Pan rack cover

[jennyannlowe]

I got a pan rack on wheels and plastic trays to use to cure my soaps on. Since I have tile floor, it will be ideal.

Anyway... I don't soap around my pets but since I have 5 of them....pet hair goes everywhere anyway. I was thinking of a way to protect the rack.

I know wooden racks have screens...I was trying to think of a way to not spend any more money unless I must. I've seen clear plastic pan rack covers but obviously that would not be good in terms of drying it. So no plastic. And if I don't want to buy anything.....I was thinking I could ....use cheesecloth and cover 3 sides...before I put The trays in it...I can picture it, hard to explain. Take cheese cloth and wrap 1 side at a time. Leave one side open and maybe make some sort of cheese cloth hanging drape for the front. Or some scrap lace curtains....

I'm gonna take my soap hat off and put my MacGyver one on and see what I can come up with.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

By the way I really value everyone's advice here. Thank you!

Forgot to attach pic

 

[earlene]

Cheese cloth or fabric netting both sound like an easy plan. Even an old thin sheet, if all you want to do is keep the pet hairs out. You can make curtains for your drying rack. Like some cupboards have curtains instead of doors.

 

[Susie]

Is there no room that the pets do not venture into? My biggest concern is one of them eating the soap. If not, I would use organza or tulle to cover the sides and back. Just sew it around the top and bottom bars, and sew it to the next panel on the sides. Don't forget the top and bottom, either. Then put velcro on the front sides of the rack and use another section of fabric with velcro on it to secure it. Pet hair is insidious and ubiquitous, so I would err on the side of caution.

I think a sheet would limit the air flow too much. I am even concerned about organza and tulle limiting it too much. I might would try blowing a fan on that rack to increase air flow.

 

[jennyannlowe]

I've never had any problem with my pets eating soap. Do you know of people who've had their pets eat bars of soap? ...actually I bet rambunctious puppies might get into mischief and might chew on them.... But my pets are all 8 years or over. And well behaved.

They only go into one room of the house but pet hair ends up all over anyway.

Good idea on the velcro! I'll try it, and the fan as well.

I don't have organza but I do have tulle. What about cheese cloth? Is there a reason I shouldn't use it? I was thinking it's thin. Would tulle be better?

Thanks!

 

[gdawgs]

You could also try screen material(for fixing damaged screen doors, windows). It comes in rolls and you can pick it up pretty cheap at a hardware store. It should keep the hair out and give you good ventilation. For long term storage, the cloths may be better, since they'd keep dust out too. Screen might not help there.

The fiberglass stuff is easy to work with. Something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CSIC1E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[earlene]

Jenny, tulle is what I was thinking of when I said netting material (I don't always remember the common names for things in the moment.) I think either that or cheeze cloth could certainly serve the same purpose. Cheese cloth is heavier, I think, so would probably drape a bit better, blow around less if you put a fan facing toward the rack. Whichever you use, you can always weight the bottom just like curtains are weighted at the bottom (heavy drapes are often weighted anyway). Something as simple as a heavy binder clip might be enough to weight it down unless you have the fan going full blast.

 

[Seawolfe]

Mosquito netting / Tulle and big binder clips should get you there. And if you dont want to drape it over the whole thing, you can just put a piece over each tray + binder clips.

 

[Susie]

Screen, cloth, anything to keep hair out will work. I was hesitant to say screening because most people think of metal screening, and I would not want that touching the soap. But they make fiberglass (as mentioned above), and even cloth screening. Velcro should work fine to hold pieces in place.

Cheesecloth is in small pieces anywhere I can find it. It would not cover the whole side. That is why I did not mention it. I would also worry about the size of the openings.

 

[dixiedragon]

We've only had 1 dog eat soap. He made it through about half the bar before he gave up. And it was a floral scent, not even a food or bacon scent, so he really had no excuse.

Sometimes the cats will lick the bar on the edge of the bathtub.

My suggestion would be to get old sheets from a thrift store or an estate sale.

 

[jennyannlowe]

I used cheesecloth. It worked out great. I took it and unfolded it to make it as thin and sheer as possible. And I used hot glue. For three sides I hot glued it to the bottom. One whole piece fit one whole side perfectly. I covered 3 sides this way and I also covered the top and bottom. For the front..instead of hot glue, I used Velcro dots on each side. I sort of rolled the excess And put a drop of hot glue to keep it rolled and put 3 Velcro dots on each side. The cheese cloth is stretched right all the way around. No pieces blowing in the fan. I could spin it and it stays tight. That worked out nicely thanks y'all for ideas.

 

[Cindy2428]

Well done - very cost effective and space saving.

 

[dibbles]

It looks great, but a little naked. I think you need to make some soap :wink:

 

[Steve85569]

My thoughts went to deer netting. That's just because we use lots of it around here.

Looking good!

 

[earlene]

Excellent! Good design. Can't wait to see it full of curing soaps!

 

[jennyannlowe]

I want to make soap! I haven't made any in a month! And I'm having soap withdraw!

It's cause I went On a soap making binge a few months ago and I had a bunch that were ready and people who wanted to buy from me. But until I settled on a company name I couldn't do much. So I figured out a name, and I've been busy creating a logo, labels, getting the right punch size, which label fits which size soap, creating business cards, create etsy shop, make light box, photograph soap, upload to site, cutting smell samples and testers for a portable kit, putting together little menu book, shrink wrapping, researching pricing, weighing everything, ordering and designing a soap stamp....

I swore I wouldn't create anything else until I had it all ready for sale and on my site. I wouldn't want to give my business card to some one with a sale and have them go to my shop online and not find anything.

So I'm nearly done! Course I have to modify my soap schedule from now on: Make a batch. Label and wrap a batch. Promote business, markets, network...etc.

I've spent a long time planning. So I am ready, but creating more soap is on hold until I launch everything. Bummer. Wrapping and labeling is not as much fun as creating. I want to make soap with my brand new tiny texas molds!