holding the tubing over the edge of the deck and spinning it like a plane prop keeps me from spattering the house walls as well.

I have on occasion soaked the tubes in the Onestep solution for several hours, but I found that it fogged the interior, making it translucent. So I quit that practice, and just run the solution through it rather than soaking.

But as several others have pointed out, tubing is cheap. I pitch and replace any length that becomes less that transparent, discolors, or shows any sign of stuck on gunk.

Reply to
Oberon

cool idea, but with my luck it would get stuck.

plus, I don't have an air compressor.

Reply to
billb

"Be careful, you could put somebody's eye out with that thing!"

Reply to
BOB

Thanks billb but I forgot to mention the drawback. The sulfite solution will make the tubing cloudy so you can not see through it.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

you can use a bicycle pump!

Reply to
Arse!

you may try a small gauge metal chain, This method is also used to clean obstinate stained glass demijohns.

| >plus, I don't have an air compressor. |

Reply to
Stephen SG

Good question. Let me add to it. After cleaning, I always put a little sulfite solution in and then fasten then slip the ends over the wand so it is a sealed unit and will remain steril till the next use. This seems to work great but it causes the tubing to become cloudy. What can be used to remeove the sulfite build up in the tubing?

Ray

Reply to
Ray Calvert

I haved in the past used a length of string and a large bodkin to weight it as I passed it through the tube. I made a slip knot in the end and placed some tissue in the loop.

Then heave-ho to pull the tissue through the tube.

I think I may have dampened the tissue in metabisuphate solution.

Reply to
Shane Badham

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