What did you not know to do before starting your messy journey?

Me? So many here's two:

Get the clay out of your ears & chick parts quick!

Also roll up all the throw rugs before walking in because darn it that sticks to you!! Here's after and I'll put a before or two!! The mess behind me on the tile egads. I usually put up plastic but off the wall no time to!!

Thanks for sharing, Trixi.

My lesson learned the hard way . . . It starts long ago in a different house where I would re-use wam substances for a few days until they might start to go off. I'd line an inflatable wading pool with heavy plastic and load it up and have my fun, then I'd carefully fold the corners of the plastic in several times and lift the entire, rather heavy, plastic filled with mess into a large enough cardboard carton. I would then carry the carton downstairs and stash it in a cool place in the basement. All good so far . . . did it many times.

But then came the fateful day when I chose the wrong box. This one had the flaps interlocked at the bottom, but no tape. I didn't check. A few steps down my basement stairs and the bottom let go. I tried to grab at the plastic inside, but the weight of the mess caused it to pour out, all over me and over my open stairs. This was bad, because I had shelving below the stairs with tools and things carefully organized, now all covered in various food messes and needing immediate cleaning. Many hours later, things were back to normal, but if I ever transport a plastic liner of gunge again, I'll make absolutely certain that the carton is going to hold.

Oh, I just remembered an older lesson. Don't mix flour and water and expect to easily clean it up once it hardens. Today, I will mix flour with either dish soap or cooking oil and I don't eat any of it. As most of us know, flour and water creates little balls of hard dough that sticks to body hair. It also hardens into a rock-hard substance if allowed to dry.

1. Don't believe for a second that all that mess is going to go down the tub drain. It won't. Plug the drain, scoop the pie crust and filling and stuff out and flush it down the toilet, leaving as little in the tub before cleaning the tub.
2. If you're playing at a hotel, make 100% you packed a clean pair of pants. Espcially if you like having your clothes cut off. Especially if you're far from home. Make sure then make sure again.
3. Red stuff stains. Do it on saturday night so you have a day or so for it to fade before showing up to work looking like a lobster
4. Earpugs. Ear infections SUCK and explaining to your ENT doctor why there's congealed chocolate in your convoluted ear canal SUCKS worse
5. Cool Whip>Reddi Whip. Cool whip is air puffed hydrogented oil. doesn't leave a smell. Reddi whip is lactose based and the residue you inevitably have somewhere on yourself will spoil and smell
6. Clean up after yourself thoroughly if playing in a hotel, and leave a $20 for the housekeeper anyway.

I found out the hard way what level to fill the bath when filling with gunge so it doesnt go over the edge.

Also check you have hot water before getting messy, it wasn't that fun washing myself wearing gunge covered clothes with cold water.