Sponges won't get clean

I have been trying to wash my sponges in the washer but they still have residual paint in them when they get out. WTF? I wash them on heavy duty, tried hot and cold water, and running them through twice. What am I doing wrong?????

Are they just stained? If it really bothers you you can dye them black. Some others have and it seems to last.

No, it is paint. If I take one out and put soap on it, it foams up with loads of paint.

That is weird.

Hand wash.  With Ivory bar soap.  The washing machine does not work the paint out of the sponges.

And if you want to take it a step further try Reef Botanical's Purity Soap - I wash all my brushes with it and the sponges that are being stubborn.  

I've got examples in this blog post

https://shannonfennell.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/squeaky-clean/

Thanks, Shannon. I will try that out. It's just so MANY fracking sponges to wash by hand

When I am working all my used sponges go in a bucket with water and I empty my water into the same bucket when I change it. The sponges stay wet which helps to make them easier to clean.

When I get home I dump out the dirty water then rinse and squeeze the sponges a couple times, then fill the bucket with hot water and let them soak - often for overnight or longer. Then dump, squeeze and rinse again. THEN wash with soap, just grab a handful of sponges in the bucket and the bar of soap and suds them all up, working the soap into the particularly soiled ones.

Then fill up with hot water and let them soak again. The dump, squeeze and rinse again. If there is till lingering paint... repeat.

My sponges are mostly years old (some are 14 years old) and very very few are "stained."

What do you do if you have a two day gig?

Take enough sponges. I regularly do 6-8 painter jobs and never have run out of sponges. Close, but never have.

I take two buckets for myself on a 4-8 hour gig, for the two-day events I just restock from my supply.

If I'm out-of-town for a multiple day event - I wash the sponges when I get back to the hotel and hang them over the heat/vent/AC in a laundry bag overnight so they can be used again if needed. If I have enough I soak and rinse so they aren't holding the colour until I get home to wash properly.

Listen to Shannon. Soaking is key. If I don't have a bucket, as in, a 2-3 HR job, I soak them when I get home.

I'm working on a blog showing how to dye sponges black. Stay Tuned.

I think the dying black instructions are on the forum somewhere - from the last time it came up.

yes there is, that's where i got the idea. but the blog i'm writing is going to be far more detailed and go over some of the finer details.

how will I know when your blog is up?

During the summers, I have been painting at an 18 day event, 8 hours a day, for 2-5 painters, and I supply all the sponges. I have over 1,500 sponges.
One of my favourite stores in the whole wide world is a place called Canadian Tire. I buy a $3 package of 8 sponges and carve them into wedges with an electric carving knife. For $3... I end up having 128-200 sponges.
It annoys my family when I start cutting up the sponges.
That is okay.
I have replaced my family with two practice heads.
xoxoxo
(Also, I soak my sponges on the job. When they get too Stainy McStainerson.... I dye them black).

I am going back into my box now,
to count sponges.
xoox

i wish i had a cookie for every sponge you have

i bet your box is very cushy

What type of sponges do you cut up Fesspainter? I suppose they are not specific face painting sponges?

The sponges are high density sponges. Don't buy the ones that have big, blobbly holes in a random pattern. The peanut-shaped yellow sponges used for washing cars are good. Tack sponges from an equine supply store are good. The green foam used for upholstery are good.
I usually add another 10 sponges to each order from the FacePaintForumShop, and retire the sponges that I cut weird.
And, um, jlirie?
There are a heck of a lot of crumbs in my box.
xoxoxo

You always have to rinse and take the paint out of the sponges before you put them on the washer, if you don't want to put them in the dryer, it helps a lot lying them on paper towels, they will dry overnight, I live in Florida so we don't have heathers.

I never used the "general" sponges, will do so over the weekend.
That should save me lots of money.