betadine

[Andy]

I must admit I've moved over to starsan now

[bosium]

Or better still, if you want it to actually kill bugs, is to get a proper commercial iodophor, like the Brupaks stuff

Good luck trying to find it. I've searched and searched for it - H&G say that Brupaks no longer import it due to health and safety or some such bullsh*t. Brouwland have it, in 250ml and 1L, but shipping is EUR15.70 to the UK. I'm not big on bleach-based or anything that needs to be rinsed off - I'm sorry but what is the point of sanitising stuff and then rinsing it with tap water??

I may just go this route anyway (ordering from Brouwland) as I simply can't find it anywhere and StarSan works sub-optimally with my hard water. It goes cloudy while I'm still using it on day 1 and AFAIK that means it's no longer killing (pH is too high). It's kinda annoying to have to constantly buy bottled water to sanitise with ffs.

[steve_flack]

Here you go. Iodophor.

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... _454g.html

You could always use a bit of phosphoric acid with the starsan to get the pH down.

[bosium]

Steve, you're a gent. I'm guessing that Iostar 5-star's version?

I've been using a touch of lactic to keep the pH down as I don't have phosphoric to hand, still seems to go cloudy after a short while though and the foam subsides.

[dwhyte]

So guys,

What's the verdict then on Videne?
Have seen that a few of you who were using it have moved to StarSan?
Is it no longer seen as a viable no rinse option as Graham suggests?

Dave

[steve_flack]

Steve, you're a gent. I'm guessing that Iostar 5-star's version?

It is indeed.

http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/tech/iostar.pdf
http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/msds/iostar.pdf

[boingy]

So guys,

What's the verdict then on Videne?
Have seen that a few of you who were using it have moved to StarSan?
Is it no longer seen as a viable no rinse option as Graham suggests?

The Videne thing is one of Graham's hobby horses. Lots of us still use it, including myself. It's quite difficult to assess the effectiveness of any sanitiser but I've never had an infection when using it and I've brewed lots of beer. It's not a very scientific argument but I think the key to any sanitising regime is to clean really well in the first place. Clean surfaces are not very attractive to bugs so the sanitiser has less work to so, whichever one you choose.

Personally I can't bear the smell of bleach and I would always be worried that I had not rinsed it well enough so if I was worried about Videne I would go for Starsan but tbh I think the Videne is working just fine. As far as I'm concerned, it ain't broke...

[dwhyte]

I have a bottle of Videne that I haven't used yet so will use it on next brew. 500ml bottle at £4 will last ages
Really fed up with the bleach rinse cycle

If you see my post about using the shower to rinse VWP, I also don't want to that that much more although I haven't had any problems so far.

Does Videne leave a smell?

Is there anything that can be added to help its surface contact? I suppose Iodofor has wetting agents which make it cling better to surfaces?

Always wondered about contact time with all disinfectants?
Have always filled a FV full with hot water and VWP at recommended strengh on packet. This was also used as a cleaner but at that strengh works out way expensive.

Do we really need it to be in contact 100% of the time or can a spray and leave for a min or two every 10mins do the trick or even a litre or two swished about every 10 mins?

Cheers

[dwhyte]

Also, is Videne the same as Iodophor in that it needs to be used with warm/hot water over 40 degrees? Think I saw a youtube vid saying that it could be used with cold water.