G'day,

I've just bought a floor corker, ready to cork some melomel and mead
this weekend, and it occurs to me that I should know how to clean and
sanitise it first

I've googled a bit and here is the process I've come up with:

* wipe the compressive jaws with a damp rag to remove surface gunk
* roll up some kitchen paper towel to simulate a cork, press it through
* wipe the compressive jaws again with alcohol to sanitise

Does this sound OK? I'm using some Eno polyethylene synthetic corks, and
practice runs with bottled water were really easy so I don't see any
need for lubricant.

cheers,
Ross.
--
Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
"The lawn could stand another mowing; funny, I don't even care"
- Elvis Costello

Ross,

All you need to do is get it clean, of dust, grease, etc., so the first
two steps are fine. Unless your corker is unbelievably filthy, I don't
think the alcohol is necessary ;-)
Occasionally (rarely), you may need to lube the iris blocks where they
slide against each other. Most people I know use ordinary petroleum
jelly as their "Food Grade" lubricant. After that, you may need to run a
paper towel or two through.
Good luck with your machine; I'm sure you'll love it.

Mike MTM

On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:43:34 -0500, MikeMTM > wrote:

>All you need to do is get it clean, of dust, grease, etc., so the first
>two steps are fine. Unless your corker is unbelievably filthy, I don't
>think the alcohol is necessary ;-)

Thanks mate, I'll try not to let it get unbelievably filthy then...

>Good luck with your machine; I'm sure you'll love it.

cheers, I love it already and I've only corked a couple of bottles of
tap water so far!
--
Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
"The lawn could stand another mowing; funny, I don't even care"
- Elvis Costello

Ross,
You may find a quick dip in water (sulphite added if desired) will make
cork insertion easier. The floor corker doesn't have much trouble driving
the corks home, but it does tend to leave a bit of a dimple that the water
dip will eleviate. HTH
John Dixon
"Ross McKay" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:43:34 -0500, MikeMTM > wrote:
>
> >All you need to do is get it clean, of dust, grease, etc., so the first
> >two steps are fine. Unless your corker is unbelievably filthy, I don't
> >think the alcohol is necessary ;-)
>
> Thanks mate, I'll try not to let it get unbelievably filthy then...
>
> >Good luck with your machine; I'm sure you'll love it.
>
> cheers, I love it already and I've only corked a couple of bottles of
> tap water so far!
> --
> Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
> "The lawn could stand another mowing; funny, I don't even care"
> - Elvis Costello

On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:39:47 -0500, "J Dixon" wrote:

> You may find a quick dip in water (sulphite added if desired) will make
>cork insertion easier. The floor corker doesn't have much trouble driving
>the corks home, but it does tend to leave a bit of a dimple that the water
>dip will eleviate. HTH

Thanks John, I'll try that on a couple of bottles and see what happens.
With the trial attempts with bottled water, it all just happened really
quickly with almost no effort on the lever, but there was a small dimple
on the cork afterwards.

cheers,
Ross.
--
Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
"The lawn could stand another mowing; funny, I don't even care"
- Elvis Costello

Good-Morning: for the fast 15 years I've dipped my corks in BM Sulfite and
rinsed with water then soak in water for a few minutes before inserting into
bottle. works great evertime. never use clorox.

Mike K

since about 2 years ago I have use dry corks without sterilisation direct
from the pack in my Portuguese floor corker without problems!

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
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"Ross McKay" > wrote in message
...
> G'day,
>
> I've just bought a floor corker, ready to cork some melomel and mead
> this weekend, and it occurs to me that I should know how to clean and
> sanitise it first
>
> I've googled a bit and here is the process I've come up with:
>
> * wipe the compressive jaws with a damp rag to remove surface gunk
> * roll up some kitchen paper towel to simulate a cork, press it through
> * wipe the compressive jaws again with alcohol to sanitise
>
> Does this sound OK? I'm using some Eno polyethylene synthetic corks, and
> practice runs with bottled water were really easy so I don't see any
> need for lubricant.
>
> cheers,
> Ross.
> --
> Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
> "The lawn could stand another mowing; funny, I don't even care"
> - Elvis Costello

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 20:59:01 GMT, "Pinky" wrote:

>since about 2 years ago I have use dry corks without sterilisation direct
>from the pack in my Portuguese floor corker without problems!

Thanks Trevor, I'm feeling pretty confident about all of this now.

cheers,
Ross.
--
Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
"The lawn could stand another mowing; funny, I don't even care"
- Elvis Costello