Sap tank cleaning

[DMF]

I have both stainless steel tanks (old milk tanks) as well as some IBC totes (I know stainless is better...) as I'm sure a lot of you do as well. How do you clean your tanks for the end of the season, both stainless and plastic?

[DrTimPerkins]

Plenty of CLEAN water...hot if you have it. Just a little bit of bleach (regular, unscented). Scrub the sides with a brush or use a pressure washer. Rinse copiously several times. Invert if you can.

Same for the totes. If they're portable, put hot water with a little bleach and drive around with them on the truck for a bit. If not, scrub (you may need to get inside). Alternatively use a pressure washer. Rinse copiously several times. Drain as best you can (turn up on side if possible). Cover loosely.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We do as Dr. Tim suggested. Except in the IBC totes, we coat them with Sani-clean, the low foaming product. Works great, the only ones that have anything in them the following year are the ones we cut a hole in the top and are not airtight. Hot water rinse again the following spring before we put the totes back out.

[NhShaun]

This is my first season with hot water at the sugar shack, What a difference that makes when cleaning tanks! Looking back at washing with cold water, it was just never enough to get the tanks as clean as i wanted.