Thorough Cleaning Frequency

savant

How often does Everybody gut & thoroughly clean their tools?
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After every job? every 2 weeks? 6months? Never?

savant

I disassemble and clean my mechanical and automatic taping tools after each job. I use a homemade ramrod like for an old-fashioned cannon, and boiling hot water for my tubular tools to remove blowby. most other things get washed out on-site with a stiff brush and a garden hose. We always do wierd wall effects like barrel vaults, coves, soffits, coffers, trays, or arches so each drywall job takes a lot longer than straightforward work. Drywall is approx 10-25% of each job, so the tools live in a box most of their life.

taper71

I do the same as you savant. I am pretty anal about keeping my tools clean. It also helps to inspect them for any damaged or worn parts that need attention at the same time.

mclem

It's great to hear that all of you care about maintaining your tools. So many repairs can be prevented by washing and inspecting your tools daily. Be sure you stay away from lubrications that have sovlents in them to ensure a long life for your seals and wipers.

cooper

I wash them with a hose at my house or at the job if they have water after every use. Sometimes I let small things like nail spotters and topping pumps sit in water since that kind of mud doesn't stick too the tools like taping does...

mclem

Be sure to coat your tools with a non-solvent oil after and before each use...it will extend the overall life of your wipers and makes cleanup alot easier. Stay away from heavy solvent sprays like WD-40.

Mudstar

Well you guys are all cleaning your tools I'm finishing the next job and for every 4th or 5th time you guys are cleaning them tools I'm on the 6th or 7th job. I don't clean tools till I have nothing better to do and thats not that often.

taper71

Wow you work 24 hrs a day . Good for you.

cooper

Not trying to incite an argument, but while sometimes thorough daily cleaning can become excessive--I find I am more efficient and turn out higher quality jobs when I am able to keep my tools clean between each usage. The most tools I would have to clean in a day would be the bazooka, bazooka pump, nail spotter, box pump, roller, and glazer. All that only takes about 30 minutes and that is mainly due to the bazooka and pump--taping mud sure dries well after a day of use. But most days of 'thorough cleaning' only take about 10 minutes or less....

So I don't know if this onto job 6 or 7 while I am on 4 or 5... An average of 15 minutes a day multiplied by a common 24 day work month would mean 6 hours a month. I don't think I have ever taped a house from start to finish in less that 20...


EDIT: It's funny that I replied with such a lengthy and in depth reply as if this post really needed to be picked apart... Oh well.

Brockster

Savant, you say you disassemble and clean mechanical and automatic taping tools. You don't actually take your badzooka apart to clean it, or do you?

When I rented, boxes got brushed and put in a bucket with a lid and the bazooka got washed most of the time between jobs.
I bought a new set 5+ years ago and they still work great today since I do try to keep them clean and even wipe it all down with a towel. LOL!

I helped a buddy the other day and his tools are newer than mine but they are so freaking hammered from not cleaning, dropping them, piling stuff on top of them in his truck and worse of all, loaning them out.

brdn_drywall

usually on weekends i'll spend a couple of bucks and minutes at the car wash and spray em out. Boxes, rollers, angle heads just sit in a bucket of water though, maybe every third weekend for those.

savant

A bazooka is done with the job waay before the boxes. I do home renovation, predominantly. Therefore, the bazooka is on the job 2-days maximum. if I am not done after the first day, the bazooka gets sprayed out with hot water for the night.
When the bazooka is off the job for good,I spray it off with hot water, then I unfasten the head from the tube, stretch out the cable, and wash the tube for blowby. I wash the cable, and check it. I wash the rubber cup of the piston & wipe w/ armorall. I scrub any dried compound off. I dont need to disassemble the head as I can get to all the crevices easily enough.

All told, it's 20 minutes of calming and meditative work.(I could do it faster, but why?)

Boxes get washed out each night, till you can't see mud. (15seconds each)
End of the job, I usually clean the blade carriers.(3 minutes each)

Mud tubes get cleaned same as bazookas, corner rollers get sprayed daily.
Any hand tools get brush-scrubbed by laborers(works out to 60 cents/day)

Mud pump gets rinsed daily, including check & screen.

Tools come home EVERY NIGHT.

1wallboardsman

I always figured that a guys work was about as clean as his tools, with 35 years of observation, this has been about 100% correct. Anybody that won't spend the 10 minutes that it takes to clean his tools daily will usually leave a few boogers on the wall from his scratch and gouge machine.

jdl

1tireddrywaller

Take care of your tools and they will take care of you. I guess I'm from the old school. I was taught to clean my tools at the end of the day. I guess I have come full circle, I used to hate washing tools, now I look forward to it.

alltex

i clean mine whe its convienient. if i dont, i seal them in plastic or mud bag them.In winter when its freezing for like 6 months here sometimes i just brush them seal them in plastic and freeze them .when thawed they are just like you left them!(don,t leave any mud in them)They also clean up alot easyer after freezing.Remember what they say,ITS JUST DRYWALL.

Whitey97

I clean mine as well, after every use, every time. a clean tool is a happy tool. I'm a happy tool!

You guys ever use vinegar mixed in your water?

I also use my pressure washer with hot water. That rips the mud off.

muddymen

Haha that's great because when I was 9 years old doing yard work for this 80 year old guy he use to always tell me that and boy is he right.

I was on a job with this guy that saw me cleaning up his denver box and almost ripped my head off, he said "STOP cleaning my tools because if you do they will leak!"

I myself clean up after I'm done with them. Pepole are always asking me "when did you buy a new set of tools?" and I say there over 5 years old!

On the other hand my dad always uses WD-40 and says he only replaces the rubber seals once every 5 or 6 years. oh and I heard that armorall will dry out the rubber as well?

Whitey97

they all say to use 3in1. I say whatever, it's better than nothing at all, right?

Darren@Partners

Funny, Mark. I kinda feel the same way about the Denver box. I don't want it cleaned up until I know I'm DONE with it and putting it away for over a week or so. Otherwise, I bag it up.

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rebel20

Pam non-stick works great on the tools (Go Green) without butter its a mud box not a popcorn box.

rebel

I heard that if you play the Windows CD backwards, you'll hear satanic messages.
But the most frightening thing is, if you play it forward, it installs Windows!