I have been using the perfume free oxyclean for quite a while now and I have to say that it works amazing. I never have to scrub, simply fill with warm to hot water and add oxyclean. 24 hours later i simply dump and then rinse. The one major complaint that I have is that I have to rinse like crazy in order to get the slippery film to come off.
Having said this, i love the price but I am wondering how this compares to PBW. Does it clean just as good? Does PBW have to be rinsed like crazy too? I’m especially interested in this because i just finished building my brew sculpture and I want to make sure that the plumbing is clean.
PBW is the superior cleaner IMO but because of the cost I choose to only use it on most of my stainless steel equipment. I use OxiClean free on everything else. I only notice that slippery film when I use to much. Try using less Oxiclean and that film should come off with the first or second rinse.
I’d say that Oxi is 90% as good as PBW. I use Oxi most of the time. I use Oxiclean Versatile…there’s no need to seek out the Oxi Free if it’s hard to find. Every once in a while I use PBW on kegs and fermenters.
Thanks guys. I was thinking of the same approach of using oxi most of the time and then use PBW periodically. One thing I’m wondering is how each compares to its affects on silicone. I know that oxiclean will etch beer lines if left in contact for too long, but i don’t know about silicone.
When you by your box of oxi also buy a box of TSP (or the replacement…your choice). Add that to the Oxi at about 4 or 5 parts oxi to 1 part TSP. It replaces that missing 10% effectivness Denny mentions loss of.
[quote=“Vulkin’”]When you by your box of oxi also buy a box of TSP (or the replacement…your choice). Add that to the Oxi at about 4 or 5 parts oxi to 1 part TSP. It replaces that missing 10% effectivness Denny mentions loss of.
I always store my fermenters wet. When I’m done with them I immediately fill them to the brim with water and something that will act as a detergent–using the term loosely. I went PBW crazy for a while, but it’s too spendy for what I’m using it for. I then switched to Oxyclean and was surprised to find that it etched my glass carboy. Refilling the carboy with a new Oxyclean solution immediately removed the “etching.”
In short, if you let Oxyclean sit for a couple weeks it likes to fall out of solution and clump at the bottom of a vessel. A new dose of Oxyclean seems to act as an instantaneous solvent and the etching lifts right up. Perhaps this will work for your silicone lines? Granted, my carboy had the benefit of a carboy brush, but the etching lifted up like dust once the new solution was allowed to soak for a couple minutes. When I was trying to get it up with water, however, it was more than my carboy brush could handle.
I started out using PBW exclusively but decided to try Oxiclean due to the cost (not only the cost of PBW itself, but the fact that I can’t easily get it locally, so have to pay shipping as well). I’ve had zero problems with Oxiclean. Everything I’ve used it on (plastic carboys, beer bottles, blow off tubing) has come out just as clean as with PBW.
Red devil brand TSP/90 is the one I use. Its actually not TSP its Sodium metasilicate, a TSP replacement. PBW is 30% Sodium metasilicate and the rest mostly oxyclean
