Cleaning plastic foundation "Soak & Save" its super easy & cheap
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 เม.ย. 2018
- ** New mix Formula; By soaking those plastic foundation sheets with stubborn brood area residue in (a new mix ratio 1/2 cup of Clorox and 1 cup Dawn detergent), the cocoons pop right out of the plastic cell cups with an electric pressure washer. It doesn't get any easier than this method. Please Subscribe and Like my channel it helps a lot, If you wish to donate for these money saving ideas click on this link; www.paypal.me/JeffWillard358 Thank You.
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I was just given 125 foundations that had been sitting on a barn dirt floor for two years. No damage just dirty.
I’ll give this a try. Thank you for the tip!!
Glad to help Jeffery, just make sure to rewax after cleaning..
I've never thought cleaning foundation was worth the time & effort it took. But this DOES look easy enough that I'll start doing this. Thanks!
It really makes it worth it, as all bee supplies are going up in price. I tried several ways to re-wax the foundation and the way that works for me is after cleaning and drying the plastic, I reinsert it back into the frame and over a pot that is half full of melted wax that the frame will fit into. I use a 4" short nap roller and press firmly to re-wax the excess wax drips back into the pot. You can reuse the nap roller several times just make sure you drill some "drain holes" in the roller outer plastic caps for the wax to drain out. Good luck and thanks for watching.......
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this! You are a life-saver!
You are most welcome. I did start using only a 1/2 cup of bleach as a bacteria and virus killer in the tub. The Dawn is the real workhorse in the mixture. Thanks for watching..
Thank you so much, brother. I’ve been looking all over the Interwebs for just such a tip!
You are welcome
My pressure washer is at the car wash. Only costs a few quarters. Thanks for the tip.
Your welcome. Just remember there is going to be thousands of the cell cups blowing out of those foundations and going everywhere.
Thanks Jeff
I just wanted to say thanks!
I watched this last winter, but just got around to trying it myself...now l came back tonight to give this a like, as it's hard to impress me.
Now I'm sick about the hundreds of sheets and frames l have tossed.
May your hives runneth over!
Hello Mark,
I'm glad you liked it and like you I threw out a lot of foundation before this idea came to me. The May your hives runneth over! made me smile, Thanks....
I've been using your method for 3 or so years now. Works very well, thank you!
Rob, you are most welcome, I'm glad it was a help to you.
Thank you for this, Jeff. I have accumulated a mountain of scraped plastic sheets. These were bought when they cost $0.80 or less each. They cost over twice that amount these days. I soaked a couple hundred and pressure washed them today. You have made me into a "Soak & Saver!"
I will never buy another sheet of plastic foundation again.
Looking forward to wax coating them this winter!!
Thanks again!!
I'm glad you found the video helpful and saved some money. I did reduce the Clorox to 1/2 a cup per tote which is just for bacteria and virus cleansing. The Dawn is the real workhorse the soaking water. Thanks for watching.
I will be doing your technique for now on! Thank you!
Hi Joy,
I found that you can cut the Clorox in half and it works just as well. The Clorox is to kill any bacteria or virus that maybe present on the foundation, good luck..
Oh my... how obvious.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
I have a pressure washer sitting around and didn't even consider i.
Wow...
Hi PM,
You are very welcome, it was the soaking that provided the magic bullet to help remove the cell cups with the washer, Happy Cleaning........
Same here😂. I’ve scrubbed plastic foundation and it takes forever. I’m with you. Why didn’t I just use the pressure washer! Duh. Lol👋
I like it Jeff. Another great idea! Thanks, Phillip Hall
Hi Phillip, Good to hear from you and glad to help. I hope you and your bees are doing well.
Doing Fine Jeff, I hope the same for you. Keep up the good work!!
Thank you for the information very helpful!!
excellent idea. Thanks
Thanks for the info, got a bunch to do right now.
Hi Jonathan,
Your welcome. I found that you can cut the Clorox amount in half its used more for a disinfectant to kill any bacteria or viruses, the Dawn does all the work in breaking down the beeswax for removal. Have fun blastin' that foundation........
Thanks for sharing with us.We need people like you.I own 2000 be hive ,full size and 500 NUCs ,this Ideea will help me,to clean few thousands black plastic foundations.
Hi Geani,
I got tired just thinking of taking care of your 2000 hives and 500 Nuc's. If I were you I would make up a holder that would consist of an upper and lower channel to hold and slide the foundation through with brackets on each side of the foundation connecting pressure sprayer heads . So as you push each foundation through it is getting cleaned on both sides at ounce as it is being pushed along, it will save you a lot of time. If you do make this up let me know and make a video.
Sir, we did clean before those foundasions with the brushes.We soak them in soap and water for 24 hrs.We never think about using power washers .We got 2 of them ....one electric and the other with honda engine.I have 6 employee here ,permanent and when I do extraction I get more help .We are working on a project to do something like that.Thanks for HELP!
Jeepers Jeff, well done! I paint a thick layer of beeswax on the cleaned foundation and the bees pull that in no time. Will put this on my bee blog as this is a problem we all have and no one feels good about the dumping all that plastic in the landfill.
I hope this helps and thanks for watching...
Great video! Will this work if I leave the tote in m garage where the temps get down to 25 nights!
Thanks for sharing. I have a bunch of foundation to clean. Your friend Bryan
You are most welcome Bryan....
New subsubscriber here. Glad a found a fresh face to watch.looks good,thanks
Your welcome and thanks for subscribing....
Great video!
Thank you Cole's Farm..
Amazing! Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Hello from Ontario, Canada! Thank you so much for sharing such a great idea. For 6 years I'm using almost boiled water with the wooden scraper to clean these frames. It works fine for white plastic but does not work for yellow plastic. I stopped buying yellow plastic foundation though I did not threw it and I kept it hoping one day to find a solution how to clean those. Here is my day! I'm going to use your method of cleaning all plastic foundations. And I do agree to give back dirty frames to bees with new wax on them is the same as placing a clean carpet on the dirty floor.
Hello HoneyPollen,
I'm glad to be of help to you, just use the new formula of 1/2 cup of Clorox and 1 cup Dawn detergent. The Clorox is the disinfecting agent but the real workhorse is the Dawn detergent. Canada is such a beautiful place, years ago I spent a week fishing on the Baskatong Reservoir and loved it.
@@jeffwillard2417 Thank you, Jeff! I was wondering about the Dawn detergent whether I could substitute it with another soap or not. By the way, another method to clean these frames would be placing them into the garden soil. Worms would eat the brood residue on these frames. I just dug out some portion of these frames which I used for the border. I was surprised to see these frames clean and lots of worms living on these frames. It is not an efficient method, but still a method. Never been to Quebec, someday, someday!
@@Larisa_beekeeper_in_Ontario_CA
I'm sure another soap brand would work. Burying the foundation and wooden frames may work in the far North but down here in the South we have hungry termites, they will eat all untreated wood and sometimes poorly treated wood if exposed to the ground, the only thing that is not eaten would be the metal staples and plastic.. Kept your bees warm this winter.
@@jeffwillard2417 only plastic I'm talking about, bearing wood into the soil would damage the wood for sure. We still have warm weather in Ontario, something tells me that the winter is not going to be easy. Have a good winter as well!
Fantastic!!!!
Thanks again...
I did something very close to what you did.. I can be on a commercial dairy farm.. I had availability to commercial steam cleaner.. It put out approximately thirty five thousand pounds to the I square inch. At a temperature of about three hundred degrees fahrenheit.. Of course I scraped the frames first with a big putty knife. Ran it to the solar wax melter.. It probably took me about twice as long to do a frame as you did them.. In this video.. Of course the commercial pressure washer hot water... Costs farmer about twelve thousand dollars.. But also remember he washed all his equipment off with the same pressure washer.. That was the reason for it. All idea is find a secondary use.
Great thans
Great vid thanks
Your welcome
heck yell dude that is great
I'm glad you enjoyed it..
Thanks!!!
Your welcome, I'm glad it will help you..
Brilliant. Ive been pressure washing mine but they are quite difficult to get really clean. Not sure if we can get Dawn or chlorox brands in Australia but I'll find a suitable substitute. Are you able to advise the bleach concentration? It will probably be 4% sodium hypochlorite or similar.
Hi Keith,
I'm sure any grease cutting dish detergent will work, I only use 1/2 cup (120ml) of Colox now. I think any common household bleach would also do the job. Thanks for watching... I heard Varroa just reached Australia, watch this to help with your needed treatments.. th-cam.com/video/pzSS9XXYWU4/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the video. Did you have to put something between the foundation to allow the solution to get to the mess on the plastic?
No just keep them loose fitting in the tub.
New subscriber here. Thanks for all of the great tips. Did you add any water to your Clorox and dawn?
Hi Jim,
Welcome aboard, after the foundation is in the tote add the Clorox and start filling with water when it is almost full then add the dish detergent, otherwise you'll have nothing but suds.
Such an awesome idea. Next fall, I'll give this a try when I winterize my colonies.
Hello Robert,
It truly is an easy and cheap way to clean your foundation before re-waxing.
It is not a great idea to mix dawn dishwashing liquid and bleach together. There is a warning on the dishwashing liquid that says do not mix with bleach! It makes a toxic fume. The power washer works great though.
Hi Jennifer,
Thank You, you peaked my curiosity about the mixing comment because I have doing this for awhile now without any problems and I wanted to find out more. What I found was that the mixing of ammonia and bleach is a dangerous mix it produces toxic gases called chloramines and that some dish soap have amines in them. I couldn't find any info about a water dilution factor when mixing the two. So my advice to be on the safe side would be to use any ammonia free dish soap, or do what I do and mix the two part solution in an open well ventilated area to remove any possible concern plus a warning "to use at your own risk"
This what I like about You-Tube, which is the exchange of information in a large group of people and I always want everyone to handle anything like this safely. Thanks again for the info.
Also I would only use outdoors with plenty of ventilation.
Hi mate, thanks very much for the informative video. I am concerned about the effects of long-term soaking in the detergent and the consequences of that for the bees. Would this also work if I just pressure clean them directly without soaking them in harsh chemicals ?
Hi Rajdev,
Without softening the brood cell cup residue the brood residue is a whole lot harder to remove. You need the Dawn dish soap to soften the beeswax in the cell cups and the Clorox is to kill any Virus or Bacteria, I have started to use only one cup of Clorox instead of the two cups. Once dried and rewaxed the bees quickly built comb on the refurbished foundation. Good luck..
Hi, is the mixture just the 2 cups of clorox and 1 cup of dawn, or is there any water. 3 cups doesn't sound like enough liquid to be able to more than a few frames? I may have to try the the car wash as my pressure washer. Thanks for the tip,
I used a 58 qt tote, put the Clorox in first then fill it with water and just before its filled add the Dawn detergent otherwise you'll have a sudsy foaming mess. I only use one cup of Clorox now as the disinfectant I stopped using two cups. Your welcome for the tip....
Finally! I have been saving my dirty plastic foundation for this!!! Thanks. Oh, how much water did you add?
I don't know the amount of water, just fill it to the top. Add the detergent when it is almost full otherwise you have just soap suds. The Clorox is used for a disinfectant and I now use only 1/2 to 3/4 cup. To rewax the foundation I have used the dip method, brush and a foam roller, I found that a 4" wide 3/8" nap roller worked the best.
So, my first few batches of 80 sheets, I let soak for 3 or 4 days. Jeff recommends a couple of weeks. Today I pressure washed a batch that soaked for at least 10 days. Jeff is right in soaking for a longer period MUCH better results. Halfway through today's session my pressure washer's gearbox separated from the pump SPEWING oil all over the place. It looks like the bolts slowly backed out. One broke and the other ones bent. If you have a gas pressure washer, check the bolts holding it all together from time to time. It looks like I will be able to repair it, is the good news.
I'm glad it worked but sorry you had pump problems.
Looks like you got good results. After soaking and pressure washing, do you add any wax to the plastic foundation?
Yes you have to, I found that a 4" wide roller with a 3/8" thick nap works the best.
I tried boiling water, mine don't have any recycle marks to be sure of the polymer I took a guess that they would be made out of polypropylene because of the hardness and flexibility and PP is standard for things that need to be durable, chemically inert, and sanitized with hot water, but they softened and shriveled in less than a minute (Both for a full plastic frame and a foundation from a wood frame). So they certainly are not PP [maybe wax would have a hard time sticking to PP?]
I might try a few modifications on the detergent recipe, I have the supplies and reasonable chemistry knowledge.
My pressure washer is in storage right now so if I can get it to spray off with a garden hose nozzle, or just to loosen in a day rather than a couple weeks then I'll try to remember to update this.
Temperature can make also a big difference in some chemical reactions, generalized they say 10c/20f doubles or halves a reaction rate. With fats, being just below verses just above the melting point can be an order of magnitude difference, which is why soap is made with melted fat.
What did you do with the frames? Was the foundation in the frames while you soaked them?
Take the foundation out of the frames to clean but put them back in to rewax.
Just asking do all the frames come clean mine have bits of residue on them still ? Can you use them still if not fully cleaned out I’d say 98 % clean And they smell of Clorox still will I have to soak them in water again?
Hi Aj,
Let them dry and air out for awhile, none of mine smell like Clorox. If you have little bits in the bottom of the cell cups it is OK because when you roll melted wax on the foundation it will cover it up and the bees will build over it.
Perfect. I used your method and it’s perfect but I froze the comb before scraping it because it is brittle when cold and scrapes quicker . My hands are not as strong as yours.
That is a great idea Lenore. I'm glad it worked as well for you also...
So the amount of water is about 50 quarts?
SUPER idea Jeff!
Thank you.....
That's great! Can't wait to try it.
Hi Shreve,
I am sure it will work as well for you as it did me..
Your foundation looks great after using this method. My question, is this - is is necessary to take the foundation out of the wood frame before you soak and pressure wash or can you soak the wood frame as well?
It's better to remove the foundation, the wood and its steel fasteners really aren't meant to be soaked in water for several weeks. I'll usually just spray the frames with a water/Clorox solution in a garden sprayer and then rinse clean to kill off any virus or bacteria.
is the use of Clorox/Dawn safe to use with honey foundation?
It would be ok, just reduce the Clorox to 1/4 or 1/2 cup, air dry and rewax with a 4" X 3/8" nap paint roller.
👍
👍
Great idea and great results! How long did you let them soak?
I let mine soak for two weeks to really soften the wax. I also started to only use 1/4 - 1/3 cup of Clorox to kill any virus or bacteria that may be on the foundation.
Thanks for the reply!
Your Welcome
I made a mistake and put diatomaceous earth around my bee hive like I saw some people do on youtube to keep ants from overwhelming my hive and the bees went into it and went into the colony in two weeks the hive was destroyed. I wish I never would of done this but now I have frames that surely are contaminated they are easy frames plastic with wax coating. Do you think this will clean off the diatomaceous earth too? by the way super smart Idea
d
Hi utuber,
Yes this will clean off the diatomaceous on your foundation, even a good rain fall will make the diatomaceous earth on the ground around your hive almost inert. Do you think it was the diatomaceous earth for the hive die out or was it Varroa Mites? To re-wax the foundation I've tried the dipping in wax method, different brushes, foam rollers and I found that a 4" roller with short nap worked the best. Good luck..
@@jeffwillard2417 thanx for your reply. Yes it was the diatomaceous. I had no varroa mites, thank God, I have just had the bees for 4months and was feeding them sugar water and that brought out all the small black ants from all corners of the earth. in the night I had to go out and pour boiling water over the ground around the hive and over the trial and wipe the boxes down with a hot wet cloth. It would work for a few days. Saw a lady on you tube put diatomaceous on the ground. Im sure she lost her colony too. but yes it was diat. because I would see bees dive into it chasing there shadow in the day then return into the hive with in two weeks all the hive was dead. At the end of the 2week about 4pounds of bees and the queen was outside of the box in a pile dead. Broke my heart for two years, I said I didnt deserve any more bees, but a friend of mine asked me if I could rescue a colony of bees on a corner outside of a home of his friend that was going to kill them, friend said he would allow someone to save them If they come over this Tuesday the 18th. So ILL give myself another chance for the sake of the bees. And ILL never use diat. again for anything. So today ILL wash and clean the boxes very good and put new frames but it is nice to know that I can start soaking the contaminated frames for future use. In my area of Ca. our problem is wax moth and ants. I had a strong colony and was about to add a second brood box when I made this fatal mistake. Thanx again for sharing.
Great advice again. Just need some rubber boots and good to go. I use Perico frames will have to try this!
Thanks Michael,
I try to make beekeeping easier for other people and myself. The cell caps popping out does make it a bit messy.
yea but you have to scrape those suckers. that's the time killer. did you try this with out scraping?
I always scraped the foundation to get whatever usable wax I could that is around the darkened brood area. Without scraping I think it would be a lot messier with all that comb flying around but give it a try and let us know how it worked.
Did you try pressure washing without the detergent?
Yes I did and the cell plugs didn't pop out as easily as when the foundation has been soaked in the dish detergent solution.
Amazing idea I have so much to clean! but i wonder after two weeks of soaking the frames would they smell like detergent and how did the bees react when you reinstalled them?
Hi hunter,
Once my frames were cleaned I let them dry off and then recoat them with beeswax. So between the washing and letting the foundation dry off any smell will dissipate. The best way I found to recoat foundation was with the cleaned foundation in the frame and using a 4" wide with a 3/8 inch nap paint roller, I also tried brushes and a 4" foam roller. Dipping with 100% beeswax would probably work better if you had enough wax and a large melter, I tried the one dipping method on TH-cam using water with the melted wax on top and dipping slowly, lets just say I wasn't impressed on the way it came out.
@@jeffwillard2417 thank you for your knowledge is very helpful, God bless you.
A cup of dish detergent would wash a LOT of dishes. Did you experiment with the amount?
I wanted the solution to be strong enough to cut through the beeswax and a cup seemed to work, so I stayed with that amount. You can cut the Clorox in half, that was used as a disinfectant.
All I can say is I love this.
Thank you Misha...
How you recoat wax?
With the melted beeswax I tried a 3" wide paint brush, a 4" foam roller and a 3/8" thick 4" wide nap paint roller and the 3/8" thick nap paint roller did the best job by far. Put the foundation back into the frame and roll the melted wax on the foundation over the pot of melted wax all the excess wax will run back into the pot of wax and as they say Easy Peasy........
Can we come by and use your pressure washer, LOL, Thanks for the GREAT info
Hi Dianna,
Just bring that nasty foundation over and we'll have a pressure washer cleaning party just don't forget to bring the beer.........
how much bleach should i use and do i have to let it sit for two weeks or can i get away with just 1 week?
Hi Ivan,
I originally used 2 cups bleach and 1 cup detergent. The bleach was to sterilize the foundation and the detergent is to loosen the wax on the brood cell cups. Try cleaning a foundation after a 1 week soak to see but I have found soaking a longer period is usually better.
Wow, this is great! Just to be sure... did you use any water in the tub or literally was it all bleach and detergent?
Hello,
Just put the fondation in the tote add clorox and when it is almost full of water add the liquid soap, otherwise it will be all foam. Have fun.....
Had someone gave me some old equipment it has lots of plastic foundation that I left. Might have to go back and get them now..
Hello Dfishman,
This has really helped me to quickly clean up that nasty foundation, I'm sure it will work for you also.
can you do it with the wood frame on it?
Hi Desmond,
I wouldn't, the soaking required is for two weeks or longer, this would have adverse effect on the nails, staples and also on the wood itself. You also need a huge container for the frames plus a large weight just to hold them down.
Hello. Great idea, like you say, cheap and easy. I have one question: how much water should you add to the bleach-dishwashing mix? Your video shows you removing the dirty frames from lots of liquid (maybe half full?) in the 58 quart tub. Did you really use just bleach and dishwashing liquid? Thank you.
Hello s hayes,
That is all I used bleach and liquid dish detergent soap nothing else. I put the foundation in the tote first and then added the bleach and next the soap, so the tote probably was half or more filled with water and the mixture. I used the 58 quart tote because that was what I had and it fit the frames, you could go larger or smaller to fit your needs. I think the bleach and soap could be a 1 to 1 mix, the bleach was to disinfect and the soap is to break down the bees wax inside the cell cups. Have fun ....
Thank you Sir Bless you !
The next big hurtle that I can't find anyone talking about is how to DRY the sheets.
They MUST BE 100% bone dry prior to waxing in order to have good bonding.
The plastic just does not want to dry!!!
I have hundreds of sheets to coat with wax.
What I did is cut a 1/2" cerf, 1" apart down the length of a 2 x 4, place the sheets in the cerfs and place next to our wood stove.
Getting about 46 per day dried so it's going to take forever, but oh well!
You could try misting each frame with rubbing alcohol, shake off excess, then allow alcohol to rapidly evaporate.
I ended up making drying racks and setting them next to the wodd stove. Dries them overnight 48 at a time.@@paulchristu996
Do you rewax them after they are cleaned up
Hi Kyle,
Yes, the best way I found to wax recoat the cleaned and dry foundation was with the foundation in the wooden frame and using a 4" wide with a 3/8 inch nap paint roller, I also tried brushes and a 4" foam roller. Dipping with 100% beeswax would probably work better if you had enough wax and a large melter, I tried the one dipping method on TH-cam using water with the melted wax on top and dipping slowly, lets just say I wasn't impressed on the way it came out.
Need cost analysis... How many sheets of plastic foundation can you buy for the price of a pressure washer?
A hundred sheet case of new 8-1/2" Rite Cell from Mann Lake is $90.00. I had well over 200 sheets that I had saved through the years waiting for an easy way to be to be cleaned. An electric pressure washer costs between $100.00 and $130.00 that you would use for years on various other projects, so for me it was cost effective. If you only had a few sheets to clean try soaking them and then use a scrub brush or a power nozzle for the garden hose, the soaking may loosen it up to be cleaned even by those two ways also but it would just take longer.
everybody has a pressure washer
Go to car wash if you don't have pressure washer.
the 10 thousand dollars question is will the bees build on it again after so much chemical smells are on it?
The very first batch that I cleaned I let dry and aired out before I recoated with wax. The bees quickly started building comb on it. I did reduce the Clorox to a 1/2 a cup which is more than enough to disinfect the foundation while it is soaking, you could probably just use soap and get good results also.
We look alike,I am a big man myself.I am 58.
It's good to know that there is more good looking men out there like me :) :) :), I'm at 66 years and counting.....
Have the best Mr. Jeff!
Hello there. Excellent presentation. Thank u for sharing.
Thank you and your very welcome...
I've got stacks of these waiting for this idea.
I bet we had the same size piles of dirty foundation. This is a time saver, happy cleaning......
Get a steamer
I hate to waste money and I use what I have on hand, besides I'm frugal, my 17 year old pickup truck states that.
sweet..i did the pressure washer and it worked good without soaking ..Ill try your clorox/dawn looks like it works mo bedda
Hi Mike,
You know me, I like to make anything I do quick and easy. I'll email you to catch up.
If you have access to a commercial size ultrasonic tank with the detergent - they work quite well...
Hello again Brian,
Your getting way to technical for this poor old beekeeper but thanks for your idea.......
Sorry, wasn't tryin' to get technical - just happens I have one in my shop... I have friends come by to clean all kinds of odd things in it (some jet engine parts last week) - NOT sayin' run out and buy one!
The pressure washer works fine. We use those for some pretty strange cleaning jobs as well :)
Great way to clean it if you have it ... the easiest way is don’t us it lol
I came up with the same idea, but I didn't use dish detergent. I never was able to get all the cocoon residue out. Now, ' I'll add dish detergent. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Blaine,
Your welcome, the way Dawn Dish detergent breaks down grease was the magic ingredient, now I sound like a Dawn Dish detergent commercial. Have fun.......