Cleaning plaster buckets

[NickB_99]

Hello all,

I think this may be a little lazy but here goes....

I've always cleaned out my flexi plastering buckets as I go - ideally before the remnant plaster starts to go too hard. But it is time consuming.

Is it a viable alternative to buy a few spare flexi buckets and then not clean them immediately after use i.e. leave it to go off (say 24hrs) and bash/flex the bucket(s) next day?

Would be interested to hear if this is possibe/easier or a real no-no (based on the wealth of exp out there).
I'm sure it's been tried already!!

 

[^woody^]

If you wait till its gone hard, then you wont be able to wash all plaster down the sink

Do it straight afterwards, it takes what .... 1 minute? You wont get all the dried bits out if you leave it.

You'll regret it next time you are skimming a stairwell balancing on one board, trying to pick lumps out of the finish

 

[roughcaster]

Do it straight afterwards, it takes what .... 1 minute? You wont get all the dried bits out if you leave it.

I'd go along with Woody on that, plus you don't want to ruin your buckets by bashing them all the time.

Roughcaster.

 

[dextrous]

On the whole, it's best to leave your tools clean and ready for the next time you use them. It's the difference between an amateur and a professional.

 

[mattylad]

I'm certainly no pro, but I do mine in the time I have to wait before finishing off the plaster or always straight afterwards.

I have had the same bucket for several years & will probably have it for several more.

Take proper are of your equipment & it will last ages.
Same thinggoes with my fishing gear, I clean it all after each session, which is why some of it is over 20 years old.

 

[trowelmonkey1]

i'm a one man band and have only been plastering since last year so still getting my speed up so have to admit to leaving mine to dry then mixing up in a new bucket to save time while plastering as i don't often have much spare time between trowels etc.

normally get away with using 2-3 yellow flexi tubs for any one job though, will do say a ceiling, or 2 walls in one go from 1 bucket, then get onto the next in another bucket, will then clean out all buckets at the end of the day, if you take a few mins to do this you can get pretty much all the crap out as rubble into an old plaster bag, nice and clean, next morning the buckets need a quick brush, very rare i'm picking any bits out of my finish plaster.

having said all of this i have wondered as what is best but this suits me right now, maybe i'll change it as i get quicker.

would certainly have thme cleaned as i went if i had a labourer

 

[NickB_99]

Thanks for the points of view guys.

I will continue with the cleaning as I go along. Would like the kit to last.

Although impressed a bucket can last so long (mattylad). I'm finding after only a short time (months) of electric mixers in a bucket, some plastic shreds can come loose and have made their way onto a newly finished wall
So I retired it to Bonding use only!

 

[EddieM]

Same thinggoes with my fishing gear, I clean it all after each session, which is why some of it is over 20 years old.

Respect is due, most of mine ends up on the bottom of a lake in a month or so

This includes a fishing reel, yes I know, it pretty much defies any kind of explanation. Back to the OP though, yes, washing out straight away would be the best solution, I'd have thought.

 

[mattylad]

I'm considering retiring my brolley, I bought that when I was 17, I'm 44 now.
Its still fine, had a small hole that was sown up, no reason to retire it except I got a larger one on Freecycle.

Keep & Landing net are just as old, cleaning after a session really helps, I suppose not catching many fish does too

As for buckets, well I'm a tight git too, even though they only cost 99p I WILL get more than my moneys worth

I'm too tight to buy a flexi bucket, my plaster goes in a beer brewing bucket with really high sides instead.

 

[NickB_99]

my plaster goes in a beer brewing bucket

Gotta be for Brown-ing Ale that one

 

[neds]

I'm extremely meticulous when I'm cleaning buckets of plaster/tile adhesive etc... Mine are all spotless after each batch. Even if you leave it to go hard you will inevitably have bits still in there that will need cleaning out regardless.

 

[legs-akimbo]

Use only the tall plastering buckets specifically made to hold one bag of plaster, when mixed and emptied onto the spot throw in six inches of clean water and give a qick clean with a brush from a dustpan set.
Pour the residue into another tall bucket half filled,or old 5 gallon paint tub, fill the cleaned bucket with fresh water ready and waiting for your next gauge then get plastering, its a routine that takes less than a minute for every bag of plaster used and your buckets will last for years,
Give your mixer drill a twirl in the wate 5 gallon bucket after each use.
I can not fathom why people would use a flexi gorilla bucket over a purpose made tall plasterers mixing bucket!

 

[roughcaster]

I can not fathom why people would use a flexi gorilla bucket over a purpose made tall plasterers mixing bucket!

Nor can I. Plasterering buckets are far more robust, and easier to handle.

Roughcaster.

 

[NickB_99]

Use only the tall plastering buckets specifically made to hold one bag of plaster

Had no idea that these existed (had thought these were the flexi gorilla tubs)

Do you mean something like this?
http://www.gorillahardware.co.uk/acatalog/Heavy_Duty_Mixing_Bucket.html

and give a quick clean with a brush from a dustpan set.

Hadn't thought of that. Had been persevering with using scourer pads on the flexi bucket after had finished laying on plaster!

Give your mixer drill a twirl in the wate 5 gallon bucket after each use.

Had been doing this, so I'm doing one thing right at least!

 

[legs-akimbo]

Those are the type of buckets you need, and also try and pick up a cheap square edged bucket trowell, an ordinary gaugeing trowell is next to useless.
The bucket trowell will get virtually everything from the bucket so if you throw in a few inches of water to clean it out and empty the big bucket as you swill the dirty water around the bottom at the same time, all the muck will come out, one other tip is to scratch a mark on the inside of the bucket when you have determined what level of water is required to have your mix exactly as you like it, then simply fill with clean water to this mark and you know every mix will bebang on the same without having to keep adding a little more powder or a little more water till its right.