Removing slime mold from cooperage

[Maestro]

"I've been SLIMED!"
Anybody know what I can use to remove slime mold from inside an oak barrel?
I read that it's good to keep cooperage stored with water inside (and change it regularly, of course) but it's getting slimy. Now, my buckets I can scrub out - but what if there's slime inside my water barrel? A clorox solution doesn't seem to affect it.
I think I'll go back to storing them dry and soaking them a few days before using them.

 

[Bountyhunter]

We build log homes and during the monsoon season, we get slime mold on the logs occasionally, and we use Clorox. At high altitudes--over 7000 to 9000 feet--it will rain from June until August, daily. Things get soaked and slime appears.

You dont say how big your barrels are, I would put in a cup or so of clorox and a gallon of warm water, and then just shake the snot out of it. Be sure to wash it out good as the clorox isnt real good on the wood fibers.

Bill

 

[Norskie]

I used to work in a chemical processing 'wet room' where we had to battle a pinkish slimy mold that seemed to like sulfuric acid, chlorine, caustic soda, whatever.
We killed it with ultra violet light. Durned if I can see how you'd get that inside your barrel, though.

 

[Owenbrau]

Basicly, you probably can't completely remove it, even with chemical cleaning. Wood is too porous to allow for effective chemical cleaning unless it is already fairly clean and free from infection. With slime mold, even filling it (and I mean filling, not rinsing) with boiling water several times to heat the wood to try and sterilize it probably won't do in all of the spores. Clean it as best you can, and maybe sealing the cask with brewer's pitch or food-safe epoxy will do the trick.

 

[Sooty Scot]

Removing mold from barrels is difficult. You can remove the surface mold and possibly get deep enough into the fibers to "kill"the mold. but, if the mycelia (roughly analogous to roots)have penetrated deeper (quite likely), it can regrow when favorable condtions reoccur.

If you can get it, paracetic acid, it is the most effective sanitizer for wood barrels. It should work on other wooden vessels as well. BE VERY CAREFUL using it. It's a very powerful acid.

Once it's cleaned, keeping mo;d from regrowing is the challenge. Traditionally, barrels were periodically broken down, scraped, rebuilt, and charred. With an open vessel, you might be able to scrape and char it.
Silver is a fairly strong antibacterial/antifungal. It was common to put silver coins or other silver objects in water barrels, to protect the water. You might try the same.

 

[Brokennock]

Removing mold from barrels is difficult. You can remove the surface mold and possibly get deep enough into the fibers to "kill"the mold. but, if the mycelia (roughly analogous to roots)have penetrated deeper (quite likely), it can regrow when favorable condtions reoccur.

If you can get it, paracetic acid, it is the most effective sanitizer for wood barrels. It should work on other wooden vessels as well. BE VERY CAREFUL using it. It's a very powerful acid.

Once it's cleaned, keeping mo;d from regrowing is the challenge. Traditionally, barrels were periodically broken down, scraped, rebuilt, and charred. With an open vessel, you might be able to scrape and char it.
Silver is a fairly strong antibacterial/antifungal. It was common to put silver coins or other silver objects in water barrels, to protect the water. You might try the same.

Thanks, we've been waiting with bated breath since 2006 for that answer.

 

[nhmoose]

Blech!