# Cleaning Fermenter With Napisan



## benny_bjc (24/5/08)

Hi,

I thought I might clean my fermenter with napisan because it is not as harsh as bleach and does not produce a chlorine smell.

How much napisan do I use in a 25L fermenter?
How long do I leave the napisan and water in the fermenter?

thanks


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## razz (24/5/08)

Follow the directions on the tub. I typically use about 2 tablespoons in a 20 lt s/s keg and soak for a couple of hours.


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## Steve (24/5/08)

beer007 - what ever you use make sure its not the SCENTED napisan, just use the no scent one.
Cheers
Steve


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## benny_bjc (24/5/08)

Steve said:


> beer007 - what ever you use make sure its not the SCENTED napisan, just use the no scent one.
> Cheers
> Steve



I have Napisan Plus. It does not say it has a scent???


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## BoilerBoy (24/5/08)

Be very very careful, most are quite heavily scented.
I've been using the Home brand napi treatment plus for a couple of years which smell just like plain soda.

BB


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## Andyd (24/5/08)

I'm with BoilerBoy - go grab yourself the cheapest no name nappy soak that you can find...Check for scent anyway, but I've found they're generally unscented.

Andy


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## paul_h (24/5/08)

Unless you're using something else to sanatise, you're still going to have to use bleach. Napisan or sodium percarbonate is to clean dirt off, bleach or some other sanatising solution is to kill bugs. 
If you don't use idophor or starsan or any other no rinse sanatisers, you're still going to have to hit the fermenter with bleach after you drain the napisan off.


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## Screwtop (24/5/08)

Some home/generic brands are scented. Open em up in the supermarket , smell them, pick the cheapest PERCARBONATE with no scent.

PERCARBONATE IS A CLEANER use it to CLEAN your gear/fermenters, just like you would dish washing liquid or the like. If you soak overnight or longer it will remove gunk with minimum scrubbing. After CLEANING store the gear/fermenter. 

THEN PRIOR TO USE, SANITISE use BLEACH to prep, I like to leave the bleach for a few days or overnight (just a 5% solution ie: 250ml in 5l of water, with a capful of white vinegar to bring the PH down and make it more effective) prior to use, at least a minimum of a few hours. Put 2L of this bleach solution in your fermenter and shake, shake, whenever you pass by, give it another shake. An hour prior to use, rinse out the bleach solution with clean tap water until you cannot smell it, hose it out a few times. 

NOW THE IMPORTANT BIT----SANITISE. Use Starsan, Iodophor, Phosphoric Acid, Oxyclean, Oxybright or something NON RINSE. Put a couple of litres in the fermenter, lid on and SHAKE. Again shake when you have the opportunity and leave this for 20 minutes (you can get away with a few min, but give it the time). 

BEFORE PUTTING YOUR VALUABLE WORT INTO THE FERMENTER TIP IT UPSIDE DOWN FOR 10 MIN to DRAIN as these are NON rinse Sanitisers.

REMEMBER---AFTER USE CLEAN
AFTER CLEANING---STORE TO DRY
BEFORE USE---SANITISE --- PREP WITH BLEACH AND FINISH WITH NON RINSE


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## oldbugman (24/5/08)

> (just a 5% solution ie: 250ml in 5l of water



hmm

sound excessive


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## Ducatiboy stu (24/5/08)

Yep


And also read the forum articles thread on snatitzation......


Very helpfull...especially the bit about rocket fuel...  

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?autocom=ineo


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## Screwtop (24/5/08)

OldBugman said:


> hmm
> 
> sound excessive




Of course it's excessive, I do everything to excess :lol:

Screwy


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## Screwtop (24/5/08)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> And also read the forum articles thread on snatitzation......




Snatitzation requires slightly lower chemical concentrations and is more efficient :lol:


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## NickB (24/5/08)

Screwtop said:


> Snatitzation requires slightly lower chemical concentrations and is more efficient :lol:



LOL, you beat me to that little typo....


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## benny_bjc (25/5/08)

Hi,

After using the napisan I will rinse out the fermenter with hose.

I have made up some no rinse liquid sanitiser using phosphoric acid from the homebrew shop and put it into a spray bottle for easy sterilisation of bottles.

Could I also use this to sterilise the fermenter by spraying the inside or is a light spray not enough liquid?

Thanks


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## Steve (25/5/08)

beer007 said:


> Hi,
> 
> After using the napisan I will rinse out the fermenter with hose.



Rinse fermenter with hot water (preferably boiling) a couple of times and she'll be right. Pour in water, shake like shit, put something over the grommet hole to keep the steam in, leave until cool, water plants with cool water and do it again.
Cheers
Steve


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## paul_h (26/5/08)

to sanatize with bleach you only need 30ml of 5% sodium hyperchlorite bleach, trick is to use 30ml of white vinegar in water too. I use homebrand bleach that's only 3.5% sodium hyperchlorite, so I use 50ml of it. At that strength it will kill bugs and won't need so much rinsing.


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## QldKev (26/5/08)

I think you wll get 1,000,000 (ok maybe 1,000,001 or 1,000,002) answers to this post.

What I do:
Napisan if your fermentor is really dirty, otherwise a clean with water and spong.
1/4 to 1/2 cup unscented bleach(normally I use white king) into the fermentor with about the same of white vinegar, into 1-2L water, lid on shake. Leave 15-30 mins, empty and hose out.
Normally when it is sitting for the 15-30 minutes I make a brew in a large pot on the stove. Once the brew is ready I rinse the fermentor, take over to the brew table and start the water filling it. Then go grab the pot of brew and tip in. Easy. :beerbang: 

QldKev


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## 5teve (28/5/08)

Aye carumba! That is some serious chlorination!

250mL of 4% White King into 5L of water gives a chlorine concentration of 2000mg/L or 2000ppm. When water authorities superchlorinate a town water reservoir or slug dose a new water mains they are using something like 10-30ppm, as anything that can live through this treatment pretty much deserves to live. Even drinking water cannot legally excede 5ppm and usually doesn't go over 4 and even at these concentrations most bugs won't be living long. 

I usually add about 50mL of White King into the fermenter and top it up full with 30L of water, which would give about 65ppm chlorine, with another 50mL white vinegar, then leave sit overnight. I thought even that was overkill and I've never had a problem yet. Then that water is used into the bottles to leave sit while the brew ferments until bottling time. The added bonus is the fermenter doesn't really need rinsing, but I give a quick swirl with some hot (boiled) water a few times to help get rid of any chlorine odours.

Napisan = good for cleaning, Bleach/chlorine = good for killing.


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## Barley Belly (29/5/08)

My father-in-law uses and put me onto the generic Home Brand (Milton) baby bottle steriliser.

Have only used bleach and boiling water to flush so far.

But will try the Baby bottle steriliser when my bleach runs out.


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## matti (31/5/08)

I generally only use bleach or nappy soaker for getting rids of stains inside fermenter.
Follow the instruction on tub.
The one I got is made in Turella by Tulloch.aus.pty.ltd.
$15/ 5Kgs (cheaper by the dozen)
No affiliation
2 scoops with 7 litre of hot water for nappies.
I put 2-3 scoops and fill up fermenter with garden hose.
I leave for 24 hours.
I must admit i rinse it thoroughly before use again.


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