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About B-Brite By Tim Curran
B-Brite is a cleaner that has been popular with homebrewers for some years now. It is manufactured by Crosby and Baker. Chemically, it is sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate (a.k.a. sodium percarbonate or sodium carbonate peroxide), which is a dry, stable form of sodium carbonate (a.k.a. washing soda) infused with hydrogen peroxide. The chemical formula is 2Na2CO3.3H2O2. Within this formula is the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). The hydrogen peroxide gives it great oxidizing power as it breaks down to water and oxygen (2H20 + O2). B-Brite also has plain washing soda listed as a second ingredient and some kind of acid as a third. The instructions for B-Brite call for only small amounts a tablespoon per gallon of warm to hot water.
This stuff works great. My stainless brewpot had accumulated beer stone deposits, particularly on the bottom in the pattern of the burner. Scrubbing with detergent did nothing. Chlorine bleach could not be used because it is stainless steel. I tried B-Brite and a little scrubbing and I could see the wash water turning black. Soon the kettle looked like new.
As mentioned, one of the base ingredients is washing soda. I have written previously about the virtues of washing soda. It is a close cousin to baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, another wonderful compound. Sodium carbonate is sold by the trainload, with most of it mined in Wyoming (they call it soda ash out west). You can buy a box of Arm & Hammer washing soda at the grocery store for $2 that will last for years. Mixed with hot water, it has mild oxidizing power and rinses cleanly. Its alkalinity makes it slippery, so handle your glassware carefully. I like to wash my beer glasses with washing soda and also my beer bottles before final rinse. It does a good job of getting rid of any residual soap or bleach that might be lingering. The only contraindication to washing soda is it should not be used with aluminum pots. It is safe to mix with chlorine bleach. Dont overdo it with the soda. A small amount does the job. Too much will leave a residue that, while harmless, is unsightly. Another caution is dont soak items in washing soda for more than a few hours. The carbonate will combine with calcium (especially in hard water) and precipitate out, leaving a chalk residue. The chalk residue is harmless, but very hard to remove once formed (requires an acid like vinegar to remove).
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| Past Articles of Interest Beer Bread Carbonation / About Bleach |
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Back to B-Brite. Have you seen the infomercials on TV for Oxiclean? Thats where the guy removes wine stains by squirting a liquid on the carpet and tosses a scoop in the clear laundry tub where you see instant whitening. Guess what? The side panel on Oxiclean says the ingredients are sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate. So my guess is it is (almost) the same as B-Brite, but possibly with a lower percentage of sodium percarbonate (B-Brite also has some acid as a third ingredient)! My guess is Oxiclean is 80/20 percarbonate to carbonate, as that is a common formula provided by the percarbonate manufacturers for household cleaning. My research shows sodium percarbonate is sold to the soap companies as one way of creating non-chlorine bleach detergents, for the peroxide portion is a bleach, just not the (chlorine) kind we are used to thinking of.
Do not soak items in B-Brite for long periods (more than a few hours). As with washing soda, the carbonate will precipitate and form chalk. Also, the peroxide has a pot life of only 6 hours or so before it breaks down and loses its oxidizing power.
Is it a sanitizer? B-Brite is sold as a cleanser, not a sanitizer. Government regulations require a rigorous set of tests before something can be labeled as a sanitizer. In my mind I would consider it a mild sanitizer and am comfortable using it as such. That is, if something is clean and non-porous, I feel good about using B-Brite for sanitizing. It does not need rinsing. I still use chlorine bleach for the tough jobs (except for stainless of course), but like to use B-Brite on my pots, carboys and bottles.
In summary, no single cleaner is going to meet all your needs, but I do recommend B-Brite for general cleaning and light sanitation. It may seem expensive at first, but only small quantities are needed. It is environmentally friendly and minimally hazardous to work with.
Sodium Percarbonate Datasheet
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