ISO cleaning hack

[Zing]

Hey, Soap Peeps! I have one of these thangs:

I have soaked it in water & Dawn for several days and scrubbed with a sponge for a long time. It still feels oily. Hit me up if you have any tricks on cleaning it. Thanks!

 

[AliOop]

I have that same tray! I have no hacks, but this is what works best for me.

Put it in hot hot hot soapy (Dawn) water for a few minutes.
Run more hot water over it to rinse off the soap (and hopefully at least some of the darn beeswax)
Quickly wipe it with a dry paper towel, or five.
If I come across resolidified wax while drying, then back into the hot hot water it goes, to rinse and repeat.

This seems to remove most of the wax, but I admit, it never feels completely wax-free. Would love to hear if anyone has better luck with a different process.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I have that tray, too. Have you tried the Dawn Power Wash after the Alioop process? That stuff as a final step really seems to remove the oily residue.

 

[squidstings]

"Power Wash" is just Dawn with an added solvent. Amazing stuff, but if you have some >95% ethanol or isopropol alcohol on hand.... Mind you, the sprayed foam really works!

A cationic or amphoteric detergent? Dawn is Anionic with nonionic.

Hydrogen Peroxide? There's other mild oxidizers.

Soak it in lye water?

 

[Maple_Street_Bath]

I have a one step process...
Step 1: pour directly into tubes with no spilling.

Just kidding. I scrape mine with a plastic thingy, use a paper towel to wipe out any holes. If I see any spots that are particularly difficult, I will hit it with my hot air gun with the tray placed on paper towel. Wash in hot water with Dawn.
If they still feel sticky or slick after that, I spray with iso alcohol and wipe with a paper towel.
Still sticky? I throw it in my dishwasher. (really, any oil/wax that's left is going to be minimal by this point. There's more oil on my cooking pans than on this lip balm tray at this point.)

I have seen some videos where people do the scrapey thing with the filled tubes still in the tray. I guess it kind of makes sense then that the overspill wouldn't get pushed into the empty tray holes... I just can't bring myself to do it. The naturally rounded tops on lippies is too satisfying.

Occasionally they're a pita to clean, but I wouldn't make lippies without one.

 

[squidstings]

I have a one step process...
Step 1: pour directly into tubes with no spilling.

That's what I did. I was a little flexible on the "no spilling" rule. Disposables. My biggest batch was 16 Oz.
I guess that makes this a comment from the peanut gallery lol

 

[LidiaG]

Hey, Soap Peeps! I have one of these thangs:View attachment 80642

I have soaked it in water & Dawn for several days and scrubbed with a sponge for a long time. It still feels oily. Hit me up if you have any tricks on cleaning it. Thanks!

I was checking them out on the weekend! After I took me 30min to make the lip balms and 4 hours for the clean up. I did a bigger batch 60 from 10 that I had done before, lol. I made a BIG mess and pretty much had to wipe down every single lip balm container. Not fun!
I was shaking my head while I was cleaning them and thinking.. there must be a better way!

I see that some companies send these with the 50 pack and was planning to try it next time.
Is this tool helpful?

Step 1: pour directly into tubes with no spilling.

Yes that is what happened on my first time making them! I might try a porcelain jug with a good spout.

but to answer @Zing! Could you put this tool in the freezer?
I wonder if the plastic material is flexible enough, and once frozen if you flex it if the excess would come right off?

 

[Zing]

I have a one step process...
Step 1: pour directly into tubes with no spilling.

Just kidding. I scrape mine with a plastic thingy, use a paper towel to wipe out any holes. If I see any spots that are particularly difficult, I will hit it with my hot air gun with the tray placed on paper towel. Wash in hot water with Dawn.
If they still feel sticky or slick after that, I spray with iso alcohol and wipe with a paper towel.
Still sticky? I throw it in my dishwasher. (really, any oil/wax that's left is going to be minimal by this point. There's more oil on my cooking pans than on this lip balm tray at this point.)

I have seen some videos where people do the scrapey thing with the filled tubes still in the tray. I guess it kind of makes sense then that the overspill wouldn't get pushed into the empty tray holes... I just can't bring myself to do it. The naturally rounded tops on lippies is too satisfying.

Occasionally they're a pita to clean, but I wouldn't make lippies without one.

I literally was laughing out loud at "pour directly into tubes with no spilling", first as WTHeck Yeah Right and then with Oh, Joke Alert!

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Pretty much do what @AliOop does. Once it is completely dry, I store the tube holder and scraper in a gallon zip lock bag and don't look back (so to speak). I agree that it never feels totally wax/oil free.
Let us know how it goes for you.

 

[Ford]

Plastic is an oil based product. Not that it's oozing oil. It just never has that squeaky clean feel.