If this is the wrong place, please move. I wasn't sure exactly where this would fit best.
I am wondering how others do their clean-up and what kinds of items they choose to use for soap making or bath & body products making. Where do you draw the line when it comes to washable/re-usable versus disposable?
Being a re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle whenever possible kind of gal, I run into problems sometimes when I try to make do with what I have on hand and then am faced with the clean-up versus what to use and toss out instead.
With HP soap, I found that clean up was easier than it is with CP because there is less oil to wipe out of a crockpot before washing up. With CP, I discovered I was using a lot more paper towels to wipe down the containers before I could wash them. I don't want unsaponified stuff going down my drains, of course, so I felt that I had to use paper towels. I do cover my work surface with old towels, which I change out as needed, and those get washed in the washing machine. However, I certainly did not want to have towels sitting around for several days before I can safely wash them (avoiding clogged drains is what I'm talking about here) so it just never occurred to me to use anything else for wiping out the wet containers after pouring my soap.
Then a few months ago, my SIL sent me some 'unpaper towels', a snap together roll of cloth 'unpaper' towels. I had no idea what this item was when it came in the mail, but figured it out before she called to tell me. For a few months they just sat in the laundry room because I couldn't figure out a use for them. I already use cloth napkins, washcloths for kitchen clean-up, cloth rags for cleaning & polishing furniture. I couldn't see the wisdom of slathering them will oil and tossing them into my washing machine. Paper towels are relegated to the worst kinds of messes that I don't want to end up in my washing machine. Then one day I decided to give it a try and hold out the 'unpaper towels' for several days before tossing them in the washer. Holding out dirty laundry for several days goes against my grain. I'm a 'one load of laundry per day' kind of gal, too. Laundry is like the proverbial grass for me. I don't let it grow under my feet. But I persevered and gave it a go. Stains on my beautiful unpaper towels! Well at least now I am using them, but I have gone back to paper towels for the worst of the mess clean-up. It's just too much mess to use washable cloth for some of this stuff!
Re-usable/washable containers to mix colorants? Or disposable? I used disposable once or twice, but the other day it hit me that the demi-tasse cups sitting in the curio cabinet are the perfect size for pre-mixing colorants into oil. My 5-color batch of soap provided the perfect opportunity to try this out.
OMG, the mess that cleaning the cup with black oxide in it created! I had to scour my kitchen sink, all the time hoping the stains would come out. Yes, they did come out, but I learned a valuable lesson. No more oxides in my kitchen sink! I'm going back to disposable cups for mixing colorants.
What kinds of solutions have others here found to similar situations or dilemmas related to conservation and soap making?
I am wondering how others do their clean-up and what kinds of items they choose to use for soap making or bath & body products making. Where do you draw the line when it comes to washable/re-usable versus disposable?
Being a re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle whenever possible kind of gal, I run into problems sometimes when I try to make do with what I have on hand and then am faced with the clean-up versus what to use and toss out instead.
With HP soap, I found that clean up was easier than it is with CP because there is less oil to wipe out of a crockpot before washing up. With CP, I discovered I was using a lot more paper towels to wipe down the containers before I could wash them. I don't want unsaponified stuff going down my drains, of course, so I felt that I had to use paper towels. I do cover my work surface with old towels, which I change out as needed, and those get washed in the washing machine. However, I certainly did not want to have towels sitting around for several days before I can safely wash them (avoiding clogged drains is what I'm talking about here) so it just never occurred to me to use anything else for wiping out the wet containers after pouring my soap.
Then a few months ago, my SIL sent me some 'unpaper towels', a snap together roll of cloth 'unpaper' towels. I had no idea what this item was when it came in the mail, but figured it out before she called to tell me. For a few months they just sat in the laundry room because I couldn't figure out a use for them. I already use cloth napkins, washcloths for kitchen clean-up, cloth rags for cleaning & polishing furniture. I couldn't see the wisdom of slathering them will oil and tossing them into my washing machine. Paper towels are relegated to the worst kinds of messes that I don't want to end up in my washing machine. Then one day I decided to give it a try and hold out the 'unpaper towels' for several days before tossing them in the washer. Holding out dirty laundry for several days goes against my grain. I'm a 'one load of laundry per day' kind of gal, too. Laundry is like the proverbial grass for me. I don't let it grow under my feet. But I persevered and gave it a go. Stains on my beautiful unpaper towels! Well at least now I am using them, but I have gone back to paper towels for the worst of the mess clean-up. It's just too much mess to use washable cloth for some of this stuff!
Re-usable/washable containers to mix colorants? Or disposable? I used disposable once or twice, but the other day it hit me that the demi-tasse cups sitting in the curio cabinet are the perfect size for pre-mixing colorants into oil. My 5-color batch of soap provided the perfect opportunity to try this out.
OMG, the mess that cleaning the cup with black oxide in it created! I had to scour my kitchen sink, all the time hoping the stains would come out. Yes, they did come out, but I learned a valuable lesson. No more oxides in my kitchen sink! I'm going back to disposable cups for mixing colorants.
What kinds of solutions have others here found to similar situations or dilemmas related to conservation and soap making?
