# keeping soap room clean



## Dorit (Apr 20, 2011)

Any tips on how you keep your soap room clean? I have a lot of room, 600sq ft. I got a sink installed, have a dehumidifier and a fridge. Also I have 2 counters 10' and 8'. But its always a mess. The floor is concrete and sweats and is slippery. I find that I soap up to my last free minute and clean up the next day, use old clothes and rags for wipes and throw them out, I save shavings in boxes, I have tons of soap that didn't, sell that I plan to rebatch but that has not been very successful for me. The mess doesn't deter me form going into my room bc I love it so much, but would like to be cleaner, any suggestions would be most appreciated. I even have another room where I store soap and package and print labels. I know there has got to be a better way. I talking practical suggestions, kind of like the kitchen triangle theory (stove here, sink here, fridg here, etc). Many thanks, Dorit


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

For me, having lots of shelving/storage helps keep things in order and makes it easier to put things away. I have 2 - 8'x4' work benches that dh built for me and underneath is just one big open shelf. This is where I store all my molds, soap pots, stick blenders, boxes for soap trimmings, and cutters.

Then I have a counter against the wall that's another 8' and has a sink. Behind the backsplash there is a 2x4 that's serves as a sort of shelf and then I just had him put another above that. Under that counter I store all my pitchers for lye, measuring cups & pitchers for dividing soap into, a basket for towels, paper towels, my food processor for laundry soap, and some misc. stuff. The little shelf behind the counter holds small stuff like light bulbs, a few coffee cups, cleaning stuff that I use often, etc.

Next to that counter he built a shelf to hold 2 microwaves with another shelf above. This is where I keep all my little misc. stuff.

Then I have regular wire shelving for all my supplies/ingredients. The oils are on pallets on the floor against another wall though dh is getting ready to build some shelving for them now that I know what I want. LOL

As soon as I'm done with a batch, that soap pot & anything else used gets washed out and turned upside down to dry. At the end of the day they are all ready to put away and I wash the counters off. Everything else gets put away as soon as I'm done using it....I can't work around unnecessary clutter. LOL I admit that I rarely sweep the floor but honestly it doesn't need it. I guess I'm a neat soaper. LOL My floor is concrete but it doesn't sweat and I have those foam mats in the areas I spend a lot of time standing.

I can't leave the room a mess.....it would be awful to come in the next day or so and have to clean up before I could start working.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Is your dehumidifier big enough? Your floor should not be sweating. (Concrete floor here, too...my soap workshop is a converted 2 car garage.) 

I also usually wait until the next day to actually wash my soaping stuff. I rinse out anything with lye and wipe out the excess soap with towels (that can go into the laundry later) but I wait until the next day when everything is saponified and I can wash it without worrying about raw soap. I still have one that I am doing school with at home, so that affects my soaping schedule. I usually make soap in the afternoon or evening and clean up the stuff in morning...by the time I go out there to soap again, it is all ready to go (as I air dry everything). I have enough stuff now that I can do 5 batches at a time in my regular molds, more if I am using other molds, too. 

I have wire shelving (metro shelving, like they use in commercial kitchens) for supplies, and my SS counters all have shelf space underneath. I actually plan to get more shelves and I just ordered a bun pan rack and sheet pans to use for curing soap (pans are aluminum but will be lined) because I am at capacity right now for curing soap and need to be able to cure more at a time.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

You have to fix the moisture in the room to cure your soap. I keep everything up in shelves and cabinets, totes, wire baskets, etc. My biggest messes are holidays, there are 100's of cupcakes and cake slices all over my tables and counters, that will be gone by next week (so much so that having classes the week or so before holidays is not happening anymore). After cutting, is my biggest mess, I wipe down my counter and floor, otherwise I get soap ground into my flooring from stepping on it.

I am a 'clean as you go' person, wiping down between batches. As I unmold, empty molds are immediately lined and put away, soap bucket is washed out between pours, everything in it's place and put away when I am done for the night.


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## Dorit (Apr 20, 2011)

Great info, what do you all use to cut the grease from tools and buckets after making soap? Or doyou just wipe it out? Can you throw all the wipe up towels in the washer without it getting grease logged?


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## Faye Farms (Sep 14, 2009)

Let the rags you use to wipe out buckets saponify before throwing in the wash. Saponified soap on rags doesn't clog anything up.


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

I scrape my soap bucket pretty clean when I'm pouring so there isn't much left to clean out really. I just hit it with the faucet sprayer with super hot water and that's all it takes. If something feels oily I just squirt some Dawn type dish soap on it and it cleans right up.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Dorit, if it's soap rags, what Heather said works fine. If you are talking about actual oils (like if you put your coconut into a bowl in the microwave to melt it or something like that) I wipe those out with paper towels. Also, my sinks in my soap room (I have a commercial stainless steel three bay sink) have a grease trap which can be cleaned out.


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## Dorit (Apr 20, 2011)

Ok, good info, thanks. About the water that drains out of the sink. I didn't want it to go into the septic system so it runs out into my yard. The woods are on the other side of the pond and I don't want it going into my pond. Problem is its killing my grass and looks gross. I thought of digging a hole and having it go into a bucket with holes, but was told it would get under slab. Sound fishy to me. What do you think about best way to dispose of yukky water?


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I don't put any unsaponified soap in my septic. I use a spatula for my pots when pouring soap, but then leave the bucket for the next day when I take a scraper and scrape out the soap which goes into my shavings buckets for laundry soap. I rinse out the little bit left with hot water before making soap again. I also reline the molds and ready them for the next batches. I'm still in my kitchen so have to straighten as I go. Any pots or containers used for colors also sit until saponified and then get scraped for laundry soap.


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