Container Sanitation

[RayCornett]

Is it safe to assume that soap and hot water is sufficient to clean and sanitize containers for ink mixing?

[Chrissy]

Either that or a dishwasher maybe, for glass bottles.

[amberleadavis]

From experience, yes and no.

 

The bacteria really likes to collect and hide in the caps. Be sure to remove the foam insert and replace it and carefully scrub the cap with the soap and water. Then you should be fine.

 

Personally, I use a baby bottle steamer.

[dcwaites]

Kevin from Justwrite asked his magic ink mixing team and they say a swirl around with a few mls of plain old alcohol will do the trick. You can then pass the alcohol along to the next bottle. Upend the bottle so it can dry out without any more germs falling into the bottle.

Of course, the bottle would be visibly clean before this step.

[RayCornett]

I forgot I posted about this,lol. I ended up finding an old beaker for this. It was dirty so I wanted to ask. I washed it really good with soap and distilled water and rinsed like crazy. So far the ink still seems fine and no problems with the pens it has been used in.

[Sasha Royale]

The dairy industry, including ice cream, uses a 5% to 7% dilution, with water, for bacterial sanitizing. No rinse follows. I cannot address the effects of residual chlorine on ink, but it suppresses bacteria, when used as a 30 second soak.

 

Are ink bottles "dishwasher safe" ?

Edited September 22, 2016 by Sasha Royale

[Brianm_14]

You cannot disinfect that which is not clean, so wash things thoroughly in warm running water and a detergent like Dawn, using a fresh paper towel to scrub, in place of a sponge. So scrub! Rinse completely and repeat. You have now removed most microorganisms (more than 99.99%).

 

Disinfect in a solution of 1 teaspoon bleach in 1 quart cool water, soaking for 10 to 30 minutes or longer. This will kill molds as well as bacteria. 30 seconds contact time will only reduce the number of microorganisms to a level safe for food use such as in a dairy. Rubbing alcohol alone may not kill mold or mold spores.

 

You can then rinse with freshly boiled and cooled tap water. Unboiled tap water, while safe to drink, will contain molds and bacteria. You can drip dry on fresh aluminium foil or rinse with rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol to dry quickly. The alcohol rinse is a nice final step, anyway. I prefer it. You can pour the alcohol from container to container, as mentioned above, allowing at least 10 seconds contact time by swirling. Your containers (or whatever) are now sterile or close to sterile.

 

Putting clean items in a pan with tap water to amply cover, and heating to boiling and letting cool while covered, until things are cool enough to handle, will also work well. You can then use rubbing alcohol rinse to dry quickly. I prefer boiling water whenever practical.

 

I am a university microbiologist and certified public health microbiologist who has taught micro for food sanitation, as well as nursing, and was once responsible for sterility in a pharmaceutical plant. I also brew beer at home, so I am aware of how to do all of this in a domestic environment.

 

Be sure to keep any contaminated inks or pens away from items you want clean and disinfected.

 

This isn't as much trouble as it seems. Just wash your hands, get set up, and do it! Then relax, knowing your ink containers and other implements are as clean as they should be.

Edited October 21, 2018 by Brianm_14

[LizEF]

While I'm not a microbiologist, I do work in a microbiological testing lab (I develop software for the scientists to record their observations), and I can add a second witness (if anyone needs it) that the below is consistent (if not identical, cuz, the lab has to do more) with what I've learned (e.g. from how surfaces and glassware are sanitized). And I wanted to point out that I've learned that the scrub part (bolded below) is actually very important (more important that people may realize) for "detaching" the microorganisms - in other words, it's not just the soap, but also the agitation that's needed. (At least, that's my understanding.)

 

Thanks for the helpful write-up, Brian!

 

You cannot disinfect that which is not clean, so wash things thoroughly in warm running water and a detergent like Dawn, using a fresh paper towel to scrub, in place of a sponge. So scrub! Rinse completely and repeat. You have now removed most microorganisms (more than 99.99%).

Disinfect in a solution of 1 teaspoon bleach in 1 quart cool water, soaking for 10 to 30 minutes or longer. This will kill molds as well as bacteria. 30 seconds contact time will only reduce the number of microorganisms to a level safe for food use such as in a dairy. Rubbing alcohol alone may not kill mold or mold spores.

You can then rinse with freshly boiled and cooled tap water. Unboiled tap water, while safe to drink, will contain molds and bacteria. You can drip dry on fresh aluminium foil or rinse with rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol to dry quickly. The alcohol rinse is a nice final step, anyway. I prefer it. You can pour the alcohol from container to container, as mentioned above, allowing at least 10 seconds contact time by swirling. Your containers (or whatever) are now sterile or close to sterile.

Putting clean items in a pan with tap water to amply cover, and heating to boiling and letting cool while covered, until things are cool enough to handle, will also work well. You can then use rubbing alcohol rinse to dry quickly. I prefer boiling water whenever practical.

I am a university microbiologist and certified public health microbiologist who has taught micro for food sanitation, as well as nursing, and was once responsible for sterility in a pharmaceutical plant. I also brew beer at home, so I am aware of how to do all of this in a domestic environment.

Be sure to keep any contaminated inks or pens away from items you want clean and disinfected.

This isn't as much trouble as it seems. Just wash your hands, get set up, and do it! Then relax, knowing your ink containers and other implements are as clean as they should be.

[inkstainedruth]

My husband used to do a fair amount of home brewing, and was very good at diagnosing problems people had (the advantage of beer over wine is that it would taste bad if you had a problem way before the microbes made you sick). Generally conversations would go something like this: "But I cleaned my kitchen!" "That isn't enough -- did you STERILIZE everything?" Or else the other person would have forgotten to sterilize the utensil used for stirring the brew as it's cooking, or the siphon hose or something, and they'd realize it when he made them walk through all the steps they took.

He didn't like using bleach -- too hard to rinse (although he does use it in the mobile bakery -- but there he's got tester strips to check if the bleach solution for the final rinse is too strong (that's why commercial kitchens have 3 bowl sinks -- one for washing, one for rinsing and one for sanitizing (plus these days you generally need a *separate* one for washing your hands). For brewing, he used stuff called B-Brite, which is a strong oxidizer and you know if it's all rinsed off it the item no longer seems slippery (which can get a little dicey when you're trying to sterilize a 5 gallon glass carboy...).

I presume that you could sterilize sample vials or empty bottles the same way (if B-Brite is safe enough for something consumable, like beer, it's probably safe for inks). It comes as a powder, so you only have to mix it up as needed.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[RayCornett]

My husband used to do a fair amount of home brewing, and was very good at diagnosing problems people had (the advantage of beer over wine is that it would taste bad if you had a problem way before the microbes made you sick). Generally conversations would go something like this: "But I cleaned my kitchen!" "That isn't enough -- did you STERILIZE everything?" Or else the other person would have forgotten to sterilize the utensil used for stirring the brew as it's cooking, or the siphon hose or something, and they'd realize it when he made them walk through all the steps they took.

He didn't like using bleach -- too hard to rinse (although he does use it in the mobile bakery -- but there he's got tester strips to check if the bleach solution for the final rinse is too strong (that's why commercial kitchens have 3 bowl sinks -- one for washing, one for rinsing and one for sanitizing (plus these days you generally need a *separate* one for washing your hands). For brewing, he used stuff called B-Brite, which is a strong oxidizer and you know if it's all rinsed off it the item no longer seems slippery (which can get a little dicey when you're trying to sterilize a 5 gallon glass carboy...).

I presume that you could sterilize sample vials or empty bottles the same way (if B-Brite is safe enough for something consumable, like beer, it's probably safe for inks). It comes as a powder, so you only have to mix it up as needed.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I actually ended up using some left over sanitzer tabs that came with a Mr. Beer kit for a different mix after my first where I just used soap and water. The kind that are obviously food safe and all you have to do is let it air dry after using. All went well.

Edited October 22, 2018 by RayCornett

[ardene]

The lazy solution: Glass can spend some time in boiling water to sterilise. Some plastic caps may also survive this treatment, but it will definitely shorten their projected lifespan. An overnight bath in a bleach solution might be the ideal treatment for them (some scrubbing with an old toothbrush advised).

 

Instructions on how to sterilise glass: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_01/sterile_jars.html

 

Edit: Bear in mind that the mixed inks will probably contain their own fungicides each. A higher risk than microbial contamination would be chemical reactions between substances coming from different inks.

Edited October 22, 2018 by ardene

[Brianm_14]

Thanks for the kind vote of confidence! A "seconding" is always welcome!

 

We know many microorganisms, perhaps a majority, form biofilms which protect them -on our skin, our teeth, or in that ink jar. The film is best disrupted physically, hence a paper towel, or better, a clean, sanitized old toothbrush, and a good detergent under warm running water. Once the film is disrupted, the relatively few remaining cells are open to chemical attack.

 

Strong agents, for instance an oxidizer like chlorine bleach, can actually help dissolve biofilms. But it is still best to clean, clean, clean, first. Any chemical agent is much more likely to be effective on a clean surface. In fact, a dirty surface is difficult or near impossible to sterilize even in boiling water (except under pressure)!

 

With chemical agents, it is important to recall that time, temperature, and concentration are the three variables to check. If you allow a longer contact time, then a weaker concentration (within reason) will work just as well. But there are always specifics. Bleach doesn't work very well in cold water, but it also tends to be blown off as a gas if the solution temperature is 120 degrees F or higher. So use cool water with chlorine bleach.

 

For beer brewing, I've used B-Brite with success. It makes for fond memories! If I used chlorine bleach, I kept the concentration low enough so that if the utensils were just allowed to drain, virtually no chlorine would be left to inhibit my precious yeast. (I'll tip a pint to your husband's health in a bit, Ruth.)

 

Historically, it is curious and instructive to note that when Lister was fighting to have carbolic acid (phenol) adopted in his antiseptic system of surgery, some of his bitterest opponents were surgeons who had a low infection rate using just English lye soap and a lot of scrubbing and rinsing of instruments and skin. Little did either side realize they were not that far apart in their ends, even if their means differed! I tell my students, if I had to chose between careful, thorough cleaning alone, or a sanitizer used alone on an uncleaned, soiled surface, I'd always opt for the cleaned surface. That goes for food service or surgery. The carefully cleaned surface will have fewer microorganisms, perhaps by a large margin. So wash those bottles, and keep your pens clean, too!

[Brianm_14]

Either that or a dishwasher maybe, for glass bottles.

Dishwasher yes, but (1) only if it has a sanitizer cycle, and (2) only if you thoroughly clean the bottle or item first with detergent and paper towel. A dishwasher just can't scrub!