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Found a weird trick for drywall mud that saved me hours
I was patching a hole in my garage last week and kept getting bubbles in the mud. Tried everything, thinner layers, different brands, nothing worked. Then an old contractor buddy told me to add a splash of dish soap to the bucket. Just a tiny bit, like a teaspoon per gallon. Mixed it in and the bubbles vanished completely. No more sanding down those stupid craters. Has anyone else tried this or got another hack for smooth mud?
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jana_jones26d ago
Did I try the dish soap trick and accidentally foam up my entire mud bucket like a bubble bath...
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ray35626d agoMost Upvoted
Every time I try to shortcut something with a "trick" like that, I end up creating twice the mess and learning the same lesson over again. It's like how people use fabric softener on towels and then wonder why they don't absorb anything anymore.
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charlescraig26d ago
7 or 8 years ago I gave up on dish soap entirely for drywall tools after learning the hard way that it messes with the joint compound's consistency if you don't rinse everything bone dry. The foam from my bucket looked like I was brewing a beer, and I spent an extra 20 minutes scraping it off the walls before the mud even stuck. What I do now is just wipe my tools with a wet rag and use a 5-in-1 to scrape off the dried bits, keeps the compound clean and no suds. Trust me, that bubble bath look is a sign to switch to just water and a good rinse. Save the soap for the dishes.
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