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I've been cleaning my carboys with oxy-clean and it works wonders... no need to even brush (which is important if you're using the plastic 'Better Bottles').

So I decided to throw all my vinyl tubes in the warm oxy for a couple of hours. I rinsed the tubes really well by running high-speed hose water through them (shot 30 feet into the yard), but when they dried, they all had a haze on them--even the brand new, never used ones. I doubt it will impart any flavor or hold any bacteria, but I really don't like it. If I put a q-tip in the end and rub the inner wall of the tube, the haze comes right off, but I don't have a way to rub the entire length of the tube.

Has anyone else encountered this? What did you do?

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    Oxyclean and PBW both tend to cause minerals in the water you use to precipitate out when the clean solution cools. A vigorous soak in warm/hot water may solubilize them again and get them out. Speculative solution, but it has worked for me on occasion.
    – brewchez
    Aug 22, 2011 at 11:23
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    I agree with brewchez's comment. I don't know about oxyclean but PBW (which in my understanding works about the same way as oxyclean) leaves a residue if you rinse with water that is colder than wash water. It says on the container to use warmer water to rinse with and doing so has always left my equipment sparkling clear. @brewchez, you should change this to an answer and I would upvote.
    – Bullet86
    Aug 23, 2011 at 14:52
  • I felt confident in what was causing the problem, but I wasn't on the solution post cloudiness. I hope soaking the tubing in warm water again will clear it out. So I wasn't sure I was really answering the question, but just offering some advice about why it was getting cloudy. I'll just take this one for the team.
    – brewchez
    Aug 24, 2011 at 12:08
  • You can also use a line brush with clean water.
    – Wyrmwood
    Nov 7, 2015 at 17:05

1 Answer 1

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You're seeing mineral precipitate left from your hot cleaning solution as it cooled. I soak my kegs in clean, hot water after I've finishing oxycleaning them, and that usually gets rid of the haze. Sometimes it doesn't work -- it really depends on the type of water you're using; I had the same problem just using tap water in an area with high mineral content.

I've never noticed any off-flavors, although it does make my equipment look far more messy than it is!

EDIT: I noticed @brewchez answered with the same thing first. S/he should get credit for this answer.

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  • I poured some near boiling water through a tube, and it cleared-up the tube! (still don't know if just warm water will do it). But the explanation from @brewchez as to what the heck the haze was in the first place, plus the warm/hot rinse solution, I'll call this one answered. Thanks.
    – Dale
    Aug 26, 2011 at 0:48

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