Tips from a Volunteer Pot Washer

By: Joyce Tomaselli, posted March 2025

Do you enjoy working in your garden or taking a walk in the woods? It’s a chance to chill out, accomplish something tangible and let your mind wander. I’ve found that washing pots for re-use gives me that same reward. And it supports Wild Woods’ commitment to sustainability.

After some experimentation, I’ve become quite efficient. Each tray has three stacks of about 35 pots each. I can finish a tray in less than an hour Including set-up and clean-up. Here’s how.

I have three sinks in the kitchen – for washing, for rinsing and for draining — and a sturdy brush.

  • Fill the washing sink with hot water. Add dish soap and some bleach. Add the stack of pots to start soaking, Fill the rinse sink. Ensure the drain sink is clean. (I turn on a radio.)
  • Start washing. Hold the brush in one hand. With the other hand, pick up a pot by the bottom and turn it 4 times. Clean the inside with the brush and use your thump/palm to rub soil off the outside and roots from the bottom.
  • Toss the clean pot into the rinse water. It will sink. Continue until the stack # 1 is finished. Add stack #2 to the wash sink to soak. (Change the wash water when it’s dirty.)
  • Take a moment to straighten your neck and back. Stretch your hands. Do a few toe lifts.
  • Swish the pots in the rinse sick and stack them neatly upside down in the drain sink. That makes them easier to pick up later. Wash stack # 2 tossing them in the rinse sink. Soak stack # 3 in the wash sink.
  • Watch for birds outside and the occasional squirrel. Scold the dogs for barking at crows.  
  • Place the drained pots from stack # 1 neatly on a rack or newspaper to finish drying. (Yes, I still read news printed on paper.) Move the rinsed pots from stack #2 to the drain sink. Wash stack #3. By now you get the picture!
  • When the pots are dry (I leave them overnight), stack them and return them to the flat.

Note: some pots have small cracks from when plants were removed. Those pots can usually be repaired. When I am turning the pot to wash it, I can usually feel any cracks or hear the pot “crinkle”. I put those pots aside to rinse, dry and return noting they need repair.