Do You Have An Idea Or Shortcut For Cleaning Up The Mess?
Decorating By DeniseMarlaine Updated 8 Jun 2006 , 11:34pm by knoxcop1
I just read a great idea for cleaning tips (check SugarFrosted's post in the favorite decorating tools thread in this forum). It got me thinking that you all might have useful ideas for making this chore a bit easier. Here's mine: I use a baby bottle nipple brush to clean my tips because I was always losing my little Wilton brush in the suds. I know, that's pretty lame. 
But I bet some of you have some really big ideas that will help us all.
So who else has an idea? I need all the help I can get.
To keep my area clean I take a my small cookie sheet (about 8x10) line with with parchment paper and keep all my bags/tips lined up on this. When I am done my pan and countertops are clean and I just throw away the dirty parchment paper. If i have disposable or parchment bags i just cut out my couplers over the pan then everything goes at once.
For my tips I microwave them-yes weird-but i read the tip on here and i love it. I probably only have to really clean 1-2 tips out of every batch b/c they are small ones.
Leily
I use a large tray also to try to confine the mess. I also use disposable bags--I HATE cleaning up buttercream.HATE IT...and of course the tip brush is a staple to help clean the tips. As I use the tips, I drop them into a cup filled with degreaser.
I just clean as I go. No big mess at the end.
Deb
I tape sheets of freezer paper to the top of my work area. after i level and divide the cake i use a bench scraper to push the crumbs in a pile to one side and then begin the decorating process. when finished, i wad up the paper and toss it all in the trash.
for tips, i too put then in a glass and microwave them. when they come out they are grease free and clean.
These are all great ideas. I'm in the middle of cleaning up from a decoratng frenzy right now and checking for tips as I go. I wish I had asked this question sooner. I've got bags and tips scattered all over the kitchen, BC on the counters and floor, crumbs EVERYWHERE. And as I sit here typing, my fingers keep slipping off the keys because they're so well oiled with BC residue!
I could definitely benefit from the tray/paper idea. Also, microwaving tips is a new one for me. Do you cover them with water or something?
Yeah, what's the microwaving tip, I'd like to know to 
I never put my tips in the sink, I throw all of them in a bowl with hot soapy water and let them sit on the counter while I do what dishes need done. I don't have a dishwasher and I'm always afraid of losing some of my tips down the garbage disposal when I drain the water from the sink 
because I know I would miss something in the sudsy water 
!
And as I sit here typing, my fingers keep slipping off the keys because they're so well oiled with BC residue!
LOL! I can totally relate!
My $.02 that I'll add --when I'm all done, I put some dishwashing detergent in my food processor or mixer along with some hot water, and run it. It makes washing the bowl and attachemnts so much easier!
Keep the ideas coming
When i microwave tips i put them into a plastic microwavable bowl (i have done glass but it gets to hot for me-if you do use glass make sure you have hotpads ready to go) Put all my tips/couplers/flower nails, put a couple drops of dish soap in then cover the items with water-i do at least 1/2" over the items. You need to make sure all that metal is covered so you don't get sparks
I usually start out with about 3 mins to get all the big stuff off and out. Then rinse in hot water put back in container with more soap/water and go for anywhere from 5-10 mins depending on how many tips i have in there.
Once they are clean I turn them over onto a stainless steel mesh that I got. It has 3/16" holes every 1/2" so it gets the air circulating around them and they don't have water sitting on/in them.
In reality all you're doing is boiling your tips so i am sure you could do this on top of the stove also, although iw ould worry about the dish soap with my luck i would boil over and burn the soap on my stove 
I was very leary when i first heard of this method but it is the only way i clean my tips now.
HTH
Leily
Thanks Leily for the detailed instructions. Now if I could just find a good way to get those darn decorating bags squeaky clean. I suppose boiling would melt them.
BTW, boiling soapy water in a gunky pan is a great way to unstick the gunk.
OK, I just removed my freshly cleaned tips from the m-wave and I'll never hand wash a tip again. And guess what. The water ran over onto the turntable and loosened up the tomato sauce DH left there last night when he reheated some lasagna! Great idea! (And Doug, your mother must have had great faith in you. I would never have turned my boys loose in the kitchen with my beloved cake stuff )
And Doug, your mother must have had great faith in you. I would never have turned my boys loose in the kitchen with my beloved cake stuff
well, look where I ended up! 
having grown up on a farm and having had to raise her sister and 4 bratty brothers (yep, she did think of them as brats and the FEARED her even as adults!!! -- one look was all it took to shut them up)...and having lived through the depression as a teenager her's and dad's philosphy was very simple:
learn independance and that means: cooking in all forms, sewing, ironing from her and carpentry, basic home building "d-i-y" skills from him
and if you broke it, you had to fix it or pay up to replace it!
the only complaint she ever had about my cooking was: must you use EVERY pan!?!?! (the deal was I cook, she washed!)
I still have that same faith in the ability of children to learn and do it right. It takes patient teaching done is small repeated doses, but it can be done. It's quality time (and sometimes count to ten time too). too often we immediately take the "it's just easier if I do it myself and keep the kids away" -- well learning is hands on and often messy!!! but that is how they learn. Many years of working w/ kids of all ages continually restores my faith in them and keeps me at least young of heart and mind (now where's the cure for body!?!??!?! --- chocolate?!?!?!?) So bring on the kids and lets cook!
Wow, I never thought of the microwave method! I can't wait! What I do is put all of my tips, couplers, nails etc. in a plastic bowl with tight cover. Fill with hot soapy water, seal and shake. Rinse them and they are clean. It's like a mini dishwasher for them! BUT...the microwave idea has LITERALLY blown that ideal out of the water!!
I tried something new with my decorator bags. I adapted SugarFrosted's tip cleaning idea by turning the bags inside out and flattening them between two cake racks. I used twist ties to fasten the racks together and placed the whole thing in the dishwasher--standing up like a plate. They came out squeaky clean!
Also, what is a bench scraper and where can I get one?
i have a dishwasher but never use it, i didnt think that all the grease would come off. my hubby usually washes everything but he's getting tired of it. i like the microwave idea because i'm practicing alot and use many tips. thats the only thing hubby wont wash, he leaves them in a cup of water for me. when putting in the micrwave do you remove any frosting from the tip or just as is?
sorry i dont have any tips. i did a cake late last night and didnt wash anything at the end and told my hubby that it looks like a frosting storm passed through the kitchen.
One thing I always do is use paper towels to remove as much BC as I can from everything before washing. We have a septic system and I worry about letting all that grease go down the drain.
OMG... thank you for the tip about tips. That was the part I dreaded. I tried it tonight and also boiled my water over in the wave. But who cares! I'm thrilled I don't have to stand there with that little tip brush anymore.
Now I don't care how many tips I go through while experimenting.
Note to self: Use bigger container.
By the way, if you microwave your tips to clean them, have a cloth ready to also wipe down the inside of your microwave. All that steam really helps to loosen and clean your microwave too!
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