275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

cygnus 5/5/2015, 6:37 am

I just purchased a couple of used 275 gallon IBC totes for rain collection. They still have a little Vitamin E oil in the bottom. What kind of cleaner should i use to get the remaining oil out? This stuff is sticky! I plan on using a pressure washer, but i'm not sure on the "de-oiler."

Thanks!

FRED58 5/5/2015, 10:26 am

WOW! That's a lot or rain water.

What I would suggest would be a rinse with high strength pickling vinegar (over 6% acetic acid) or cleaning grade vinegar (over 10%). The residue (will be like salad dressing) can be used to kill weeds. Then I would rinse the remainder with water and biodegradable soap (like Camp Suds) or a mild dish soap like Dawn or Sunlight or a citrus soap like Citri-Clean (sp?). Then run some water through it, but a bit of mild soap reduces surface tension or as they used to say one place I worked, "it makes the water wetter", and it shouldn't hurt your plants (Its an ingredient in homemade bug spray).

How did you manage to snag a 275 gallon tote? (jealous).

**sanderson** 5/5/2015, 2:20 pm

Bonner's liquid soap to cut the oil?

cygnus 5/5/2015, 2:44 pm

FRED58 wrote:How did you manage to snag a 275 gallon tote? (jealous).

Thanks fred. I'll get right on it. I got them from Craigslist for $50 apiece! They were so cheap, I didn't mind driving the 240 mile round trip to get em. It gets pretty darn hot here in the midwest in the summer. I got two to make sure i dont run out of water. I'm not really sure how much water i will use, but i'm about to find out! LOL.

NAR56 5/5/2015, 3:20 pm

I took my tote to the car wash place and just sprayed it out with the Soap setting. It cleaned it pretty good. I am sure DAWN liquid soap would work as well for cleaning out oil.

Good Luck,
Ryan

**AtlantaMarie** 5/6/2015, 7:33 am

We snagged 2 330-gallon NEW totes from Craigslist a couple of years ago. DH hooked them up to a couple of gutters and we use that for the garden. It was amazing how quickly they both filled from just those 2 gutters.

Make sure to paint them a dark color to avoid having algae grow in them.

Sponsored content

275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

Re: 275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

Re: 275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

Re: 275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

Re: 275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

Re: 275 gallon IBC tote cleaning

Re: 275 gallon IBC tote cleaning


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.