How do you clean up after soap is made?

[kagey]

Would love to hear how folks clean up their equipment following a soap-making session.
Especially after using activated charcoal!

I've heard one video say to leave everything in the sink until it becomes soap. But I don't have that luxury.
I use up a lot of paper towels to wipe off as much as I can (and trash it) to prevent clogging up my sink & pipes.
Then, I use dishwashing soap.

What do you do to clean up?

 

[AAShillito]

If you can find either floursack towels, flat fold Birdseye diapers or microfiber cloths, they are great to do the heavy wiping and then you can wash with your towels and kitchen towels . I usually add an extra laundry detergent pod on soap cloth wash days. I haven't had any mica or fragrance stains yet. And dawh dish soap for extra grease is great

 

[Zing]

For fine charcoal and micas, I no longer use plastic measuring spoons. Now I use metal and spray with rubbing alcohol over an open garbage can.
For soap dishes and stick blender, I wipe everything with newspaper (not sure how old you are but I am old, newspapers are this thing like cnn.com but printed out on paper every day). I'm not sure what your limitations are but once I learned -- from this forum -- to leave the dishes a day or two, I was like, HALLELUJAH, I don't need to feel guilty for not cleaning up right away. Plus I'm worried about oils in my plumbing and feel better after 1-2 days.

 

[kagey]

thanks for feedback.

I found another post like this one here:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...first-successful-attempt-at-soapmaking.83572/
but it didn't really deal with working with charcoal.

I finally got my plastic charcoal mixing container cleaned with lots of Palmolive.

I like the idea of using old newspapers. I get one tossed on my lawn once a week gratis.
also like the thought of having dedicated hand towels that I wash.
Thanks for the thoughtful advice.

 

[Basil]

For fine charcoal and micas, I no longer use plastic measuring spoons. Now I use metal and spray with rubbing alcohol over an open garbage can.
For soap dishes and stick blender, I wipe everything with newspaper (not sure how old you are but I am old, newspapers are this thing like cnn.com but printed out on paper every day). I'm not sure what your limitations are but once I learned -- from this forum -- to leave the dishes a day or two, I was like, HALLELUJAH, I don't need to feel guilty for not cleaning up right away. Plus I'm worried about oils in my plumbing and feel better after 1-2 days.

I like newspapers too !

 

[Rsapienza]

I’ve never quite understood how one has so much soap batter/oils to wipe out after a soaping session. I scrape everything so well, there’s barely anything left in my containers. I do let what is there to turn to soap. I throw my used containers and utensils in a garbage bag and throw in a closet for a couple days before washing.

 

[Vicki C]

My soap studio is in an outbuilding that doesn’t have plumbing, so there is a lot of lugging back and forth from the house to the studio with clean and dirty dishes. I keep a large plastic container under my work table and toss things in as I go. I have started keeping a container with water so I can give anything with lye a quick rinse first. If I need to use things right away I sometimes spray everything with a hose (outside I mean) to get off all soap traces and then run them through the dishwasher. I seem to go through a lot of dishes, spatulas, etc every soap session. Oh I also have a stack of bar cloths that I use for cleanup while I’m working. I try not to use too many paper towels but I do use some.

 

[Becky1024]

Activated charcoal is nasty to clean up! I’ve tried lots of things. Here’s my best tip. My charcoal came in a plastic bag and every time I took some out I spilled some. I ended up pouring the charcoal into a wide mouth jar so now it is easier to spoon out without spilling.

 

[Susie]

Although I don't use AC, I do have a tip on easier dish cleaning in general-I just toss them into a 5 gallon bucket with a good lid and let them sit a day or two. After that, the soap is now, well, soap, and much easier to clean. My lye water container gets rinsed thoroughly in the sink and put into the dishwasher. If you have children or nosy pets, be sure to secure the lid of the bucket well and place out of range if they could still potentially open it.

 

[melinda48]

If you can find either floursack towels, flat fold Birdseye diapers or microfiber cloths, they are great to do the heavy wiping and then you can wash with your towels and kitchen towels . I usually add an extra laundry detergent pod on soap cloth wash days. I haven't had any mica or fragrance stains yet. And dawh dish soap for extra grease is great

What a great idea! I am going to implement this one for sure. I, too, blast through the cheapest paper towels I can buy to do my initial clean-up and then wash. Diapers here I come!

 

[melinda48]

I’ve never quite understood how one has so much soap batter/oils to wipe out after a soaping session. I scrape everything so well, there’s barely anything left in my containers. I do let what is there to turn to soap. I throw my used containers and utensils in a garbage bag and throw in a closet for a couple days before washing.

I think that is what we all do but there is always some lurking - perhaps on the stick blender - we each have our own techniques and, regardless of how well-scraped the bowl is, there is “stuff” lurking.

 

[Quilter99755]

What a great idea! I am going to implement this one for sure. I, too, blast through the cheapest paper towels I can buy to do my initial clean-up and then wash. Diapers here I come!

Someone here mentioned microfiber towels and I just happened to have a couple in my ragbag. I hate the feel of microfiber but by cleaning time I have rubber gloves on anyway. I found that using a damp microfiber cloth does get things cleaner...even more than a dry one. My dishwasher is on its last legs and am not sure that wiping with a regular cloth would have removed enough of the leftover oils or batter to go through the wash cycle. I also found out that if the microfiber cloth is wet, then my hands don't get the hated heebie-geebie feeling. So now I start with a couple of damp cloths and actually use them on my counters and stove too.

 

[kagey]

I’ve never quite understood how one has so much soap batter/oils to wipe out after a soaping session. I scrape everything so well, there’s barely anything left in my containers.

I had my soap seize. So, scraping everything into the mold wasn't an option. And clean up became a hassle.
But yeah, under normal circumstances, I could see how a soaper shouldn't have that much to clean.

Thanks all for the helpful thoughts.

 

[Quilter99755]

I’ve never quite understood how one has so much soap batter/oils to wipe out after a soaping session. I scrape everything so well, there’s barely anything left in my containers. I do let what is there to turn to soap. I throw my used containers and utensils in a garbage bag and throw in a closet for a couple days before washing.

I'm fairly new at CPing soap (I love my HP) so I have some nasty habits that work in HP but certainly don't with CP. Plus as I age, my grip and agility get worse as time goes by. I think I will always have a lot of batter to clean up. Either that or I'm a real slob when I soap! LOL With using microfiber, I have a lot easier time cleaning up...enough that I can put them in the dishwasher and they don't come back with sludge on them.

 

[JuLeeRenee]

I don't have the luxury of having room to keep soap dishes laying about nor the luxury of having a washing machine to constantly wash what few rags I do have, so I use the workshop style paper towels (the blue ones) and wipe my dishes after I am done then throw them in the dishwasher. I use way less of those than I did with regular paper towels.

 

[JillGat]

I don't have the luxury of having room to keep soap dishes laying about nor the luxury of having a washing machine to constantly wash what few rags I do have, so I use the workshop style paper towels (the blue ones) and wipe my dishes after I am done then throw them in the dishwasher. I use way less of those than I did with regular paper towels.

You have a dishwasher, but not a washing machine?

 

[LynetteO]

I throw my used containers and utensils in a garbage bag and throw in a closet for a couple days before washing.

Same. Re-use same garbage bag as well. Except I just put the bag under my kitchen table.

 

[Basil]

Same. Re-use same garbage bag as well. Except I just put the bag under my kitchen table.

Garbage bag and closet here

 

[lenarenee]

Same. Re-use same garbage bag as well. Except I just put the bag under my kitchen table.

Almost the same; I toss the filled garbage bag outside on the patio because 1) we're in CA and need to save water - waiting until the soap is dried means I need less water needed to wash, and 2) the smell of fragrance is already filling the house - and this is almost a 4000 square foot house! But there's still lots of curing soap that adds to the amount of scent stuck in the house. Most of the year we can have the windows open but not during the hot times. We have guinea pigs and a cat who just shouldn't be smelling fragrance 24/7 - and it's probably not good for humans either.

 

[AliOop]

You have a dishwasher, but not a washing machine?

Many apartments in the US have dishwashers, but far fewer have washing machines in each unit. They may have a community laundry facility on site, but many don't even have that. If I had to choose, I'd personally prefer the in-unit washing machine over a dishwasher, but that's somehow not the custom for most apartment buildings here.