moldy biab

[CorneliusAlphonse]

Anyone have suggestions (besides throw it out, which is already my plan)? Brother left it wet and uncleaned in a mash tun for like 2 days so it has little black mold spots. It is one of Becky's.

[LeafMan66_67]

Even bleached and boiled I'd always second guess it.

[mcgster]

Had the same issue with mine when i left it in the bottom of a fermenter instead of hanging it to dry. I used bleach then let it sit in RO water.

[GuingesRock]

That's an easy one ...wash it in the washing machine and add some bleach to the bleach compartment.

I wash my BIAB bags (Becky's) in the washing machine after every brew. If you don't they can get stinky after a while and create off-flavours. Also helps to reduce cleanup time. Just before brewing I'll give them another rinse in a pot of tap water to make sure there isn't any laundry detergent left on them.

[Woody]

I don't machine wash after every use but I do rinse thoroughly. I think the washing machine with soap on a hot wash and a very good rinse would do the trick. I'd put it on delicate cycle but would be nervous the bleach would weaken the bag.

[Keith]

My bag gets well rinsed then hung up to dry immediately. Every so often I'll boil a pot of water and soak it to give it a rinse and steralize it.

[GuingesRock]

Yes, not sure about bleach weakening bags. I have never used bleach on my BIAB bags. I always used the normal washing machine cycle.

[CorneliusAlphonse]

I soaked it in pink stuff (it is pretty much bleach I think) on Saturday, but it was in 6 degree tap water. Might try the machine wash in hot water with bleach.

My second one (which I made myself back in 2010) is what I've been brewing with this week. Its been going strong for years with just a quick rinse and thorough drying.

[gm-]

Soaking in bleach or boiling should kill it, but going through the washer is usually not enough to kill mould in fabric. I have raingear that regularly gets mouldy because I forget it in a duffelbag after I get back from sea, and soaking in bleach followed by a thorough wash seems to be the only thing that works and gets rid of the smell.

[CorneliusAlphonse]

Thanks Jon. Is there ever any visible evidence of mold and does it get taken off? I feel like this fabric is particularly difficult because the mold is within the weave

Also my ratloer comment wasn't meant to read that my homemade bag was better than Becky's (the opposite is true) its just that I've treated it better.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

[bluenose]

soak it fully submerged in a mixture of 25% bleach and water for a few days and then put it through the washing machine on the delicate cycle. I doubt anything would survive that.

[spears104]

Mine got some mold on it once. I just soaked it in a mild bleach solution and it cleaned it right up. No damage to the bag.

[RubberToe]

Happened to me once, didn't get moldy though. I cleaned thoroughly and boiled in water. The only problem was the webbing shrank and it's hard to get around my kettle now.

[GAM]

My bag gets well rinsed then hung up to dry immediately. Every so often I'll boil a pot of water and soak it to give it a rinse and steralize it.

TMI Keith.

I rince and hang on the line till dry. I have never "cleaned" it.

This is in the mash and the liquid will be boiled for an hour. I would not worry.

Sandy

[Keith]

My bag gets well rinsed then hung up to dry immediately. Every so often I'll boil a pot of water and soak it to give it a rinse and steralize it.

TMI Keith.

I rince and hang on the line till dry. I have never "cleaned" it.

This is in the mash and the liquid will be boiled for an hour. I would not worry.

Sandy

TMI is right!

However I don't think he's worried about infection, more so off flavors.

[CorneliusAlphonse]

My bag gets well rinsed then hung up to dry immediately. Every so often I'll boil a pot of water and soak it to give it a rinse and steralize it.

TMI Keith.

I rince and hang on the line till dry. I have never "cleaned" it.

This is in the mash and the liquid will be boiled for an hour. I would not worry.

Sandy

TMI is right!

However I don't think he's worried about infection, more so off flavors.

Exactly. Nothing should survive the boil (mostly) so I'm not worried about that. But warm acidic mash might extract some not so nice flavour from the moldy bag.

Going to soak iton bleach overnight tonight,I'll give it a boil tomorrow if the bleach didn't work. Will post an update!

[GuingesRock]

Did you check the bag for one of these damn things?

[gm-]

Thanks Jon. Is there ever any visible evidence of mold and does it get taken off? I feel like this fabric is particularly difficult because the mold is within the weave

Also my ratloer comment wasn't meant to read that my homemade bag was better than Becky's (the opposite is true) its just that I've treated it better.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

After a normal wash, you could tell that the mold was still there, faint smell and dark spots within the weave, could definitely give off some flavours. The bleach usually takes care of that though. Good luck!

[Celiacbrew]

You could spot check the bag to see if the bleach will work or not.

I believe that bleach is not supposed to be used on nylon, it yellows it. I'm not sure of the chemical reaction that takes place, perhaps a chemist/chem eng person could chime in, but I would guess it weakens it. When I was a kid, I washed some sheers that got water stained ( sheers = curtains made from the same material as your bag) and yellowed them by soaking them in bleach for too long. The texture of the material changed when I did it. Felt rougher and more brittle. I'm sure time and concentration were factors and it probably isn't a big deal if it is only done for a short while.

Then again I know that PBW/oxyclean will take mould out of stuff and they definitely are safe for polyester/nylon. Well safe for un-dyed polyester.

[GuingesRock]

Would soaking it in hydrogen peroxide do the trick? It's also a bleaching agent and I don't think it would damage the fabric or yellow it.

[saosborne]

soak it in pbw overnight, boil it the next day , make beer, if it tastes off buy a new one