# End of day cleanup tips



## nascenta (Mar 21, 2014)

I don't do taping on a daily basis so i need your insights. I feel like my cleanup routine is taking way too long, if I'll be doing the same thing the next day.
I use a rag and a dish brush to clean my mud tray and knives but that last little bit of mud in the corners take forever to get out. Does it really matter if there is a little left? Do any of you just leave the stuff in a bucket covered with water? If i will be using my mud pump the next day or the supertaper, i just leave it in the mud and cover it with plastic.what about the filler tubes, do you leave them full or empty and rinse? What about the boxes? Do you immerse them, or fill with mud and put in a bag? 
Please share what works for you so we can all get home faster and start work sooner the next day.


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## icerock drywall (Nov 13, 2010)

use the search in the upper right corner... you will find what you need


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

icerock drywall said:


> use the search in the upper right corner... you will find what you need


 I use a wet sanding sponge for the corners and a beach towel to dry.


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## icerock drywall (Nov 13, 2010)

boco said:


> I use a wet sanding sponge for the corners and a beach towel to dry.


I use a paint brush sometimes to clean my mud pan...it cleans the inside corners 

mud tube you can leave in water


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## ARI (Jan 27, 2013)

I use a dish sponge the kind with the scouring pad on one side works good.


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## drywallninja (Apr 28, 2013)

I use a long handled soft bristle cleaning brush from Auto Zone.
You can use the long handle without getting your hands wet and also choke down on it to apply more pressure if needed. It's great for cleaning out a pan. The pump, you can take and just put in a bucket of water. For my gooseneck I have a cork that fits the end perfectly and for my box filler I made a plug that fits it. If I know I'm gonna use a box 2 days or more in a row, I submerge it in a bucket of water overnight.


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## nascenta (Mar 21, 2014)

What a concept, to use a towel! I've never thought of that but that would finish off the clean very well. Thanks guys, these responses have been great. At the end of the job I'm thinking of stopping at the local auto coin wash to do the final clean before storing everything. Do any of you do that?


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## endo_alley (Nov 2, 2013)

a lot of the plaster guys I work with always have an old sponge float floating in the water bucket, that they use for tool cleaning. Cheap and work pretty good for some things. Towel dry and a shot of WD40 is good for blue steel tools when they won't be used for a while. I like to keep my stuff pretty clean during the day so it cleans up good at the end of the day. But I have worked with some pretty good finishers who would never consider washing their tools. Waste of time they say. A half pound of dry mud on the knife, trowel, and flatbox handles. A pound on the banjo. Makes a mold to fit their hand grip. Bag up the boxes and tube at the end of the day. I couldn't argue with their productivity during the day. But not for me.


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## nascenta (Mar 21, 2014)

So i went to the coin car wash place. My tools got clean and i got a shower! I was totally soaked. It was -10 C. outside so it was a good idea. My wife would have killed me if i cleaned them in the house. I found that the pressure was about perfect if i didn't pull the trigger after putting my money in, but i couldn't resist pulling trigger to make it faster. Lols. Mud pans and buckets were the worst. Poles and knives cleaned well, but you have to step on them or they fly to the next stall.


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## gazman (Apr 29, 2011)

2Buck showers with his bazooka.:yes:


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## RenoRob (Nov 6, 2012)

An old toothbrush works well to clean out boxes, angleheads, rollers etc.

A soft scrub brush and grout sponge are best for trowels, knives and buckets, IMO. The sponge is great for wiping wet mud off the rim.


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## eazyrizla (Jul 29, 2010)

something that I couldn't live without. metal pot scrubber. then I got three different kinds of brushes on the big handle. soft brush medium brush heavy brush. some kerry a little more water sum more abrasive. I find tools work much better when they're clean.


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

eazyrizla said:


> something that I couldn't live without. metal pot scrubber. then I got three different kinds of brushes on the big handle. soft brush medium brush heavy brush. some kerry a little more water sum more abrasive. I find tools work much better when they're clean.


 So a clean tool is a happy tool.


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## eazyrizla (Jul 29, 2010)

I don't know I've seen good tapers with crap all over their tools. and they seemed to work fine so what the f*** do I know


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