Cleaning up after soap making

[delicious]

How do you clean up after making soap?

This seems kind of like a silly question but I bet there are loads of little things that experienced soapmakers do to make cleaning up more thorough and safe.
On all websites/videos I've checked out, they all tell you how to make the soap, but leave you to deal with the mess in your kitchen alone...

While thinking about it, I came up with a few ideas on the subject, but maybe they are not necessary or maybe there are others?

- Do you use vinegar to neutralize the lye from the lye/water jug before rinsing it?

- What do you do with all the bowls and mixing ustensils full of the caustic soap? I would say a vinegar/water rinse... do people let the soap harden before washing it off the bowls?

- Do you do any special setup beforehand to make cleaning up easier?

Anything else?

 

[Soaplady22]

I wipe down everything with paper towels (while still wearing my gloves), then wash with a little added liquid soap if necessary. I run the wiped off stick blender in the lye jar (rinsed out) with hot water. Then wash as if for dishes. Works fine.

 

[MeadowHillFarmCT]

I soap in my basement where the dogs are not allowed and my little ones are all grown up so I can leave everything sit till the next day. After 24hrs anything left in the pans turns into soap and clean up is no longer a hazard and really easy.

 

[Relle]

I leave mine until the next day and wash up as normal in the sink with a scourer.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I rinse the lye jug out with hot water straight away and I leave the rest to wash the next day (after it's saponified). Much kinder to the environment and your pipes. :wink:

 

[cinta]

I tip a little vinegar over the end of my lye mixing stick as I hold it over the lye jug (which is sitting in the kitchen sink), then swish the vinegar round the lye jug (while still wearing gloves!) and then rinse the jug & stick with water. Then I put everything into my big soap pot and take it out to the garage where the kids can't get to it. I wash it all in the sink with warm water the next day. Well, I always intend to wash it all up the next day, but it has been known to sit out there for a little while. Needless to say, we have the best smelling garage in the neighbourhood!

 

[nattynoo]

I clean my stick blender as soon as it leaves the soap pot.
I never leave it sit as the soap sets on it in no time flat.

I wipe all excess soap onto paper towel before washing.

First rinse in the sink is straight hot water.
Then I second rinse with warm soapy water.

I soap several batches after each other so I wash in between batches.

What else.
I love to leave the FO/EO container unwashed & I pop it into my disherwasher & it freshens it up!!

 

[rubyslippers]

I clean up immediately after soaping. Someone on this forum (sorry...can't remember who suggested this or I would give that poster credit) suggested wiping everything down with rags & then hanging the rags in the garage to dry. Once they are dry, they no longer have the caustic soap batter because it has turned to soap & can be thrown into the washer with a load of clothes. Until I started utilizing this tip, I was using tons of paper towels.

My soaping utensils/bowls, etc are then spritzed with vinegar, rinsed, and then washed in hot soapy water (sometimes twice). I stick the end of my stick blender in the sink and give it a few whirls on high speed and that washes off all the soap batter. Even if soap has already set up on it this takes it right off.

 

[delicious]

I love to leave the FO/EO container unwashed & I pop it into my disherwasher & it freshens it up!!

Oh yeah, or just leave it out to scent the whole house for a couple of days!

 

[kelleyaynn]

I love to leave the FO/EO container unwashed & I pop it into my disherwasher & it freshens it up!!

Oh yeah, or just leave it out to scent the whole house for a couple of days!

What great ideas!!! Now why didn't I think of that???

 

[Fullamoon]

I love the idea of spritzing the bowls with vinegar to neutralize the lye. I do wipe the counters with vinegar but didn't think to spritz the bowls. Thank you! I keep my goggles and gloves on until the cleanup is done. I use one of those round plastic scrubbies to get all the "batter" off everything because it's hard to rinse, even with very hot water and dish soap!

 

[BakingNana]

I do all of the above depending on my mood and how much time I have at the moment. The most important thing to remember is to never rinse raw soap batter down the sink. I guarantee it will clog your pipes. I also make sure to add vinegar to the rinse cycle of the washing machine when I'm washing cured soap off rags.

Itty bitty hijack here...Fullamoon - LOVE your "granite" soap. Way cool.

 

[Fullamoon]

Thank you!

 

[nattynoo]

Love the rag idea!!
I'm going to do this.

 

[delicious]

Yup, I like the rag idea too.

 

[cinta]

Ditto with the rag idea, I'll give that a go too

 

[lovelysuds]

That rag idea is a good one! I used to use cheap or old plastic table cloths. Now I just use newspaper. I pick up all things that need a scrubbing. Toss them is a basin, & crumble up my paper along with other garbage and I'm done!