Cleaning Your Stainless Steel Distiller

In order to continue producing a distillate that’s of high quality, its necessary to take care of and clean regularly the equipment used for distillation. In many circumstances, you may either clean it using vinegar or dish soap and warm water but we advise using the Distilling Equipment Cleaner and the Distiller Equipment Rinse. The stuff is cheap and the products are worth picking up since they are especially made for soft metals, plastics and stainless steel cleaning. The cleaner and rinse also remove mineral and organic deposits with ease.

Step by Step Process of Cleaning Your Stainless Steel Still

We advocate using the Distiller Equipment Cleaner first and finish with the Distiller Equipment Cleaner for you to clean thoroughly and safely your stainless steel moonshine still. As stated before, the two products were purposefully made for stainless steel cleaning and for removing mineral and organic deposits.

Below is the step by step process of how to clean your Stainless Steel Moonshine Still:

1. After the unit has been removed from heat, unplug the thermometer (and if your unit has bung you can remove it too) from the column’s top to facilitate air flow, this is very important.
2. When the unit cools off completely, detach the column from the kettle. To rinse off any residual oils, run hot and clean water through the column.
3. Use hot water to rinse the kettle after it’s been emptied.
4. To clean the equipment, add Distiller Equipment Cleaner to hot water (150-180'F). It’s advisable to use 1/2 - 1 oz Equipment Cleaner per gallon of water. Note: Don’t use corrosive or abrasive materials on your machine and clean it gently every time.
5. In a gallon of clean hot water, dissolve one tablespoon of the Distiller Equipment Rinse and rinse the unit using the solution then let it dry completely.

Remember: It’s not necessary to rinse your equipment using hot water if you had earlier used the Distiller Equipment Rinse.

Cleaning Ceramic Raschig Rings

The Ceramic Raschig Rings is a product also created for our Equipment Cleaner and the cleaning instructions are similar to the above ones. Unlike the copper mesh, Raschig Rings last longer and may be used for a long time.  Cleaning every piece of the distillation equipment is essential. Below is the procedure for cleaning your Ceramic Raschig Rings:

1. Add hot water to Distiller Equipment Cleaner (150-180'F; 1/2 - 1 oz Equipment Cleaner per gallon of water) then put the Raschig Rings in the mixture.
2. Soak the Ceramic Raschig Rings for half an hour.
3. Thoroughly rinse using Distiller Equipment Rinse or with clean water.

Copper Mesh Cleaning

Preferably, you may want to wash the copper mesh after use, but, you can get away with washing it after several hours. It’s vital to note that the copper mesh quality affects your product hence you shouldn’t use one that’s very discolored or showing blue corrosion. Stop using your mesh once you notice that it doesn’t appear clean after washing it. Copper mesh has a life span unlike the Ceramic Raschig Rings.

1. Take a clean container and fill it up with your desired cleaning solution; straight vinegar, straight citric acid or a mixture of half water and half vinegar. Either of these solutions is suitable for copper mesh cleaning so you can easily choose your preferred mixture.
2. In the mixture, soak the copper mesh for several hours after you unroll it.
3. Hang it to dry after rinsing using clean water.

After everything has been throughoughly cleaned, go ahead and start your next batch!