This may seem somewhat minor in the grand scheme of things, but quite frankly I'm tired of burning my fingers.
So I'm going to risk my reputation 
and bravely ask the <gasp> stupid question.
How, Oh how on EARTH do you get the icing out of the tips after you finish using them?????? I tried soaking them, I tried digging them out with my tip brush (THAT was a mess) and even tried toothpicks and rolled up paper towels. I've resorted to running very hot water through the tip backwards...problem is it cooks my fingers.
Okay...I asked it. Go ahead an pity me....I can take it. 
I AM after all a relative newbie at this.
Thanx!
Laura
After I soak them if there is still icing in the tips I use the tip brush and then run the brush under hot water to clean it. I am sure someone else has a better way! 
I put a pan of water on the stove and boil it. Once it boils, I turn it off, squirt a little dawn it in and as I finish with a tip, I toss it in the water. When I'm all done, I just stir the tips in the water a little, if the water has already cooled, I heat it back up, stir again and then just basically rinse them off and don't have to fool with that itty bitty brush and toasted finger tips anymore. Some others posted here earlier how they put theirs in the microwave, being sure to cover them in water. Sounds like that's pretty easy, and I'm gonna give that a try next cake. Hope this helps and remember, the ONLY stupid questions are the questions never asked! God Bless! - Ellie
I was just reading today to place them in the microwave.
Place all your tips in a microwaveable plastic container. fill with water and soap (i think), enough to cover all the tips. and turn on for about 3 minutes. I have never tried this myself, but will surely try it. seems to work.
here's the link to the post i'm refering to:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-26968-microwave.html
hth
Kat
Try the microwave method. Put your tips and couplers in a microwave safe bowl with a little dish detergent. Cover with water and micowave for several minutes.
Since they're so hot when they finish, I dump them in a mesh strainer and rinse with cool water.
I have a set of bamboo tongs (made for getting bagels and such out of the toaster). I hold the tip with the tongs and run them under hot tap water to get everything out, but then I also run them through the dishwasher. My dishwasher has a little compartment for small items like this.
I soak mine to get the majority of icing out. After that I use pipe cleaners to clean out everything else. You can bend over a pipe cleaner as much as you want to get it as thick as you want to clean bigger tips.
If you're using the microwave method and need a clean tip to use right away, don't skip yh9080's recommendation to rinse with cold water. They're dang hot when they come out of that microwave!
I thought you couldn't put metal pieces in the microwave or things will start to explode??? Or does the fact that you have the tips in water and soap make it okay?
I read somewhere that if you have enough food in the microwave you could actually leave a spoon in the dish. I've done it a couple of times with no problem. For the tips, be sure they're covered with water and they'll be okay.
Loriemoms, you must have a lot better dishwasher than I do. I tried the little mesh bag and with the little icing that was left after rinsing, I ended up with a bunch of tips glued inside the mesh bag 
.
I used to make a mess with icing and the tip brush too. Then one day I picked up my hand held sink nozzle and with the right amount of water pressure, instant clean tip! Then they go into the mesh bag and in the dishwasher. Just make sure the H20 pressure is not too hard or you get a face full!
Loriemoms, you must have a lot better dishwasher than I do. I tried the little mesh bag and with the little icing that was left after rinsing, I ended up with a bunch of tips glued inside the mesh bag
.
haha! What I do is hang the bag on the top shelf, so it sort of free swining...I have a center arm in the dishwasher that gives it a pretty good spraying! If you don't have a center arm, then maybe it won;t work...
THe only thing I can't put in the dishwasher is my kitchenaid paddle..it turns a funny color!
To get the last bits of icing out before cleaning, I like to twist/stuff a kleenex down into the tip. It is thin enough that it fits down into the tip to push out the last of the icing. Then I boil them on the stovetop with some Dawn. I avoid putting icing down the drain as grease is an enemy of free flowing drains!!
I put mine in hot soapy water to soak right after I use them then use the sprayer at the sink to finish getting them out.
First: Thanks for making my stupid question not so stupid! 
I feel better now.
Second: I never thought of boiling them!! What a great idea! I usually put my tips in my dishwasher. The cutlery basket has a little lid and they wash well there when all the icing is out.
Thank you! Thank You!! 
Laura
I have a pair of metal "hemostats" that hold needles during medical procedures (new ones of course, never used except at home) that I hold tips with and run scalding hot water through them without ever touching them. I then put in top rack of dishwasher in the basket. I stack them on the prongs of the rack and they stay inside the basket and are nice and clean when done!!! 
I posted this in another thread:
I use 2 cooling racks, Wilton I think, which are made of crisscrossed wire, making squares a bit bigger than 1/2inch. I set one rack across my sink and then, starting in the center of the rack, I insert tips into the holes, skipping every other hole like on a checkerboard, into the middle 1/3 of the rack. Then I lay the other rack on top and use a big bulldog clip on each end to hold the 2 racks together. I think it can hold about 60 tips at one time. More than that and the cover rack won't hold them all in. Using my sprayer attachment, I rinse the whole thing with water (especially inside the tips) as hot as I can get it and then I stick the clamped racks into the dishwasher. When the dishwasher is finished, I take the rack out and shake it hard to get most of the water off, and stand it in my dish drainer. They come out clean as a whistle and it sure beats using a little brush to clean all those tiny tip openings!
It's worth a try
Good Luck!
There's no such thing as a stupid question...
I actually put my tips in a bowl and use my sink sprayer. I put the bowl on an angle that the water will push the tips in a circular motion. Basically the tips will go around and around until they no longer have anything in them. I guess the easy way would just hold each tip under the sprayer, but when I have a lot to do I'm just too lazy. After I get all the icing out, I use a baby bottle nipple scrubber (only used for my tips) to really clean all the grease away. HTH
toothpick,
Q-tip
Boiling
Soaking
and, alas, at $1.50 or $2.50 I let them claim victory. I just buy new ones.
My time is worth more than an hour cleaning a $2.00 tip
I use a kid's watercolor paintbrush. I use the plastic handle end to get the icing out, and then I put a dab of soap on the brush and clean the inside of the tip. Works well for me and gets all the little nooks and crannies. (this is good for kid's sippy cups also.)
Some of y'all sure spend an awful lot of time and trouble cleaning tips.
I throw my tips and couplers in the cutlery basket in the dishwasher, full of icing. They always come out sparkling clean, and no wasted time boiling water, microwaving metal, or using that retarded tip brush.
I'm with cakepro, I just toss jmine in the dishwasher basket. Another tip - I rinse off my icing bags and throw them in the washing machine (yes, WASHING MACHINE) with a load of towels and they come back to me clean and icing free!
Some of y'all sure spend an awful lot of time and trouble cleaning tips.
I throw my tips and couplers in the cutlery basket in the dishwasher, full of icing. They always come out sparkling clean, and no wasted time boiling water, microwaving metal, or using that retarded tip brush.
Sometimes this works for me and sometimes it doesn't. Most of the time at least two tips get stuck together and then don't come out clean, which to me defeats the purpose of using the dishwasher LOL. I soak mine overnight and everything comes out easily the next morning.
I suck the majority of it out!
Usually that doesn't cut it, so I soak them in a bowl of hot soapy water. If all else fails, I run them through the dishwasher with the cutlery.
Some of y'all sure spend an awful lot of time and trouble cleaning tips.
I throw my tips and couplers in the cutlery basket in the dishwasher, full of icing. They always come out sparkling clean, and no wasted time boiling water, microwaving metal, or using that retarded tip brush.
I tried that once with the bowl I mixed the icing in (and it was scraped pretty clean) and all my dishes came out with a fine film of grease. 
Had to run the whole thing all over again. I've been afraid to put any trace of frosting in the dishwasher ever since.
Laura
That's so weird. Maybe you didn't use the hottest cycle or not a good brand of dishwasher detergent?
I put fully foody dishes in my dishwasher, including casserole dishes with baked stuff, and between my Maytag Jetclean and Cascade Complete, everything comes out super clean.
The only food my dishwasher doesn't wash off well is egg yolk, which makes sense because the hot water just further cooks it.
I love my Maytag.
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