I would not even trust glass that has held pickles, much less plastic. That
stuff never comes out.

But I agree with the chlorine bleach treatment. After rinsing, let them air
dry completely, then rinse one more time. That will remove any possible
residue. As a last treatment, you could let them air dry again, then
sprinkle in some backing soda, seal and let it sit. That will absorbed any
lingering odors.

Ray

"spud" > wrote in message
...
> Aquired a couple of buckets from businesses saving food containers for
> me. They were for pickles. Tried bleach, baking soda, detergent,
> plain water, sunshine. Still smell like pickles. Haven't tried
> ammonia though.
>
> Steve - Noobie
> Oregon
>
>
>
>
>> "KD" > wrote:
>>Hi all,
>>
>>I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters -
>>food-grade
>>plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
>>made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
>>it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which
>>is
>>coming along nicely).
>>
>>After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
>>time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
>>thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink
>>chlorinated
>>cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain
>>water
>>in them for days, and still I can smell it.
>>
>>I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them
>>again.
>>
>>I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
>>purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
>>else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
>>new ones?
>>
>>Thanks!
>>
>>KD
>>
>