Sanitizing your mead making equipment is importnant for a couple of reasons. First off you are making a food. You want it to be perfectly healthy to drink. Your equipment could have bacteria or other things on it and you don't want that in the mead.

Secondly, unwanted bacteria on equipment can actually take over your batch of mead, making something not suitable to drink.

So, you always sanitize, not wash, all the equipment that comes in contact with your mead. And this includes bowls and spoons for mixing!

Use some kind of a sanitizer and follow the instructions that come with it. Typically you add 1 teaspoon of sanitizer per gallon of water you are using to sanitize your equpment.

I put a few gallons of water in the sink, add the sanitizer, mix it around a bit then add all my mead making equipment.

(A side note: One-Step Cleanser is a very inexpensive cleaner that you use to sanitize all your equipment. You mix it with water. It is available on amazon here: One-Step)

It's pretty much that simple. And if you don't want to buy a sanitizer you can use unscented bleach. It is an official federal standard for food processing equipment. (Federal guidelines are right here)

Simply add 1 tablespoon of unscented bleach per gallon of water.

I have a video on mead making right here. This video is tuned to start at the section where I show you how to sanitize your equipment.

Soak and rinse everything in the water then remove it and let it air dry. It will then be ready to use for your mead making.