Cleaning up on the go...messy equipment

[Cookie]

I know ideally everything is measured out and lined up and there shouldn't be any spilled dangerous ingredients :shifty:

But how do you cope when there are? Ok, so last night I knocked over one of my jugs with soap and clay in it, luckily it was only a third of the batter. After doing a quick clean up job I kept soaping. But my gloves were slick with the oils from the spilt batter, which made everything a little bit more mucky and also led to my losing control of my whisk when I was swirling

Other than trying to blot my rubber gloves dry with paper towel can anyone suggest anything? Running them under water doesn't help really because even though they're less junky they're still very slick

 

[Jaccart789]

Aww... sorry for your frustration! It happens in soaping. I have had so many messy soaping experiences, but its normally at my most creative moments and everything turns out beautifully, even when I am sure it did not. This is often discovered after I cut the soap. I would probably have a second pair of gloves on standby when I am soaping and that will solve the problem and don't stress.

 

[Cookie]

Thanks, great idea!

 

[Seawolfe]

I tear off a stack of about 5 paper towels to have handy, and use those to clean my gloves or any drips or goopy handles. Having the box of gloves nearby helps too

 

[cmzaha]

I use nitrile gloves and always have the box handy. I found using thick gloves caused me to drop things when soaping, such as my lye pitcher a few years ago. Slippery gloves can be dangerous to your health and cupboards, just ask my cupboards how they liked that one... I also have a few rags handy or paper towels for any emergency cleanups. I also add in most of my ingredients right in the bucket of oils before adding in my lye. Other than colorants I add my ingredients right into my oils, stick blend them in well and move on to putting on my nitrile surgical gloves and adding in my lye liquid. Also adding your fo into your oils will sometimes slow down it acceleration, although do not always depend on it slowing down a crankpot fo

 

[Cookie]

I was hoping I could start using the disposable gloves because I'm finding it difficult using normal washing up (rubber gloves). I've been worrying about dropping things too because it certainly feels as though I have a lot less control. I love the idea of just putting on new gloves if the current ones getting too icky. I had just assume that the Nitrile style gloves wouldn't be protective enough for your hands.

I will certainly make sure to have more paper towels or rags ready to use and try adding things to my bucket of oils first


Thanks for the advice, you guys rock!

 

[ariella42]

I use Nitrile gloves too. They're very convenient. I was using regular ones, but my husband was worried about the thickness of the material (though I never had a problem with them), so he got me some 5 mil "heavy duty" ones.

 

[Susie]

I use Nitrile gloves also. I always pull out 2 pair, and keep a few paper towels ready to go. This happens to everyone. Don't feel alone.

 

[boyago]

I just came to the conclusion that I should switch to disposables (I tend not to go with disposable anything) because for the second time I had an errant NaOH bead migrate to the interior of my gloves.

 

[Luckyone80]

You can always put on 2 or more pairs of gloves and peel them off as needed. When I get oil and stuff on my gloves I often just wash my hands with dish soap with them on and dry and they are as good as new.

 

[TVivian]

Dawn dish detergent. Cleans up soap batter wonderfully just squeeze it into the gloves, wash like you're washing your hands then dry with paper towels.. Good to go!

 

[DeeAnna]

Yep, I second using a big squirt of Dawn on greasy gloves. Also I set up a bowl of warm water in the sink for washing up as I go, so I don't have to touch the faucet handles to get fresh water to rinse. I use the heavy weight nitrile gloves -- they last for awhile, but I have spares so I can change them out if they get utterly too oily or whatever.

Rather than paper towels, I use dairy towels (inexpensive terrycloth squares used in dairies to clean cows' udders). I set out at least 2 clean towels per batch. I put one close by so it's handy to wipe up spills, etc. The spares go toward the back of the counter. That way I'm more likely to grab just the handy one, so the backup towels stay clean for just-in-case. If I used paper towels, I'd probably use the same method.

edit -- half of a well-worn hand towel is about the size and absorbency of a dairy towel, in case you don't live in dairy country!

 

[Soapsense]

I pour a little vinegar on my gloves and rinse, just like new, most times, lol

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I soap in the kitchen but don't cover anything.
I'm just super careful and probably super relaxed.
If there's any spillage I just mop it with kitchen towels. They go into laundry sink until soap hardens and they get washed in the morning. They come out really fresh and nice smelling.
For oily spillages I just use stronger spray and wipe thingy, it always works fine.

 

[Cookie]

Wow, thanks for all the advice, I can definitely do those things to create a more fun and safe soaping experience. I'll have to try Fairy though because we are deprived in Aussie and you can't get Dawn. Apparently Fairy is the closest thing to it. I was thinking about not covering next time to be honest. I have a good bench space and probably all I really need to do is just make sure it's clean and that the cat dishes are moved out of the area. That plastic cloth I've been laying down seems to cause more trouble than it's worth. I keep catching things on the edges and I've never really worked out what to do with it after I've washed it down. I have to make sure everything's as clean as a whistle before I leave the kitchen because my cats are very curious

 

[Soapsense]

I also have a plastic cloth on my table, but I put all those free newspaper flyers down on top of it and as they get messy I throw the top layers away.

 

[dixiedragon]

While I am wearing the gloves, I wash my hands in very hot water with dish soap.

 

[lionprincess00]

I put 4 large plastic place mats onto my counter. They are soap mats only, and I wipe clean after use. I also keep 5 paper towels in the corner for spills. I use disposable gloves, and cant imagine trying to hold tight with the large yellow ones! That's gotta be difficult. I keep the lid off the trash to dump easy, and I use (as of recently) disposable plastic cups for my small colored sections. If I need to rinse, I'll use Palmolive soap to get the slimy off, or I switch to fresh gloves.

 

[Cookie]

Thanks for the feedback. I think in my soaping space placemats would work well or maybe even cheap shop plastic trays. Depending what I can find before my next fun day I will try it with newspapers down too. I like the idea of being able to peel away a layer. Definitely moving to disposable gloves and having a couple of pairs on hand

 

[Cookie]

Hi Everyone, just wanted to say thanks again. I just rebatched my clay heavy soap from last weekend and put in place many of the suggestions from this thread. It made the process so much easier, I felt much more in control and the cleanup was quicker. Thanks again :wave: