4

In a nutshell: moved, Star San bottle broke, got on a bunch of supplies including my stainless steel spoon. Now the spoon is rough where the sanitizer spilled and slightly discolored.

The spoon was a gift and has no manufacturer markings or the like, but it appears to be stainless steel. Is it toast, or is this just cosmetic?

Front

Back

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

It will function fine as is. You just have a thick oxide layer there.

If you want to restore, you can polish it using 0000 steel wool. Once to the polish you want passify the stainless steel by spraying with normal starsan mixture (or dip it) and let air dry.

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    I agree. StarSan is a mix of phosphoric acid and a surfactant. iron will react to make iron phosphate which (as a surface phenomenon) can "passivate" iron to resist further corrosion. Which might be helpful if the spoon is immersed in StaSan again. As EZ writes - the spoon can be cleaned and reused without problem. I suspect it could be reused without cleaning but it may be nice to have a clean spoon as subsequent cleaning will be easier after use..
    – barking.pete
    Jul 25, 2018 at 10:50
  • Wunderbar! And that thin stripe of green between the affected and non-affected areas (more visible on the top picture) is of no concern? I hear a similar color in copper is toxic.
    – calcium3000
    Jul 25, 2018 at 19:31
  • I’ve learnt that scotch brite should be the most appropriate cleaning for stainless steel and found it to be true. Steel wool may inject small fragments of steel which may rust later on.
    – Martin
    Jul 25, 2018 at 20:03
  • @Martin true steel wool shouldn't be used for cleaning. In this case it's to polish the stainless which would need passified after.
    – Evil Zymurgist
    Jul 26, 2018 at 3:11

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.