mold in new jugs

[The Sappy Steamer]

We were bottling yesturday and noticed the brand new jugs we bought have mold inside. Not alot, but it's there. They must have been stored in a wet or damp area at the dealer's place. Is there anything I can do with the jugs, or do I need to toss them? I tried dumping boiling water in them and brushing inside but that didn't seem to work very well. I sure hope there's a remedy cause it looks like there's alot of them, and I don't trust the one's that were with them but don't appear to have mold. I assume they were all in the same environment.

[jemsklein]

Just go and return them.

[fred]

did you buy them by the case? are they plastic? if so you could put some HOT water in the jug and shake real hard but i would be afraidit would come back sitting on someone elses shelf. if you bought a case like that definitely take them back!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Sappy Steamer]

No, they weren't in a case. He had all the different sizes in those huge plastic bags. I never gave the mold thing a thought.We did notice some stuff in that area had water dropplets on it. I think I would have a time trying to return them. I have had other issues with his supplies and don't plan on dealing with him anymore. The maple supply thing is kind of a side line for him. He does a little of everything just trying to survive. At best, he would replace them with different jugs that are stored in the same place and in the same manner. That's not gonna work.

[Brent]

You could try treating them with plain unscented laundry bleach. Mix maybe a half teaspoon to the gallon, fill to the top and leave overnight. Put the caps in a dish of it if they were in the same bag as the moldy jugs.
Lots and lots and lots of rinsing.

[Gary in NH]

I had a couple of 5 gallon containers that had a moldy smell to them and tried twice to clean with bleach and warm water. Afterward I could smell bleach and let them sit to air out. When the bleach smell was gone I could still smell a bit of mold. I tossed them out and didn't use them. No need to spoil good product even at a loss of the jug cost.

[The Sappy Steamer]

I suppose I'll end up throwing them out. That's right, no sense in messing up a good product. I wasn't sure if bleach would kill it or not. My big concern then was the bleach smell. I was wondering about the food grade peroxide I use to clean my lines. That doesn't have much smell to it and I know it works on mold. I just didn't know if it would come back on the shelf in a couple of months.

[maple flats]

The peroxide does take care of it in tubing lines but then the sap goes thru the boil. I do not think I would trust jugs, even rinsing the several times would not be the same as boiling sap for a long time.