Hey all, it's been a while since I've gotten messy (don't you hate it when life gets in the way of your WAM?). But I've recently moved into a new place by myself where I'm going to have a lot more opportunities to get messy. Because of this, I was wondering for myself and for anyone else getting messy, if there was any "life hacks" that could be used to make the whole process of getting messy by yourself go a little smoother. This could be in terms of the mess, the preparation, the cleanup, whatever. This sort of just popped into my head so if it's off topic or whatever then sorry. Hope we could maybe get a nice thread going here.
Thanks!

When I shoot at home I tend to throw down 2mil plastic sheeting from home depot and shoot not more than a night or two before trash pickup so after cleanup I can just ball up the plastic with all leftover containers etc inside of it, drop it in the trash can and take it to the curb. No floor scrubbing, carpet cleaning or anything else required.

Being an apartment dweller in a more urban area I've usually just resolved myself to confining my exploits to the bathtub.

However, at one of my old places a friend and myself did some slime and pies near the edge of the woods off to the side and just sort of let nature run its course. Picked up all the noticeable pieces of pie shell and the tins and by the end of the next rain you could hardly even tell, and since it was out of the way, I don't think anybody even noticed or cared.

If you have a patch of woods nearby and can either get yourself mostly cleaned off before going back inside, or if you can manage to get inside discreetly (if you care if someone happens to see you, that is), that was the easiest cleanup job ever; which is to say, none at all. Just be sure to use stuff that'll easily wash away in the rain.

Clean up tip. Call Mom. If she loves you she will gladly help you clean up. Besides its probably way past due since she last heard from you. Kill two birds with one stone.

This is exactly what I do (Heavier duty "contractor grade" trash bags are highly recommended). I also duct tape down all of the sheeting so it stays in place during the session.

I can probably clean up the site of a 25-pie barrage in less than 10 minutes.

- Lay double plastic sheets to cover everything. take trajectory into account.
- Garbage dispenser at the sink is your best friend for the first cleaning
- Keep sink water in bottles/buckets in case the water will be shutdown for some reason
- Have a general plan
- Check out the holiday specials

- come over to my place and get messy here, because then I'll have to do all the cleanup
- don't bring your boyfriend because that's just an added expense
- don't wear any clothes because that's one more thing to wash afterwards

I can attest to this as well. In our most recent shoots I went one step further and bought an inflatable pool, which I then lined with those plastic drop cloths. I haven't personally used 2mm, but I can't imagine it'd hurt. Depending on how much mess you'll be making, it'd be wise to go thicker. DEFINITELY go thicker on the trash bags, as they can be absurdly heavy, depending on how messy you're getting.

One thing I've improved on over time is the 'escape route' after we're done getting messy - the room I use is just down the hall from the shower, so I lay a little path of plastic drop cloths along the floor to make sure footprints or dripping mess don't land on the floor. Oh also, if you or somebody else is planning on filming, make sure you/they can keep their hands clean in case they need to work any cameras. I usually have a washcloth, paper towels and warm water handy for that. A little forethought on the logistics end definitely pays off in the long run.

The cleanup has gotten progressively (and noticeably) swifter every time I've made a mess, regardless of whether it's been alone or with another. At this point, my biggest constraint is the amount of pies I can keep handy; I'm running out of space! Still hoping to go beyond 50 pies someday...

Part of our escape route to the tub when we've been shooting in the back yard involves taking the plastic shopping bags from when we were buying the cake supplies, having the model step into them, tying the handles around the ankle and voila safety booties to keep the floor/carpet clean on the way through the house. Science bless having paved privacy walled back yard!

Paper plate "shoes" also work pretty well

Here's my hack on the set up/prep. I use five gallon buckets to mix up cake batter slime and generic cool whip for pies. Use a drywall mud paddle and a drill, and you can mix up a commercial amount of supplies in no time. Then for prepping a room, I used to use a staple gun to secure the plastic sheeting, but too many holes in the walls. Now I use a ladder or piece of lumber jammed between floor and ceiling to secure plastic sheeting around my play areas. When done, lower the lumber/ladders and no damage to the walls. Roll everything up and you're finished.

If you use a shower stall, remove the drain covering.

Then, use the shower curtain as plastic sheeting.

When you're done, lift the shower curtain back, and shower as normal.

Designate 3-5 old bath towels as your "WAM towels" and use these to wipe off the drippy parts of the mess before heading to the shower. You'll have to wash some nasty towels (seperate load) but to me, that's better than laying out a plastic sheeting pathway. Also, a designated pair of WAM shower sandals is a good idea!

Come pay us a visit and we will let you use our home/studio for your messy play time.

if you're using the tub, plug the drain completely first! Scoop the pie crusts and other solid items into the toilet that is undoubtedly right next to the tub and flush them away - then run a nice hot bath to dilute whatever goo is left in the tub so that it goes down the drain easily.

A couple hints I have for cleaning clothes that you don't just toss afterwards:

-Have a bucket of hot water, 1 cup of baking soda, (mix CAREFULLY!), then add 1-2 cups of vinegar slowly, add essential oils if preferred (I like citrus scents to cut the cream smell)
- Place messy clothes in the bucket and let soak over night
-Then throw into the wash like normal

This helps to cut the cream grease and smells down. If it still smells the next day, repeat the bucket step with super hot water. I have also found that this process helps get chocolate stains out. Castille soap is also pretty amazing for getting stains out (I actually use it to make all of my household cleaners)

I like hiking in the woods, finding good natural mud then making my way to a spot of water for a light cleaning before going home to shower. At home I rarely get very messy, maybe a cake, carton of eggs in the bathtub. (BTW smashing a cake then mixing it with raw eggs makes a hornyliscious slimey goo.)

The key to home WAMing in one's own baff tub is to be cautious of what goes down that drain. So far, I have found that that shaving cream is not a problem for drains, but anything that could potentially stick to the sides of the pipes could prove problematic (flour, cake mix, gram cracker crusts; all seem to be risky for dumping down the drain. I personally have not experienced any problems with these substances, but I wouldn't encourage taking a serious risk with it either).

Dump as little food into the drains as possible outside what is showered off the body

Routinely dose your plug holes and drains with drain unblocker

Someone ought to make a life hack viral video for WAM clean up with inane subtitles and a nauseating plinky-plonk ukulele stock soundtrack

Plastic sheeting is brilliant, have your waste bag and a load of baby wipes handy for initial cleaning of hands and major gooey bits, shower, then roll up the sheeting and pop in your waste bag.
Then just wipe down any over splatter from walls etc.
Cream smell is a nightmare to get out of clothes, I'll be trying the bucket trick there but a good soak in bicarb and hot water in the sink before you wash does help. Prep is key!

For what it's worth, in my experiences it's best to use an inflatable kiddie pool or a bathtub if you have it available, and definitely lay down plastic sheets. Don't forget to account for walls though and go as close to the ceiling as you can because mess will bounce off of whatever it hits and head in any direction it cane after that. Also, assume that you're going to find a way to make a mess anyway so don't use anything that is permanent. For example, if you're doing paint-filled balloons, it will go EVERYWHERE. I once had to spend a week and a half cleaning my apartment after that and I still couldn't get it out of the carpet completely.

Hope this helps!

Nate

There is a mix that is cheap, non-toxic, easy to wash off and can be prepared within minutes with a kitchen mixer:
- clay powder
- beet sirup
- sparkling water
- pigments, if needed
Just heat the sludge up a bit and poor it over your model. Enjoy

"the tarp shuffle!!"

we have loads of little 1ml tarps that we kinda use around the area where we shoot, maybe on a wall that might get a little pie fling or in front of us to adjust the camera if we dont have a camera guy....use the same tarp and grab the front and do the "tarp shuffle" to the shower! its plenty big and you can even fit two or three girls on it if you are careful! XD always works and can serve for more than one purpose and you can get 3 packs of them at walmart

Sounds a very good idea

If you're using graham cracker crust and need to peel the tin pan edges back to remove the plastic covering, peel back 1/4 of the edge and the plastic cover should just slide out. I learned this after peeling back the entire edge to remove the plastic and then pushing the edges back to avoid any sharp edges when the pie is thrown. It's the little things that make a big difference, especially when you need to open 20 or more pie crusts...

This one is VERY important, and often overlooked. I should have posted this one myself, shame on me.

Thanks for all the tips everyone, they've all been super helpful and the number of people reaching out to me privately is amazing too. It's been great talking to people over the past few days, made me realize again what an amazing community this is!


P.S. Just a question if anyone could answer regarding this, I've seen some producers use pies not in the tins and just the crust. How does that work and would it even be worth it to try or just better to stick with the tins?

Crust on own works better for breakage

Not nearly a producer, but in my experience tinless pies tend to work better for throwing than self-pieing. Half the fun of a self pie (for me) is the "smoosh" which, if you're heavy handed, tends to turn into broken crust and more filling-on-hands than filling-on-face without a pie backing.