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Milton and other sterilising solutions can be used to clean through a prep machine in a cleaning cycle. There’s a lot of misinformation and differing opinions online about how much Milton to use on a perfect prep machine, and little discussions about the official recommendations or the risks of using too much/too little.
Hopefully this article will help give you a definite answer on how much milton to use on a perfect prep machine and how often should you use it to clean.
What is Milton?
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Milton is a brand name which makes cold water sterilising tablets and fluids. They are not specifically made for automatic bottle makers such as perfect prep machines – their instructions usually only refer to bottles. The active ingredient is Troclosene Sodium – a type of chlorine which has sterilising agents.
Milton can be used with cold water which is why it is so popular and effective with bottle makers, however it is a biocide which means it can be hazardous if used incorrectly.
Can I use Milton with a prep machine?
Yes, although Tommee Tippee don’t specify the brand name, they do make it clear you can use ‘cold water sterilising solution’ which of course Milton is. But, they do not specify a tablet or liquid solution. The wording ‘solution’ suggests the liquid may be better.
How much Milton do you need to use to clean your perfect pre machine?
Tommee Tippee refer to the manufacturer’s guidelines about the dilution of Milton or other sterilising liquids, but they do let users know that the dilution needs to match 1.8L. This is useful but some maths are needed to make some sense for you, luckily we’ve ran the numbers to help you with how much Milton to put in a prep machine for its cleaning cycle.
Milton advise that their solution should be 0.6% of the fluid going in to the prep machine or 30ml (this is a capful) in 500l. This doesn’t help much because the prep machine needs 1.8l. However, by running the numbers and finding out what 0.6% of 1.8L is (1800ml) then the answer is 10.8ml. Just over a third of a Milton fluid cap, a measuring jug would be more useful to get this amount. Rounding off to 10 or 11 would be fine.
Milton bottle cleaner has slightly different instruction but they still end up about the same, for cleaning bottles they recommend 3ml for 5l of water (this is 0.6%).
In summary, you’ll need 10.8ml of milton for 1.8l of water for the prep machine. We recommend trying to fill a 5L jug with 3ml (a capful) and then using that to fill the prep machine. Much easier than trying to find a 1.8l jug.
For tablets, it is slightly more confusing but still easily done. 1 Milton tablet is the equivalent of 30ml of the sterilising solution. So you have the choice of cutting the tablet into a third for a 1.8l jug or a whole tablet into a 5l container with cold water.
Once you’ve put the solution into the prep machine you just need to run the cleaning cycle. Remember to use cold water.
Is Milton enough to clean a perfect prep machine?
No, Milton recommend cleaning everything with warm soapy water first to get rid of the clumps that Milton may struggle with. Try and get into every nook and cranny and then thoroughly rinse out. Then you can use a Milton or another sterilising liquid to finish off the process. The whole process should take a minimum of 15 minutes and the solution is effective for 24 hours.
Clumps can be common in prep machines which aren’t cleaned regularly. Boiling water used during the process of making artificial feeds in the machine aren’t enough.
