How to clean plastic 55 gallon drums

[Bazoo]

I ran across a couple plastic 55 gallon drums, with full removable heads. They came from a local cabinet shop. And being in the business myself, im fairly certain they contained water base sanding sealer.

So, hot water through the garden hose would do well to wash them out.

Would yall think they would be safe for potable water storage after that? I am thinking no. Is there any way to get them safe for this purpose?

What about storing beans/rice and such in them? Would they be safe if beans were loose in them? I would think it would be fine if the beans were in a bag, such as the pound bags, or 25 pound bags still.

What about loose dog food?

I dont need these drums for food or water storage. Im just looking for some good advice on the subject.

[Blackwater]

That's a darn good question, and guessing at what was in them really doesn't help. However, water really is "the universal solvent," and filling it up to the top with water and leaving it for a couple of weeks, pouring it out and refilling it again and repeating the cyle 2-3 times, would make me pretty confident of being able to use it to store foodstuffs that are inside plastic bags, at the least, and in a pinch, I think we'd all likely use it to store potable water in a SHTF situation. In a tight, one does what one CAN, and takes risks they might not otherwise do, so ..... the more you rinse it out and soak and empty it, the more confident I think you can be it'll remain potable. A little chlorine bleach in it would be a good idea as well. Chlorine is a very active element, and should react with most anything that will react. That's one reason why it's often used to "purify" water and make it safe to drink. Putting a few barrels of chlorinated water through it and out again with a soak period of a week or more should make you feel pretty good about using them for water.

This is just an opinion and a guess, though, so .... if someone has greater knowledge about the matter, listen to them instead of me.

[GhostHawk]

I think the key would be hot soapy water, a good scrub with a brush. Air dry for 2-3 days to let any remaining chemicals set, evaporate, etc. I think a week long soak would not hurt anything.

I suspect after a good wash and some dry time that dry staples like beans, rice, flour, sugar,salt in well sealed bags would have virtually no risk of contamination.

I'm cheating, we have an older chest freezer that we don't use. Still works, kept unplugged, but able to put it into service on an hours notice. But I currently have it packed to the lid with staples. Steel outside shell, pretty critter proof, very unnoticeable location.

[leeggen]

put in water and soap and add some desent sand then roll around alittle each day after a few days dump and refill. The water and soap will do some cleaning but the sand will do a great job along with the water. I did that to some I got that were use for glue, after cleaning I then put them to use as water tanks for animals. No oily film or oder from them.
CD

[MaryB]

Sand blast them inside then wash.

[Iowa Fox]

This is just me BUT there is no way I would put anything I'm going to eat or drink in those barrels no matter how well they are cleaned. You need a food grade plastic thats not going to gas off with time. I see used 5gal-25-and 55 gallon plastic containers used by the food industry for sale around here for not much money. Mostly from the dairies & cheese factories, places like that. As soon as the food comes out they are washed and set out in a sales area. Plastic is funny stuff, lots of different grades.

[dilly]

Would you probably be okay? Maybe if you cleaned it real well.

Before you do this you need to go price those drums. A food safe one is like ten or twenty dollars on Craigslist. In my opinion the risk to reward ratio is way too high in this case.

[Boolit_Head]

Clean it real well and use a plastic liner? Years ago I got a hold of some metal barrels with a removable top. Luckily they were from a local soda bottler so they were filled with syrup. Cleaned up well and used them for storing feed in the barn.

[Nose Dive]

Well boys and girls.... Old Plastic drums for potable food items..... Unless they come from me,,(and I AM NOT OFFERING ANY)...forget it.

I worked in a pharmaceutical plant for years. 25 gal. 40 gal. 55 gal. drums of PHARMACEUTICAL grade products...triple rinsed with DRINKING WATER,,,...yea.. I did it for years... filled 55's full of drinking water in back of PU truck and took to dry deer lease..... all were handled and cleaned by me for my use by my family. they were old hydrogen peroxide drums.... If 1/2 drop of this stuff hits your eye..YOU ARE BLINDED!!!

NOW..ALL BEWARE... if you get an empty drum of ARSENIC..Formaldehyde... (I/we handled all of them) or some other fun stuff.... and you ..

1. wash it
2. sand blast it
3. chemical wash it
4. scrub it clean with hot soapy water
5. send it to a chemical control facility for 'cleaning'......

Your kids may come out looking like salamanders.

DON'T BE STUPID! What you don't know can hurt you.

Pass on plastic drum for food stuffs. Jeezzzzz!

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

PS: I gave two to a buddy...he built an outhouse over them...built his house...crashed the outhouses...dumped the waste..rinsed them out...gave them away.... Is this one of the ones offered to you? ND

[Catshooter]

In Sir Issac Newton's day, water was indeed the universal solvent.

No longer. There are many harsh/deadly chemicals that totally ignore water.

I am using a drum like the ones described, but for non-potable water only and it is so marked.


Cat

[lightman]

I live in farm country and plastic barrels are used for chemicals and are everywhere and easy to get. The word from the State Plant Board is that plastic can absorb chemicals and you never wash it all out. I would say "Don't do it". We also hauled water to deer camp before we had a well put down and we used a few barrels that came from a juice company. We had a few members that worked for the State Health Dept that said the same thing the Plant Board Boys said. You really need to know what was in those barrels before using them.

[bedbugbilly]

Personally, if I wanted potable water storage, I'd be looking for something that is made for that. Having had a custom woodworking/millwork shop as well as being on a farm, I'm fairly familiar with the chemicals, etc. that are often contained in those types of containers. From my understanding, some of the plastics used can and do "absorb". Storing food? I wouldn't even use them for that. I'd do some looking and get what is made and approved for those purposes.

I understand the wanting to "recycle" or save some $$ but is it really worth it to take the chance on the possibility of contamination of what you or your family will ingest? I honestly worry about the gallons and gallons of finishes I sprayed over the years even though I took precautions of good ventilation, careful handling, respirator use, etc. I'd save them for sawdust, storing such things as potting soil, fertilizer, etc. Personally, I wouldn't even store food intended for livestock in them unless it had a liner in it. There's just too many "unknowns" on what the original contents were and the effect it could have if ingested even in minute amounts.

[NavyVet1959]

The ones that are food safe are easy enough to come by around here that personally, I would not risk it. I have various closed top type drums that came from car washes and originally contained the soaps, waxes, and other chemicals that they used. I washed them out by filling them up with water and letting them bake in a hot summer sun for a few days and then repeating this multiple times. I've also used a pressure washer to clean them out. Eventually, it gets to the point where you can't smell the original chemical in them. I don't use them for potable water though. If I use one for storing water, it's just for washing hands and such.

At one time, I had one of the 275 gallon plastic totes after doing a preliminary rinse, I filled it up with water and took it to a property that I own that does not have water, but I needed to water some plants that were there. A couple of the plants died right after that. Apparently, I didn't rinse it well enough.

Now, I have no problem with keeping dog food in a 55g drum that might not have originally stored food grade contents, but the dog breeds that I own only have a life expectancy of 12 years or so anyway. On the ranch, we used those open top drums to hold horse and cattle "sweet feeds".

Check Craigslist... The Houston one currently has a guy with the food grade closed head barrels for $20-25. The $25 ones originally contained vinegar and the $20 ones contained some non-vinegar condiment.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for the all the responses.

Thats pretty much what I already thought and knew. Letting the barrel set with water in it for a few weeks, several times, did cross my mind. Like I said however, I dont intend to use this for potable water.

I think rinsed out well with hot water and soap, it would be fine for dry food storage in bags. Most likely i'll use it for dry, outside storage of various things.

[Wayne Smith]

Also check on how well it seals. Anything short of a rubber seal is probably not ant proof.

[Hickory]

Take'm to the car wash.

[NavyVet1959]

Also check on how well it seals. Anything short of a rubber seal is probably not ant proof.

Sometimes, you have to get creative in designing things that are ant-resistant (I'm not sure anything sort of 100% air-tight / water-right) can be considered "ant-proof"). Hanging the container from the rafters seems to work pretty good.

[MtGun44]

Not for potable water or food!

Polyethylene is porous and will absorb any chemicals that it is in contact with, but slowly.

After removing the chemical, then putting water in it, the chemicals will leach out slowly
into the water. If it just had pickles, you would have pickle tasting water for a very long
time, although EVENTUALLY all the absorbed chemicals would come out........ no idea how
long eventually is, but the smell does eventually go away. We use old pickle 5 gallon
buckets for maple sap, filled with hot water and soap and let sit for a few days, repeated
a number of times until not a trace of smell after closed up, dry, for a few days. The nose
is a pretty good tester, but I would only do it with a food container, not industrial chems.

Not nice to have water taste a bit of pickles, but you won't die, but industrial chems???????

No way I would do it. I bought new ones, we put together a group and ordered about
10-15 of the 30 gallon ones brand new (I didn't do the order, forget how many). Price
drops dramatically if you order "enough", although no idea these days how many,
probably depends on supplier. We drove to pick them up, did not ship, saved a lot
that way too.

Bill

[Lloyd Smale]

id fill them with water and dump in about 6 boxes of baking soda and let them sit for about 6 months.

[Bazoo]

They do have rubber seals, and would be ant proof.

[NavyVet1959]

They do have rubber seals, and would be ant proof.

So you just have to be concerned with them possibly off-gassing whatever was stored in them and it possibly affecting the taste / safety of whatever you store in them.

After you "clean" it, dry it out and set it out in the sun for a few days with the lid tightly closed. Open the lid and stick your head down in there and take a deep breath. Depending upon what you smell, then decide if you want to risk putting food that you might be eating in that barrel. It's one thing to end up with rice that has the taste of pickles. It's quite another to have rice that has the taste of petrochemicals.

[FLHTC]

Plastic drums absorb many pesticides so they require triple rinsing before being discarded. I wouldn't use any drum for drinking water, that wasn't used for drinking water to begin with.

[CGT80]

I would not even use those drums for food stored in bags. Some of the lacquers, sanding sealers, and thinners are quite nasty. I used to be a pro at finishing cabinets. Drums just are not that expensive and you risk damaging the food or making someone sick. On Monday, I bought 3 55 gallon white food grade drums for $97 after tax. They have a bit of vinegar left in them. After washing, I would use them for food that is sealed in bags, if needed. These, however, will be used as a reservoir for the cnc plasma table I have been working on.