ANOTHER Newbie question

[brahn]

Anytime I've kept star san in a spray bottle for more than a few weeks the spray bottle just stops working. Either the trigger won't pop back out after you pull it or it will but it won't actually spray anything. It's a real pita. After I went to the store to replace the second different model I tried I found that third model actually said right on it not to use it with acids. So far I haven't had any problem with Iodophor in the spray bottle, but based on the article oc eric posted it sounds like it doesn't last more than 24 hours after it's been mixed. It also dyes the spray bottle so you can't really tell if it's lost it's color or not. It works great on brewdays though.

[JonGoku]

Anytime I've kept star san in a spray bottle for more than a few weeks the spray bottle just stops working. Either the trigger won't pop back out after you pull it or it will but it won't actually spray anything. It's a real pita. After I went to the store to replace the second different model I tried I found that third model actually said right on it not to use it with acids. So far I haven't had any problem with Iodophor in the spray bottle, but based on the article oc eric posted it sounds like it doesn't last more than 24 hours after it's been mixed. It also dyes the spray bottle so you can't really tell if it's lost it's color or not. It works great on brewdays though.

Interesting. FWIW I use RO water for my starsan and I have never had the stuff go bad. I do make a new batch on brew days, but tend to use the same bottle of starsan for all my other needs between brews (sanitizing air locks, wine thief, bottles etc) I used the last spray bottle I had, a dollar deal from dollar tree, for about 8 months before the handle physically broke off due to it getting stuck between a rock and a hard place when I was carelessly moving heavy stuff around.

[maltbarley]

That's interesting Brent. My experience with a 3 bottle pack from Smart & Final is that they last more than a year with Star San. I wonder if there's a metal spring in some bottles that others don't have?

[brahn]

Jon, the star san lasts just fine, I've kept that around for a long time as well. You can quickly tell if it's good or not by making sure the pH is < 3. (Some people say it's no good if it's cloudy, but I've personally never seen star san not be cloudy.) It's the bottle that stops working for me.

Interesting Tim ... I used a three pack from Home Depot (I think?) that was really cheap. The second time I bought a pricier one from Lowe's (I think?) hoping that would solve the problem, but it was actually even more susceptible to the problem. I'm not sure what the cause of the failure is, but it's interesting to hear that your experience is quite a bit different from mine.

[JonGoku]

On a similar but slightly off topic finding...
Starsan eats through Styrofoam. I found that out the hard way when I was using a deep Styrofoam container to hold a fermenting carboy. I had added a touch of star san to the water bath just to keep it from going funky. Two days later the carpet in that area was all wet. Oops.

[jward]

StarSan does seem to prematurely wear the seal in the sprayers, but my experience has been more like Tim's. Mine seem to take some pumping to get re-primed and don't move the volume per pump they used to spray. I got a six pack of them from Costco years ago, but I have not seen them there since I started looking. We got a new cat and I needed a spray bottle that doesn't have StarSan in it.

I have had StarSan get cloudy overtime when using tap water. The company owner said just add a little more concentrate. I tried that and it works fine. It turns clear again. Now I use distilled water when mixing StarSan for any sprayers. Tap water is fine for any single day use. Since I started using the garden sprayer I don't mix much up. It's so easy to spray anything.

[kevinham]

From what I have read (and can remember), Star San gets cloudy from using hard water, and is still supposed to work fine like that but not last as long.

Also, I have never had a problem using Star San with a spray bottle, mine has worked fine for over a year. It's just a cheap home depot labeled clear/orange one.

[oc eric]

First, we have Star-San. Star-San was Five-Star’s answer to Iodiphor. Star-San is an “acid rinse” when measured at 1oz. per 5 gallons of water. Its chemical composition is a typical soap, like that found in tooth paste called DDBSA (dodecylbenzyl sulfonic acid) + food grade phosphoric acid. It stops working when the pH gets above 3.5 and so if diluted in wort acts as a yeast nutrient/food. Star-San will “last forever” if RO or distilled water is used to mix it and it stays enclosed like in a spray bottle, but it lasts a long time anyway and can be used multiple times or up to about 3 months. The product will turn opaque in iron or manganese rich water. Star-San has a contact time of 3 minutes (EPA) or 30 seconds per Charlie. If plastic soaked in Star-San becomes cloudy, soak in PBW to turn the plated soap (film on the plastic) back into the detergent it is supposed to be. The remaining foam after use is ok and has no detrimental effects on your beer, such as head retention. Charlie recommends 30 seconds to 1 minute soak for copper and aluminum, and says they should never be left to soak any longer than 3-4 hours. In other words don’t soak overnight, it only hurts not helps. Star-San is different as a sanitizer than Iodine and bleach, because both of those contain halogens which are called “blind sanitizers.” These halogens will not kill in the presence of sugar and actually attack the sugar first before going after any bacteria. On an end note for this wonderful sanitizer, it will clear up toe-jam.


Next, is Sani-Clean. Sani-Clean is not an EPA recognized sanitizer due to tougher laws that dictate labeling it as such, but it is basically just Star-San without the foam. The other difference is that it is weaker so you have to use more, 1oz. per 3 gallons of water. There really isn’t much more to say about this product other than, if you don’t like the foam use this.