Hand Washing Caddy
Between a desk job and the love of cooking, having dirty hands all the time doesn't really work for this family. But we're not about to give up our hobbies over a silly thing like that. There is always a way to clean off whatever gunk is on your hands, from epoxies to wood stains to grease; it may take a little scrubbing but it always comes off eventually. The problem I always run into is the jumbled mess left behind once your hands are clean... That's why we came up with this hand washing caddy.
Materials
The are several soaps and solvents that can be used, and if your projects differ enough then you will probably want to switch some of them for something else, but for our needs I used the 4 we use most.
You will need:
Rubbing Alcohol
Mineral Oil
Dish Soap
Pumice Scrub
4 Soap dispensers(I got mine at the dollar store)
4 Soup cans (or some other container that your soap dispensers will fit into)
Hemp or twine
Bailing wire
Glue
Sharpie
You will need:
Rubbing Alcohol
Mineral Oil
Dish Soap
Pumice Scrub
4 Soap dispensers(I got mine at the dollar store)
4 Soup cans (or some other container that your soap dispensers will fit into)
Hemp or twine
Bailing wire
Glue
Sharpie
Put It Together
Depending on the size and shape of your dispensers you will probably have to alter this a bit but the basic idea is transferable.
Start by covering the (clean and empty)cans with glue, then wrapping the hemp around them as pictured above. Once they are dry, snugly wrap wrie around the base of one can and tie it off so it will stay in place, then bring the wire up and wrap it around the top as well and tie it off again. Cut the wire about 6 inches away from the tie off point and do the same with the rest of the cans.
When they are all wrapped bring them together and loop a piece of wire through the part that goes from bottom to top on each of them and twist it together until it's tight(see the pictures for clarity) and cut the excess so it doesn't stick out.
Now to make the handle; take the pieces that are sticking up in the air and twist them together, this isn't too hard with pliers. Try to make the twist even (it will make bending it uniformly much easier). Bend the twisted wires back down and twist them around themselves to make a loop, it will probably be lopsided but you can straighten it out with your hands/some pliers.
Obviously you can go another route, but I find this to be pretty easy and sturdy. The hemp helps keep the wire in place and makes the whole thing look nice without being too girly (which is important when you share a workshop with a guy).
Start by covering the (clean and empty)cans with glue, then wrapping the hemp around them as pictured above. Once they are dry, snugly wrap wrie around the base of one can and tie it off so it will stay in place, then bring the wire up and wrap it around the top as well and tie it off again. Cut the wire about 6 inches away from the tie off point and do the same with the rest of the cans.
When they are all wrapped bring them together and loop a piece of wire through the part that goes from bottom to top on each of them and twist it together until it's tight(see the pictures for clarity) and cut the excess so it doesn't stick out.
Now to make the handle; take the pieces that are sticking up in the air and twist them together, this isn't too hard with pliers. Try to make the twist even (it will make bending it uniformly much easier). Bend the twisted wires back down and twist them around themselves to make a loop, it will probably be lopsided but you can straighten it out with your hands/some pliers.
Obviously you can go another route, but I find this to be pretty easy and sturdy. The hemp helps keep the wire in place and makes the whole thing look nice without being too girly (which is important when you share a workshop with a guy).
Add the Soap Dispensers
All that's left now is to fill the dispensers and label them. If you have some that are clear then you can skip labeling them, and if you don't like the way I labeled them of course you can do so in another manner.
At first I made labels out of aluminum cans; they looked good but were kind of hard to read. So I decided to simplify and just write it on the bottles, nothing fancy but it works. This was my absolute best handwriting which is still subpar, but it looks alright. So if your penmanship is better it will probably look pretty good.
Once they are filled, place them in the caddy and go get your hands dirty with the peace of mind that you will be able to scrub off whatever you get on them.
At first I made labels out of aluminum cans; they looked good but were kind of hard to read. So I decided to simplify and just write it on the bottles, nothing fancy but it works. This was my absolute best handwriting which is still subpar, but it looks alright. So if your penmanship is better it will probably look pretty good.
Once they are filled, place them in the caddy and go get your hands dirty with the peace of mind that you will be able to scrub off whatever you get on them.
Uses
I thought I'd include a small list of things these are good for removing. If you have anything to add to the list please comment below, and thanks for reading!
Dish Soap: Anything oil based such as motor oil, grease, lubricants, or animal fats.
Rubbing Alcohol: Many types of paint, super glue (I HATE getting that on my hands), some 2 part epoxies, odors, ink, many types of dye.
Pumice Scrub: Grime and anything that it really caked on.
Mineral Oil: Wood Stain, some kinds of paint, carpet glue, some 2 part epoxies, odors, industrial adhesives. (use dish soap to get the mineral oil off when your are done)
Dish Soap: Anything oil based such as motor oil, grease, lubricants, or animal fats.
Rubbing Alcohol: Many types of paint, super glue (I HATE getting that on my hands), some 2 part epoxies, odors, ink, many types of dye.
Pumice Scrub: Grime and anything that it really caked on.
Mineral Oil: Wood Stain, some kinds of paint, carpet glue, some 2 part epoxies, odors, industrial adhesives. (use dish soap to get the mineral oil off when your are done)