Soda nozzle cleaners

[Mike Blakesley]

What do people use for cleaning soda machine nozzles? We had a box of ProStar Soda Nozzle Cleaner but I'm just wondering if there's a cheaper alternative idea out there. They want $100.73 for a box of six 2-pound bags of the stuff.

Maybe just running them through the dishwasher would suffice?

[Frank Cox]

Back when I still used premix I just washed them with soap and water.

Throw them into a dishpan, soak 'em for a couple of hours, rinse and you're done.

[Jim Cassedy]

While this is outside my area of expertise, from what I've observed at many theaters I've
worked at is that they simply disassemble them at the end of the night, and let them soak
overnight in a container of warm water with a few drops of dishwashing liquid in it. In the
morning they're rinsed & scrubbed with a sort of bottle-brush brush they keep for that
purpose and then put back together. ( I only know this because on more than one
occasion while pulling an "all nighter" to fix or re-build a projector, I've had to re-assemble
a fountain nozzle so I could get a cuppa soda... and also more than once I've managed
to spray myself with syrup and soda water when trying to get some soda in the dark after
everyone else has left and I haven't realized the nozzles have been removed, or I've
incorrectly re-assembled one in the dark. )

[Leo Enticknap]

Barco recommends a weak solution of water and baking soda for removing hard core muck from Series 2 air filters, and in my experience it does a good job on popcorn oil deposits. As long as the baking soda is food grade, I can't see why that wouldn't work for these nozzles, at around $20 for a 15lb sack of the stuff.

[Randy Stankey]

Why not just, plain lye? Put a couple-three spoonfuls in a small tub of hot water. Soak, brush and rinse clean just like usual.

It easily destroys virtually any organic substance. It doesn't react with plastic. It's easy to rinse away and and is actually less toxic than many other things you can use. Just make sure you wear gloves and eyeglasses when you use it... which you probably should be doing, anyhow.

Or just Clorox, even.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Make sure they're dishwasher safe. Those nozzles may contain some plastic components and seals that don't like the heat cycle of your average dishwasher. Then again, I've always just ran them through the dishwasher and never had any problems with it. Since sugar dissolves well in warm water, they always came out clean and non-sticky.