Cleanup

Hello everyone,

How do you clean your soap room floor? Mine has a brick floor, and I do not clean it daily, so I get buildup from dripped soap and oils, and bits of soap from unmolding and cutting bars. Soak it in vinegar, maybe, then brush and suck it up with a shop vac? What do you do?

I soap in a room with a tile floor. I get up the splatters that I notice right after pour soap into the mold. When I clean the whole floor, I vacuum first and then use an electric steam mop to go over the whole floor.

I soap in the kitchen with a linoleum floor but I've only dripped soap on the floor a couple times. I just wipe it up with a wet rag, same with any oil spills. I've never had soap bits from unmolding get on the floor.

Since you have a brick floor, I would suggest some kind of non slip rubbery area rug. That way it can be washed easier.

I put a bath mat down beneath my feet on my tile floor which catches most of the little bits of soap from cutting. I am a messy soaper. I wipe any bits or drops straight after soaping so I don't spread them through the house.

I wouldn't use vinegar, because it will break the soap down into fatty acids which may be more trouble than the soap itself. Honestly, I'd clean more often for a number of reasons. Fresh soap is easier to clean up than dry soap, especially with warm water and a scrubby mop. Fewer drips of fat and soap on the floor means less risk of slips and falls. And less chance of vermin setting up housekeeping (ants, mice, roaches, etc.)

And penelopejane's suggestion of a floor mat is good. I'd put it where the mess is worst. Take it outside to clean with a hose or even a power washer.

DeeAnna said:

And penelopejane's suggestion of a floor mat is good. I'd put it where the mess is worst. Take it outside to clean with a hose or even a power washer.

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Or just use a huge towel, shake it outside and throw it in the washing machine.
We messy people learn to find easy solutions. :mrgreen:

My biggest clean up challenge is not from spills, but from what I call soap "crumbs". Little tiny bits of soap seem to find their way onto my floor, maybe from when I cut loaves, or brush off their edges, I'm not sure, but there seem to be plenty of them. And they're tiny, and I don't see them, so I step on them, and they're soft and sticky, and dirt sticks to them, then they're black and mushed into the vinyl of the kitchen and the hardwood elsewhere, and my regular mopping never seemed to get rid of them with out more elbow grease than I was will to expend. So...I got one of these things. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Shark-S3501-Steam-Pocket-Mop/12533807 I got mine cheap, at Big Lots, it was refurbished. It works like magic on all those smooshed soap crumbs. I love it dearly.

lsg said:

When I clean the whole floor, I vacuum first and then use an electric steam mop to go over the whole floor.

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^^^^^ Ditto. I have a wood floor.

Zany_in_CO said:

^^^^^ Ditto. I have a wood floor.

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I do the same. When I cut soap I cut it on my dining room table and do it on a towel. The towel catches the crumbs and I just shake it outside and then toss the towel in the wash.

When I was a new soaper, I used one of those $1 table cloths available from the dollar store to protect the cabinets and floor where I made soap. I still cut in the center of a table to avoid soap crumbs going everywhere. Then the molds and miter box go into a plastic tub to be carried to the sink. Yes, I am a messy soaper, but I have learned to cope with it to avoid unnecessary cleaning. I, too, use a vacuum rather than a broom to "sweep" the floor. It just makes my life easier.

Brick is so much harder to clean than a smooth tile or linoleum floor. So I empathize with you. Whenever I clean brick (hearths mostly), I have to get on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and soapy water (and knee pads). It's so much work, thank goodness I don't use our fireplace for actual fires anymore! Although I do still have to go over and clean the hearth under and around my son's wood stove whenever his tenants move out. For some reason that's the one thing they never seem to think of doing! (He lives in a different state, so I do the work for him.)

I suggest that in your case, after you next do a thorough cleaning of your brick floor, that you seal it with a heavy duty sealant made for brick flooring or pavers. That will give you an added protection and make future clean-up easier. Then I'd also incorporate some additional floor coverings to give you added padding where you stand as well as making clean-up easier.

What I use in my ceramic tiled kitchen is a thick puzzle-piece foam padding under washable throw rugs/mats. My back and my feet don't like standing for long periods of time, especially on hard surfaces, so they serve double duty. The washable rugs get most of the spills; the padding makes standing more comfortable.

Here are the type of padding I use under my washable rugs:

Oh, and I have to say I'm guilty of daily floor cleaning. So I need all the help I can get to make it easier.