Just bottled a lager and discovered a cloudy residue in my various tubing related equipment. I never noticed it before. I always use hot soapy water after brewing or bottling, but how do you clean INSIDE that type of equipment. Do you guys just toss it or what. I use Star San to sanitize but not sure if that is strong enough. Thanks for any help.
I run PBW, then water, then Star San through all my auto siphons, tubing, ect. just like I would run beer through those items. That way I can be sure that whatever my beer touches, the cleaners have touched as well. Hope that makes sense.
If you clean them immediately even a quick hot water rinse followed by sanitizer would be fairly effective. I do like @HBC does. MAKE SURE YOU ARE HANGING YOUR TUBING SO THE SANITIZER DRAINS AND DRIES. If not it can mold.
I would refrain from using soap on anything beer. It ruins your head retention. Yep, even after rinsing the soap.
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I use a Trombone snake (yes it’s a real thing 
) It’s a long flexible spring with brushes on either end that is the perfect size to fit inside tubing. Soak in oxyclean/PBW, run the snake through it and rinse. Followup with a starsan rinse. You could probably find a Tbone snake in a music store. I’ve had mine for over 30 years.
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I usually fill the sink with hot pbw water and run it through the auto siphon/tubing back into the sink for a few minutes. Bottling wand gets taken apart for a hot soak and a hot rinse.
I’m a little scared to Google trombone snake 
It’s trouser you should be scared of 
Definitely don’t do it at work…
Oh funny! I have a 3’ wooden dowel that I use to push a small bit of paper towel through a couple of times to clean my tubing. Sneezles61
A wall paper tray works well to soak your equipment that is too tall to fit in a bucket.
I have something that must be similar to the trombone snake, although I heard them called trumpet snakes that I bought at my LHBS. It’s like a small bottle brush on a long flexible twisted metal handle. I have used it in my CF chiller also. I think it was really designed to clean out keg dip tubes.
+1 on hanging the tubing to dry. Never thought about the dowel. Think there may be some out in my garage that will work.
I find that some cleaners and sanitizers will make vinyl tubing cloudy. Doesn’t seem affect them any other way.
I just rinse with very hot water immediately after use, hang to dry , and sanitize prior to next use.
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Ok. So same problem here… I “accidentally” left my siphon and bottling hoses in some oxyclean mixture… Now they’re cloudy white inside… I’ve rinsed, soaked cleaned… But if I crush the tube between my fingers and roll, it comes off… Worries me that they are contaminated…toss or ok??
Soak it in a mild acid, like water with some distilled vinegar or some star-San. The acid will take the white build-up right off. I had the same thing happen in some bottles that I soaked in oxy too long.
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Thanks porkchop, will definitely try that…
I rinse all my racking equipment immediately after racking to the bottling bucket. About every third use the equipment gets a 30 to 60 minute soak in warm water with PBW. Never hot water. After the soak, rinse and swab. Tubing gets swabbed by forcing wadded paper towels through with water pressure. Beer thief gets swabbed by rubber banding a piece of paper towel to the end of the siphon tube.
Surprising how brown the first swab is even with the quick rinse after use.
Sneezles61
OK swabby…
I need to fit the term “swab wad” into daily conversation, now. Along with “t-bone snake.” This thread got weird.
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A swab wad recently came out of my t bone snake. Easy peasy
Flars! Where are you! Sneezles61
