Tips for cleaning spackle buckets

[Needaclone]

I've been picking up 3 and 5 gallon spackle / drywall mud / joint compound buckets with the thought of making SIPs.

In the past I've just used water and elbow grease to clean the buckets out. It sounds simple enough, but it's a little more time consuming than I'd like. And it does use an awful lot of water.

Does anyone have any cleaning tips or techniques they use to make the job go easier.

Knowing the spackle contains limestone and various polymers, I had the idea of using vinegar. (Yes, this was immediately after my son made a vinegar and baking soda volcano in the kitchen!!!!) Indeed, it did have an effect. It seemed to help loosen up the dried spackle and start to turn it into more of a cheese curd consistency rather than simply softening it and turning it back to wet spackle. The curds seemed to be a bit easier to scrape off the bucket than wet spackle is.

I just used about a cup of vinegar in each of two buckets to test out the concept. It was great for cleaning the bottom, where the vinegar sat. I had to swish it up the sides, so it was less effective there.

I'm wondering how to scale this up to make it easier to clean the bucket sides and to clean lots of buckets. I'm thinking of maybe filling each bucket part way with a diluted (but still pretty strong) vinegar solution and then nesting them --- so the weight of one will force the vinegar solution up the sides of the bucket underneath it.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this trick?? Does anyone have any other ideas?
Jim

[AscPete]

I just leave them to dry out, the compound releases easily from the sides of the buckets when its dry, either by tapping the bucket or using a putty knife parallel to the sides of the bucket.

I have also used a putty knife to scrape the inside walls and bottom of the bucket to remove most of the plaster when its wet, its mostly gypsum and any "volatiles" evaporate.
https://www.usg.com/content/dam/USG_...61-320-001.pdf
Good luck.

[Dave]

just in case anyone in the New York area is looking for 5 gallon buckets this guy got them and he never runs out $1 a piece a friend of mine bought some I think they were used for soap http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/mat/5804020036.html

[Needaclone]

Nice...but I wonder what you would use to clean out the soap? (ba-dum-ching!)

[Dave]

water because there is already soap in the bucket

[WillsC]

You have two options.......fill with water and let them sit and the compound will in a couple weeks release or as Pete said let them bake in the sun then whack them hard on the ground and most will fall out.

[Needaclone]

Pete -- yes, letting them dry and banging them around is the approach I've taken in the past, but the dry joint compound isn't flaking off as easily as I'd like.
(Note -- It probably doesn't help that I'm trying this after 2 days of rain...so maybe it isn't as dry as I'd really need it to be, even though the buckets have been drying out for weeks/months.)
Jim

[AscPete]

Yes, its easier when they're "bone" dry.

If the compound is still fresh scraping with a 3" putty knife then wiping out with a coarse wet terry cloth or heavy nap rag will get the buckets clean. The wet rag is "rinsed" out occasionally in another bucket filled with warm water, the lumps will fall to the bottom and the "clean" rag will remove all the compound residue.

I'm now buying used food grade 5 gallon buckets and lids for $2.00, they're pickle buckets from a local Deli.

[Needaclone]

I do think the weather played a role here. I should have done this a week or two ago after we had a fairly dry summer. After two days of fairly heavy rain, things gummed up a bit.

[Kelby]

What about a pressure washer?

[Figfanatic57]

I know it's different in parts of the country. But I get for free 7 gal chlorine buckets. Or you can check some restaurants for empty buckets.

[Needaclone]

I've gotten a few chlorine buckets, and they rinse out just fine. If they held granulated/powdered chlorine, then you just have a very small amount of powder residue left in the bucket. Spray it out with water and it just dissolves.

[Needaclone]

I think the same would apply for the bleach. You're just spraying off whatever trace amounts of bleach remained in the drum.

[WillsC]

Bleach degrades fast if left exposed to the air. So I would think those buckets would be perfect. If it worried you fill them with water and when the water turns green you know all the bleach is gone.