Lesson Learned… Don’t Do This With Star San
Star San is my sanitizer of choice. It is effective, food safe and no-rinse. It is also very cost effective if you use the spray bottle method.
Don’t Do this with Star San…
You probably already know this but, don’t… spill concentrated Star San solution on yourself. I normally wouldn’t take the time to state the obvious, but I did this recently and got a pretty good picture out of the incident…
Pictorial evidence of the aftermath. These are a pair of some of my favorite short’s Columbia Sportswear Voyager Cargo Shorts that I was wearing at the time. The white is a permanent feature. Obviously Star San and Nylon do not play well together. It’s almost like the Star San broke down the Nylon, or at the very least it bleached it white. I had these in the wash within 1 minute or so of the spill, still, they have become work shorts
My (cotton) Patagonia T-Shirt fared much better. It was left unscathed.
I also had to rinse my legs and arms after this incident. I was left physically unscathed except for one finger nail that had a bit of a burning feeling for a while.
Undiluted Star San is a relatively strong acid. This will serve as a reminder for me to be more careful with it.
Star San Tips & Tricks
Recommendation: Do Not Soak
Related:
- Testing Star San Effectiveness
- Star San Tips, Tricks and Guidelines – Using Star San In a Spray Bottle
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I switched from iodophor to Starsan after my LHBS stopped carrying the former. With iodophor, as long as you’re not allergic, the only worry is staining. With Starsan, I learned two lessons the hard way. First, it’ll dissolve the oleophilic coating on your phone’s screen—I have what look like permanent water spots on my iPhone from diluted Starsan. Second, wear shoes. I spent a few hours tromping around barefoot in overflow/spillage during a marathon racking and kegging session and spent the next two days wondering if I was having some sort of medical issue that was causing burning on the soles of my feet. Oops. 😛
Much gratitude for these old horror stories. I didn’t actually make a mess but I did wear gloves and an apron, which I probably wouldn’t have bothered with otherwise.
I bought the large bottle and it has lasted for years. Recently I went to make a new batch and the acid had degraded the plastic to the point where the nozzle on the measuring side SLID right off – leaving a hole even with the top of the measuring side that is now covered with duct tape.
I soaked bottles in a star san bath my stainless sink and not so stainless strainer basket. The painted/coated knob on the strainer basket lost its coating and is now uncoated brass.
Watch your laminate countertops too!
Also be careful on laminate counter tops. I left some permanent rings from my star-san spray bottle after it ate through the top layer.
My wife got a kitchen remodel out of spilled StarSan. A little puddle I didn’t notice put a nice, white spot in a dark green-ish formaica countertop. Now, it was time for that thing to go at the turn of the century… just took a little StarSan to point that out.
I love this stuff. I used to use it in my kitchen with no issues. i got a new counter top. and the bottle left oval rings on my counter. Be very carefull. this $20 bottle of liquid ruined thousands of dollars in counter top!
Even with diluted Starsan, I have in the past rarely used gloves and my hands ended up losing the top layer of skin within a day or two or brewing. And then there is Beer Line Cleaner…..that burns instantly especially on open wounds.