Cleaning out drywall compound buckets for reuse

[branimal]

Ok I’m being cheap here, but I’d like to reuse these buckets for various upcoming projects.

From tiling to using my paint sprayer, etc.

The taper did a good job of using up all the compound. And I’ve left the buckets in a sunny room to dry out the compound for a couple days.

What’s the easiest way to get the remaining compound of of the buckets?

 

[LXCam]

Well you'd have been better off filling them with water and just hosing them out. If they're scratched up you'll fight a bit getting them clean. But my suggestion would be to fill them with water and let soak for a day, then just use a bush and a little scrubbing.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Well you'd have been better off filling them with water and just hosing them out. If they're scratched up you'll fight a bit getting them clean. But my suggestion would be to fill them with water and let soak for a day, then just use a bush and a little scrubbing.

I'd try to scrape out the big stuff first. What doesn't come out, soak and scrub it out.

 

[mike93lx]

that's going to require a lot of time, energy and water.

if any of those are worth anything to you, save them for dirty work and buy new buckets for stuff that needs clean buckets.

 

[Grant F]

As said, let them soak. The compound will ssoften up real good. Use the scrubby side of an old kitchen sponge. Should be all clean in a few minutes. I've done it many times.

 

[58Yeoman]

that's going to require a lot of time, energy and water.

if any of those are worth anything to you, save them for dirty work and buy new buckets for stuff that needs clean buckets.

^^This^^

 

[59 wagon man]

soak then a little while then use a 1" wide scraper and scrape out the chunks then use can use anything like a rag or sponge or even you hand , rub whatever compound is left and in a few minutes your done
'

 

[finn]

Fill with water and let them soak. Works for me.

I reuse five gallon latex paint buckets. Not as easy to get them clean, but they are still useful.

The labor and time is trivial. Quicker than driving to town for a virgin bucket.

 

[mike93lx]

Fill with water and let them soak. Works for me.

I reuse five gallon latex paint buckets. Not as easy to get them clean, but they are still useful.

40 gallons of water wasted

 

[Bert_]

Start using them for stuff. The mud will break up and fall out before long. Once that happens you can use them for "clean" stuff.

Never throw out a good bucket. The best is if you can find ones used for food service. If you know the right guy you can usually get stacks of 5 gal buckets.

 

[mikepelchy]

I usually just put some warm water in mine and then after they sit for a little bit a quick rub down with my rubs gets them clean every time.

 

[PWC Repair]

Yep, just soak em and they'll wash right out.

 

[branimal]

Start using them for stuff. The mud will break up and fall out before long. Once that happens you can use them for "clean" stuff.

Never throw out a good bucket. The best is if you can find ones used for food service. If you know the right guy you can usually get stacks of 5 gal buckets.

I would use my dirty thinset mixing buckets as a seat when drinking a beer after work. By 2 beers they’d be clean. Guess that’s not going to work for drywall compound.

 

[JRC3]

Paint and drywall buckets, put the lids right back on once you empty them and/or clean them before they dry.

Drywall buckets usually get loaded with trash and tossed. For me it's not worth trying to save $2.69 (for a new one) wasting time while at work. If I'm working on my personal house I don't do it because I'm on a septic and I don't want it outside in my lawn.

I won't clean a paint bucket unless it's one of the two gallon Behr ceiling paint ones. I like that size and I simply clean them with the roller and pan at the same time.

 

[PWC Repair]

and I don't want it outside in my lawn

Are you sure? If your soil is too acidic or high in alkyline your grass will like it. It's mostly lime dust which helps neutrilize the soil so your grass can better absorb nutrients

 

[couch67]

Fill half of them and do them in two batches. When the first ones are clean, just pour the water from them into the second batch. It wont take more than a few minutes per bucket if you let them soak.

I have done this whenever I have drywall pails to reuse, and they are handy! Use them for all kinds of things around the yard and shop.

 

[klassenl]

Take them to the car wash.

 

[Vbwiley92]

Find a Firehouse Subs and buy they're pickle buckets for two bucks. Less work and the money is donated to support firefighters. Plus the buckets are food grade.

I will say it's been a few years, so the cost of a bucket may have gone up.

Sent from my SM-G955U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[scottydosnntkno]

40 gallons of water wasted

We pay about $5/unit of water (748 gallons) so 40 gallons on our outside hose (no sewage fee) would be 26 cents. So far cheaper than the $3.50 buckets cost new

 

[Joemctag]

Yes! It dissolves readily in water ! Couple minutes! I use buckets for everything. Mostly paint buckets from dumpsters. Drain most of the remaining paint, let dry, then mostly it can be peeled away. Doesn’t have to be perfect.

 

[Joemctag]

Yeah, works fine. There COULD possibly be setting-type compound in one. It comes in bags but they’ll mix it in a bucket. You can whack around the upside-down bucket with a board and it’ll knock most of it out.

 

[The Cobbler]

I use floor scrubbing pads ( course scotchbrite) to clean my pails, drywall tools etc. makes short work of it.
the drywall pails would have been easy to clean while they were wet, but just soak them a bit and go at them. as said, pour from one pail to the next to the next. doesn't have to be clean water to get the mud out. aa rinse with clean water and you'll be good.
oh, if there was durabond or setting compound in them, that;s a different story

 

[strutaeng]

Start using them for stuff. The mud will break up and fall out before long. Once that happens you can use them for "clean" stuff.

Never throw out a good bucket. The best is if you can find ones used for food service. If you know the right guy you can usually get stacks of 5 gal buckets.

Yeah, just do this.

I threw away about 15 buckets when I painted the exterior of a project. For interior I again had about 10 buckets waiting at the transfer station to dump them when a lady behind me asked if she could have them. She got the lids too. My Dad was with me and was like, "Hey I could have used those buckets!"

I have another 7 or so and cleaned them. You really need to hose them with water after you are done if you intent to use them for like paint sprayer and stuff like that.

Aren't you going to buy paint to finish your drywall? Wash and clean those!

My buddy works for a painting company and can probably load my truck in a few weeks. He gave me 60 boxes of mud once because it was going to the dumpter, LOL.

 

[finn]

40 gallons of water wasted

I live next to a lake and have a well. No water wasted except what it takes to run the pump. Driving to town costs about $10, plus the cost of the bucket.

Buckets accumulate, so I put five or six out with the garbage. The neighbor stopped over and asked if he could have them... guess I am not the only one...

 

[strutaeng]

Had taken all of the paint pails out of my garage, plus some primer that I had bought, some leftover and some new PM200 was given to me. Most of it was used, but still have a few PVA and PM200.

My pro. paint/drywall estimator buddy said I graduated from DIY to "semi-pro" after seeing all the paint pails, LOL!

 

[Norcal]

It’s still winter put the buckets where they will fill with rain water & let them soak then scrub them with a green Scotchbrite, simple, quick, and easy. Drywall mud cleans up easy if it has soaked for short time.

 

[JRC3]

Take them to the car wash.

And blow that **** all over so the owner has to clean it up. Those self serve car washes are owned by people just like you and me. Or other patrons have to step on chunks of drywall compound tracking it into their car.

This has been discussed before, not sure why people think their $5 at the car wash gives them authority to trash the place.

 

[Kevin54]

Fill the buckets full of water, let them set for a few hours, roll up your sleeve, and take a scrub brush to clean them out. Takes about 5 minutes per bucket.

And if you have a few, watch how you stack them. Sometimes they can be a real ***** to get apart.

 

[ddurrett896]

use them for oil and waste.

 

[finn]

It’s still winter put the buckets where they will fill with rain water & let them soak then scrub them with a green Scotchbrite, simple, quick, and easy. Drywall mud cleans up easy if it has soaked for short time.

Rain in winter is called snow....Rain returns in late April or early May, and disappears again in early November.

 

[tonyciambrone]

40 gallons of water wasted

Water is pretty darn reusable... I'd be a little more concerned with the impact of buying 10 new buckets and what it takes to recycle 10 old buckets.

 

[engineer2]

I'm a bucket saver too. Use them for mixing tile mud and grout and also for carrying tools and supplies. Just the right height for sitting on. I find after several uses for tile mud they get too scratched up to clean.

 

[JRC3]

I'd be a little more concerned with the impact of buying 10 new buckets and what it takes to recycle 10 old buckets.

Damn you...Now you're gonna make me clean old buckets.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Another discussion that shows there is no topic that can't be beat to death on this board. Like several others have said - fill them with water, let them sit for a while, rinse out, done.

 

[southalabama]

Stuart nailed it.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

And blow that **** all over so the owner has to clean it up. Those self serve car washes are owned by people just like you and me. Or other patrons have to step on chunks of drywall compound tracking it into their car.

This has been discussed before, not sure why people think their $5 at the car wash gives them authority to trash the place.

Well said!

 

[Barnabas]

I hired a friend to finish my drywall. I found a mud bucket he threw in the trash, so I cleaned it out and left it to dry. The next day I found the same bucket full of my friend's tools!

 

[JRC3]

I hired a friend to finish my drywall. I found a mud bucket he threw in the trash, so I cleaned it out and left it to dry. The next day I found the same bucket full of my friend's tools!

 

[DrewFSD]

I hired a friend to finish my drywall. I found a mud bucket he threw in the trash, so I cleaned it out and left it to dry. The next day I found the same bucket full of my friend's tools!

Did you clean it out again for him?

 

[cadunkle]

40 gallons of water wasted

Water is cheap and plentiful in the mid Atlantic, this is a non-issue in MA, or anywhere in the US as water is cheap. If it were scarce, the price would reflect it.

I clean buckets with water and an old drywall knife then get the last of it with a sponge, rag, scotch brite, or whatever similar item is handy. Quick and easy. Just let the mud soak up some water and it washes off.