Save time Cleaning your Drywall Tools...do only as much as you need to!!!! 

Yooooo! I was just watching "Everyday Home Repairs" doing a video about a bathroom remodel and they seriously threw your name out as the best person on RU-vid to teach you about drywall! I'm so proud! 😭😭😭 You've made it to the big time, Pal! You come highly recommended to others who didn't know who you were and I'm so proud of you! 😭😭❤️

I find the best way to keep our tools clean is to leave early and let my partner deal with it. It saves me a ton of work.

The best thing I ever did for making my occasional drywall projects more enjoyable, was replacing anything carbon steel, with stainless steel when possible😎

Another tip that goes along with the cleanup process (as it has to do with how to leave the mud overnight - or longer). If I wipe down the sides of the bucket as you've shown, I can pour a layer of water over the mud and I don't have to worry about drying out the top layer and/or promoting crusties. The next day, I can pour off the excess and the mud will have been kept in good shape. Easier that than fighting the lid when the mud is not going to long term storage.

Good show. I like scrubby sponges and steel wool for cleaning. Hot water helps to get old crud loose. Let steel tools dry on a piece of cardboard, make sure they don't touch.

I'm definitely guilty of spending too much time keeping tools clean. I'd never make it as a paid drywaller.

I keep a grout sponge instead of the brush.. It's the go to for cleaning pan and tools and inside mud bucket.. and also good for sanding a small edge here and there, and the edge on corner beads if need. The more broken in the better

I do a lot of remodeling, framing, tiling, stucco, flooring, casing, etc.. But what I don't do a lot of is DRYWALL. However, it's inevitable that there is ALWAYS a drywall patch that needs to be repaired, comes with the territory. I have been watching your videos for a while. Today I was doing a ceiling patch, and the entire time I kept catching myself say, "feather them edges, feather them edges." LMAO. I was VERY impressed with how much I have learned from you and how much better I have become. Still a work in progress, but thanks to you, I'm on the right path.

As soon as I found out stainless steel mud knives existed I immediately purchased them. One of the best decisions I've made after wasting money on rusted out carbon/blue steel blades. It's always cheaper to buy the right tool first than to constantly grow away cheapo tools.

For the bottom of the water bucket mud, I usually pour the water into another bucket until I get to the mud. When I open a box of mud, I keep the plastic empty bag and put it back in the box and use that as a garbage bucket. I'll take the left over mud from bottom of bucket and scrape it into mud garbage box

I’m watching this after I just cleaned my mudding tools like I haven’t been doing this for over a decade 🙄 lol thanks for all the content Ben.

The long handle brush is OK, but a short handle brush (like the kitchen scrub brush that IKEA sells for a buck or two) is easier to use and is easy to get into the nooks and crannies of your pan and tools, expecially mixing paddles.

Hi Ben awesome video very educational there's a lot of great tips and don't worry about dumping the mud in the toilet that's the least of our worries we all do it like you said just water it down and another tip as a professional drywall taper for 12 years I usually leave all my automatic Taping Tools in buckets of water not even clean but I use the leftover bags from the mud boxes to cover my tools even my buckets of mud instead of the lids then when they get too dirty I shoot them out and use a new bag of empty mud great video from DC taping Niagara Falls Ontario

I use the green scotch -brite scour pads for cleaning my tools , pan , and bucket of mud . It really works the best

Hey Ben I have really enjoyed you taping videos. I usually wash my tools using the garden hose when available. Then I have clean buckets of H2O for my next start. I also love seeing my Most Precious Wife’s face when I use the top tray of the dishwasher for cleaning my tools. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

I use an old dishwasher brush for cleaning, really gets into the nooks & crannies

Great videos and a lot of help for us non pros. One comment about flushing down the toilet. Don’t do if the site is on a septic system. I would recommend covering it and taking it elsewhere. Thanks again for all the work you do making these.

Yes, always clean tools right after use, never wait until the next day! Love your attitude!

I also use a plastic tire brush for cleaning the tools. And I keep a large damp sponge near my work area to wipe the "crusties" onto, to wipe off the edge of the knives/trowel. The sponge works as well if not better for cleaning up at the end of the day. And I use the handles in the box of compound like a drying rack for the knives. I always learn something from your videos though, I almost didn't watch this one but glad I did!

12:54 Good opportunity to caution about reaching into a bucket like that, can really slice up your hand on a stray knife or trowel that you didn't know was in there.

Hi Ben. Haven't used the carbon steel, however, I have switched to all stainless steel and I'm super glad I made that decision. I use Hyde products and so far, no complaints. Couldn't disagree with anything you said on the video. Not that I ever do🤣🤣. Good to see ya again. Hope you and the fam are doing well.

Personnaly, when I'm done mixing and I want to clean the paddle, I swirl it around in the water until most of the mud has come off. By varying the rotation speed and giving it a few bursts, I can get it almost perfectly clean without even touching it. The little that remains is then scraped off by hand.

5 gal bucket of water with a sponge or brush......especially for rapid set, keep em clean in between coats....a long handlenylon brush works well with a sponge.....I never let them even dry with mud still on them....one bucket for cleaning gets set up at the start

I dig the skateboard grip tape on the mud pan. All awesome videos by the way. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for making this video! Just the information I was looking for. You rock.

Use a sponge. It works better and quicker than you think, also uses a lot less water. Reminds me, I got a bunch of stuff to clean now.

You: "your pan should never look like this" Me: My pan always looks like that. 😂

That's a great tip about cleaning the compound bucket to avoid crusties.

i always take my tools outside and wash them off with the nozzle set to jet cleans everything perfectly in a couple minutes

Thanks.

"You should never have buildup on the back"... uhhh, right boss.... All jokes aside! Thanks for all the videos, they've helped me immensely.

My go-to for tool cleaning are green Scotch scratch pads. They make short work of mud and rust (even on dried mud too).

I use a similar cleaning method though I do it slightly differently; I use a medium stiff brush for plaster and joint compounds while using a stiff bristle brush for stucco and concrete cleaning. I use a dip, brush, dip method which seems to work fast and well; I also will keep towels in the vehicle for drying off tools before putting them away though if they’re going to get used the same day of next day I tend to not dry them as I use exclusively stainless and magnesium tools exclusively. I also keep smaller nylon and copper bristle brushes in my kit for getting the smaller areas but typically a putty knife will get things off. My trowels store on magnetic strips while most of my trowels live in a home made stand as I have dozens in different sizes from 1” through 14” and includes flexible to firm blades and scrapers. While I will keep paddles in water most of the time if I don’t or just with some materials I’ll let the paddle sit and get hard then just knock things off which has worked OK for me for years. Thankfully I don’t do as much mud/stucco work as I used to as it can be tougher than the more skill less work side of things like cabinetry and finish work.

If you put dish soap in your mud do your tools become self cleaning?

You camera man or women is doing great 👍

Thanks for great video, i always had a problem getting rid of the wster

"Sigh, this is going to sound so bad." I knew it before you said it! Lol 👍

Amazing video and amazing work you do such a great job. Keep up the amazing work Ben.

I keep a small hose with a twist nozzle in my truck. I am OCD and so as soon as I am done I scrape everything then hit it all with the hose before it dries on. It gets into all the cracks and small spaces better then any brush. The key is the drying even with the aluminum and stainless.

i like to wipe down the sides of the inside of the bucket with a wet sponge. picked that up from tiling.

Ah, cleaning the sides of my bucket. Wow, did I get eyes rolling when I would do that! What can I say I didn’t have trouble with dried mud in the bucket. Thanks for a nice instructive video.

While working I have a spray bottle with water and paper towels. So easy to spray and wipe. When finished all tools are cleaned to being spotless. It only takes a few minutes There's no other way for me. I am really confused that this is a popular question? It's kinda implied that if you want a smooth wall you need clean knives and crumb free spackle.

Leaving the mud bucket open to the air and next to the washout bucket is a no no- put a lid back over it

Very informative. Great job 👏

I am a massive OCD cleaning person, and my drywall tools look new. I even scrub the handles! I NEED HELP😂😂😂

Fastest cleaning mud pan is a flexible one like mudflextools way faster

For me It seems If you don’t wipe everything off quickly at least with an old towel they will show signs of rust eventually even the stainless stuff don’t matter.

An old tile setter would always have a bucket with a couple shovels of gravel in his clean bucket. Stick the drill in there and spin the mixer: instant clean.

How you transport and store the trowels. In what?

Just leave your tools so home owners see them , next morning they will be clean 90% of the time. I like to see them pat themselves on the back. I agree scrape when done then scrap before you start. Scrap down inside of mud bucket. Mix mud next day, most important is the blade, mud on the handle not going to make a difference, nothing is harder to do after a bunch of mudding, sitting there and polishing your tools?

*My favorite was make sure you clean it at the job sight (home owners - kitchen sink) and not at home - lol*

I use a bottle brush or maybe it's a small toilet brush to clean, it's really nice that the bristles anre 360

Grip tape on the pan is a good idea!

When scraping off the “crusties” while cleaning you can put it back in to the mud bucket? Wouldn’t they just be in the mud the next time you use it? Or does it break down after you mix it up?

Scrubbie pad for paddle too

let's talk about putting things down drains. i was sanding dried multipurpose mud texture on a ceiling in a small bathroom. over the 30 minute or so job i got thickly covered in dust. and as i sweat it all got quite gummy. almost like a glue consistency. not wanting that in my shower drain. i had the wife hose me off in the back yard. was i over-worrying? would that have been ok to send down the drain? - keeping in mind we have a septic system, not city sewer. enjoying the videos! keep up the great and very helpful work!

Remember it's stainLESS steel, not stainPROOF steel. That's why mud stuck in corners can still cause corrosion.

I've recently started using automatic boxes. I love the time savings but cleaning takes forever. I spend almost 30 minutes cleaning.

Good advice on not leaving steel in contact with aluminum. To a chemist, that is literally a recipe for corrosion.

I hope your ok!

Got me a 40+ year old pan. Sometimes it gets cleaned right away, sometimes not cleaned until the next use. If I weren't lazy all tools would be cleaned immediately, but, well....

Good vocabulary

My dad and I did a job and forgot a pail of water with a carbon 3" knife it. When we came back a year later to this shop for more work we found it. It was pitch black and not really smooth anymore lol

Say this in V.C's voice. "Cleaning tools? It's not just OK. It's, It's Necessary!!"

When I can't muster motivation to properly cleanup, I seal stainless tools into a half empty mud bucket. Nothing dries out, then clean at the end of the project. It's also a 'fun' way to misplace your tools- clear buckets please!

What's this about adding glue to the mud?

@5:03 I strive for adequate as well.

Can you do a video on how to not get mud all over yourself like I do lol

Someone with a septic tank here and just starting skim coating. I’m assuming it’s not wise to flush down the toilet being on the safer side?

what about quick set mud that u cant just throw the excess back into the bucket? Just waste it all rinsing it off into the water bucket?

Great video, thanks !!!

Question for Vancouver carpenter or anyone that can answer. Imagine a recessed joint running across a wall. Mid sheet we have a butt joint/factory edge running up from the floor until it meets the recessed/beveled seam. Is the correct way to mud up the beveled seam and stop or mud "though " it stopping at the top of the beveled edge ?

Leave the solids and pour off the water in your wash bucket, then dump the solids in the dumpster and never put it down the drain, oh, and don’t forget the scrubby pad laying in the bottom of the bucket

Unless your trial is non-magnetic stainless steel will it will corrode because non-magnetic stainless steel is what they use them kitchen entry and it doesn't have no car but magnetic stainless steel has carbon in it to check it take a magnet to it

Ditto to all of it .

Hoping for some HELP! My question is, 'Do I use Peel Stop before I use drywall patch or patch and then use the Peel Stop'. Please advise. I have plaster walls in a 1940s home. ALL the paint peeled off the outside walls when I was prepping to paint. I could not get all the layers off and am left with paint ridges. Planning to patch to feather and smooth out. Sanding is not an option on such thick areas. My question is, 'Do I use Peel Stop before I use drywall patch or patch and then use the Peel Stop'. Please advise.

How long can you leave plaster in a bucket, obviously with a proper lid?

Still cant find a pan with rubber bottom grip. Tried “after market” rubberized magnet meant for the pan and it worked for about .7 seconds. Is that a particular brand that you got? It looks like it stays put very well. Great vid by the way. Essential! Cleaning is about routine. I clean my gear every time. Got used to it and works like a charm. Also how you store/carry your tools is a key as well. Thanks Ben. 👊

But what about cleaning up quickset? How do you deal with that?

If you dump.you mud back in the bucket, won't it get hard?

Can you dump this water with mud in grass or street etc. Would it hirt anything?

One of my stainless steel putty knife was rusty after I leave it in water for a day.I came back clean after I use some wd-40,I google says even stainless steel can rust if you don't maintain it well😕

0:53 - 1:06 🤣🤣🤣

Thank you for the info! What can I do to save my mud bucket that has dried mud on the sides above the rest of the mud without getting crumbs in my mud?

Try soaking you carbon knives in vinegar for a bit. If it isn't a poor grade of steel that should prevent them from rusting as fast or at all depending on the amount of time they are exposed to moisture.

Does drywall mud clog drains?

I imagine mud of any kind is bad for septic systems though, no? Oh BTW, I learned about the blue steel corrosion the hard way. It's good to know they're all like that and that I didn't just buy some garbage tools by my luck. At least that means I have some control over the issue! Thanks!

3:10 What’s the difference between a crunchy and a crusty? 🤔🤔

Hey Ben do you have videos on fixing cracks and holes that have orange peel or other textures?

No brush, use a green scrubbie pad - simple and takes up no space

What do you do with the dirty water?

use a toilet scrubber or sponge way easer faster

If I know I wont use the tools for a while, I coat with some silicone spray.

That's what Minions are for, boy i wish i had a minion.i hit the trowel with the sanding pad and soak the pan if i forgot but im a carpenter not a drywaller.

Do you have a preference on a magnesium hawk or aluminum. I don't care for aluminum as it's likely I have always used magnesium. My buddy for the DeWalt with the black coating on it, really enjoyed that too. Is there a video for metal filing or "machining" the edge of the Hawks back to straight edges as the trowel makes wear paterns in the edges.

Nothing will piss you off more then crustys

I just hose down my pan and tools in this area I don’t care about. Is that bad? I use the dry stuff you mix.

you are the tidiest dry wall person I've ever seen

Learning a lot from your channel, have a 1900 home in the US do you know if I can sand the old plaster walls smooth? They have years of over painting over and over and not to good of smooth plastering over the years as well. What it be good to cut all that down with sanding? Plaster not breaking or peeling anywhere, ceiling where replaced just not sidewalls. Hope you have time to reply thank you and love the channel really 😁😎

Let the mud dry, and then demand the apprentice cleans them like new.