Teach Soap

So after making my second batch of soap, I am finding that cleaning up everything is quite time consuming. Was wondering what your trick was ? All my pyrex are so oil slicked.. cant seem to get them clean. Very paranoid about rinsing anything down the drain, will it damage my pipes ?

Any tricks or short cuts you can share ?

Thanks !

Sue B.

Some people wait til the next day and use the saponified soap in the pot and utensils to wash off. I usually need mine the same day so I wash everything with cheap, dollar store liquid soap. I don't want raw soap or oil as is to go down the drain.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I wipe out as much oil as I can with paper towel. Then I add 5 drops of lemon essential oil and then some vinegar and scrub my dishes with that (this will help cut grease) then I add some dish soap and hot water and wash. It seems to work well for me.

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<3 SoapyJoes

I was in the exact same position after my first couple batches of soap -- "There must be a better way!" I've found that wiping everything out with paper as mentioned above (paper towels, or I saw someone suggest newspaper) really does save a lot of time (and dish soap)! That oil really is hard to work off, let alone the raw soap. I do find myself having to stop and wash my gloves off with soap while I'm cleaning, still, but it goes much more smoothly after wiping off as much of the oil and soap as possible beforehand

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CP newbie who's turning into a soaping addict!

I found a great tip in one of Anne Watson's books! She recommends putting a small amount of dish soap (I use Dawn to cut the grease better) in each of your pots/cups/spoons, etc. before getting any water on them. Then use your gloved hands to work the dish soap into all of the oil & soap left on the utensils, around the rim of the pot, on your stick blender, etc. - all this is done before using any water!

Then you rinse everything in very hot water. Everything is ready for either the dishwasher or a quick hand washing. I can almost always be completely cleaned up in less than 10 minutes with this method.

I use a silicone spatula to scrape my soap into my mold so I don't need to wipe the pot with a paper towel. There's hardly anything left in the pot.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Jumpin' in late here but being the clean freak that I am ...

The paper towel method works really well but especially if, as Linda mentioned, you use a silicone spatula to scrape out your pot(s). Much less waste this way (and if even the teeniest bit of soap is left I dollop it into a silicon mold for "tester sized" samples later or make little cupcakes/whatever).

But here's the other thing you can do because I know using all those paper towels seems wasteful:

Before I begin, I protect much of my work surface with a layer or two of paper towels (Bounty are best!). Then when I'm cleaning up I just use THOSE same paper towels from my counter space to wipe the excess oils off my utensils and pots (unless there's a lot of lye solution on it then I don't). My counters are easier to clean up this way also.

I also now do what soapbuddy suggested and use only hot tap water to rinse my containers that I use to work with the lye and water (plastic jug and glass dish/spoon/etc).

I also put things away AS I soap. So once an oil or fat is done with, back in the cabinet it goes right away.

It still takes me some time to clean up after but I try to do it the same way every time and it's getting faster and faster!

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

I agree - its much faster than when I first started. And I do my clean up right away. I used to leave it on top of the fridge and clean a day later. But then there were times when it got to sit up there for more than one day!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Thanks everyone for your tips and help... I am finding the more soap I make, the more organized I get, and the quicker clean up is. It was a bit overwhelming at first., but getting better !

Lemon juice is helpful with the grease, I let is soak a while and the grease does seem to come off easier.

Happy soaping !

Sue B.