Overheard a guy at the supply yard say he never cleans his mixer drum

I was picking up a pallet of red commons yesterday at ABC Supply in Denver, and this older bricklayer was telling the counter guy he hasn't washed out his mixer in 15 years. Just lets the mortar harden and chips it out when he needs to use it again. I thought that was insane, especially since I spend 20 minutes after every batch scrubbing mine out. Has anyone else tried going that long without cleaning, or am I just wasting my water bill?

2 comments

2 Comments

xenawhite2d ago

My dad was a plasterer back in the 80s and he treated his hawk and trowel the same way. Let everything crust up between jobs and then beat it clean with a hammer before the next one. Drove his helper crazy but he swore the built-up layers kept the mud from sticking too fast.

noranguyen2d ago

That 'built-up layers kept the mud from sticking too fast' part from @xenawhite really got me thinking. I used to think all that caked on mortar was just laziness, but maybe there's actually something to letting it build up over time. Now I'm wondering if I've been way too picky about scrubbing my mixer clean every single time.