Cleaning

[Buckscent]

Any good tips on cleaning your bowls, utensils and stuff after a soap? Seems I wash and wash and wash under hot water.... Got to be something easier

 

[Kamahido]

Leave it on the counter overnight. The next morning it will be soap. Much easier to clean after a soak.

 

[reflection]

after you let everything harden overnight, i do that usually with my bowls & utensils for bodycare products, wipe everything thoroughly with paper towels. makes cleanup so much easier. i also use a scrubby that i dedicate just for all my products i make so if it doesn't ever completely get oil-free it is ok.

 

[IrishLass]

I confess that I hardly have any soap residue/batter left in my bowls or on my utensils because I'm rather obsessive about scraping every last drop of batter into an "over-flow" plastic mold that I keep handy when soaping. When I'm done beveling my finished soap the next day, I add the hardened scrapings to the bevel scraps and squish them all up together into a cohesive ball while they are still soft, and then press them into guest-sized decorative soap molds to make usable soaps that are pretty.


IrishLass

 

[Arimara]

I finally cleaned my utensils off today after making a CP castile. Hardly any bubbles formed but I was relieved I had no oil left over. I normally wait a day or two to wash everything but when I make HP or LS soap, I clean everything after I'm done.

 

[Susie]

I soap in my kitchen, so everything has to be cleaned that day. I just scrape my CP dishes well, wipe out what little is left with a paper towel, then wash like normal dishes in commercial dish detergent (my LS does not quite get soaping dishes clean).

When I make LS, however, I use the residue as its own soap. I never have a problem.

 

[cmzaha]

I do the same as Susie, but I will usually throw in some de-greaser along with the commercial dish detergent. I cannot stand to let any type of dishes sit overnight. I am not very obsessive about many things, but dirty dishes and un-made beds drive me nuts

 

[gdawgs]

Here's a curious question I have. I always leave my "dishes" out overnight and wash in the sink the next day with dish soap. I sometimes smell ammonia when doing this. Is that unreacted lye left over in the soap reacting with the dish soap?

 

[dillsandwitch]

I wipe out everything with washable microfiber cloths (got a bunch cheap at the hardware store) and then I chuck them in a bucket to finish their soapyness and then they go in the washing machine when I do towel laundry. All the soap dishes go right into the dishwasher and I use the normal cycle that I use for food dishes and everything comes out nice and clean. So much easier and faster that way too

 

[navigator9]

Like Irish Lass, I'm a compulsive scraper. I paid way too much for those ingredients to wash any of them down the drain. I scrape everything as well as possible with the spatula, and with the little that's left, I use a paper towel to get as much of that off, then leave over night to wash in hot, soapy water the next day.

 

[shunt2011]

I do the same as Susie. I too soap in my kitchen so everything has to be cleaned up at the end. I'm a scraper too and get as much out/off of everything before washing. Hot soapy water and dawn work a charm.

 

[IrishLass]

I'm so glad to see there's more of us obsessive/compulsive scrapers out there! Yay! Like Navigator9 said- I paid too much for those ingredients to see any of them washed down the drain....well, at least not in that needless manner anyway.

I forgot to mention that I soap in my kitchen, so when done scraping, I immediately start washing everything up with my homemade concoction of Dawn Ultra and vinegar along with hot water, which cuts through the oily residue left behind like buttah as they say. When I'm done, one would never suspect I had made soap if it weren't for the lingering scent of FO. lol

Here's a curious question I have. I always leave my "dishes" out overnight and wash in the sink the next day with dish soap. I sometimes smell ammonia when doing this. Is that unreacted lye left over in the soap reacting with the dish soap?

I've smelled that smell, too. I'm not sure as to the exact cause, but I always figured it was probably due to a chemical reaction between any left-over lye and my Dawn/vinegar concoction. Hopefully someone more 'in the know' will chime in on that.


IrishLass

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Hi, my name is Mona.

I have Compulsive Obsessive Scraperism.

I have lived with it since february 2015, when I was exposed to raw soapbatter for the first time. It was an instant reaction to the ingredients, and I felt I could not help myself not leaving batter behind in the container.

I struggle with this everytime I am exposed to raw soap batter, or cake batter.

I never new my disorder had a name, or that others shared my ailment.

My name is Mona. I have C.O.S...

>.<

 

[penelopejane]

Like some others I scrape my containers out really well and wash them in liquid detergent that day. Then I put them in the dishwasher to get them sparkling clean.

 

[Susie]

My house is an older one with no dishwasher, and no room for one...yet. I am working on it, though. So, for now, I am the dishwasher, and everything needs to be clean before bed time.

 

[Dr.J]

Here's a curious question I have. I always leave my "dishes" out overnight and wash in the sink the next day with dish soap. I sometimes smell ammonia when doing this. Is that unreacted lye left over in the soap reacting with the dish soap?

I suspect you're right. If your liquid dish soap contains an ammonium-based detergent (e.g. ammonium lauryl sulfate), the stronger base NaOH left over in your pot will react with it (Na+ replacing the NH4+ in the detergent), which will liberate ammonia and water.

 

[lenarenee]

I prefer to wash fresh soap dishes, but it seems to take a lot more water and since I'm in drought ridden California, I wait a day or two and soak them in hot water, scrape the softened soap out then wash. There's always a layer of oil that never gets washed off and I wonder if that adds to the possibility of dos. (Can't use Dawn - that stuff is evil on my skin)

I'd dearly love to pitch the used bowls, buy brand new fresh ones - but the environment would hate me, so would my bank account.:evil:

 

[nsmar4211]

I'm an Hp'er, but i still do an overnight soak (after scraping every scrap I can into the rebatch container). I will use Dawn if I have to, but only after a soak.

Ivory works pretty well too and is easier on the hands!

 

[Susie]

Use gloves. My hands hate all liquid syndets, and even my own liquid soap. My skin is just too dry, and reacts too strongly to everything. I use the Playtex gloves that have been around for years to wash dishes. They are re-usable, and last over a year per pair for me. I only use the disposable Nitrile gloves to soap in. I double glove so I can strip the outer layer off when I need to handle something that needs to stay clean.

 

[lenarenee]

Use gloves. My hands hate all liquid syndets, and even my own liquid soap. My skin is just too dry, and reacts too strongly to everything. I use the Playtex gloves that have been around for years to wash dishes. They are re-usable, and last over a year per pair for me. I only use the disposable Nitrile gloves to soap in. I double glove so I can strip the outer layer off when I need to handle something that needs to stay clean.

I used to use the Playtex gloves but found I still broke out to some degree so either I was also allergic to them, or that I'm so sensitive to Dawn that even vapors of it affect me.

But you mentioned how you double glove nitriles, so I wonder about wearing nitriles inside of Playtex? I'm very leery of experimenting because my hands get so messed up, but I'd love to be able to use something like Dawn because it works so well and I could use a lot less precious water.