Nobody warns you about this.
Sourdough baking is 10% mixing, 10% rising, 10% baking…
and 70% cleaning flour glue off every surface you’ve ever loved.
Flour sticks.
Dough clings.
Starter dries into cement.
And somehow there’s always a sticky spot on the floor, even though you swear nothing fell.
Here’s how to clean like a human — not a professional baker with magical bakery elves.
1. Use a Bench Scraper. Everywhere.
Your #1 weapon.
Your Excalibur.
Your flour-fighting blade.
Scrape dough off:
counters
cutting boards
your hands
the sink (don’t rinse dough chunks down the drain — scrape them!)
Never underestimate the scraper.
2. Cold Water FIRST. Always.
Hot water + flour = glue. glue. GLUE.
Cold water dissolves the starch without turning it into wallpaper paste.
Rinse with cold, then wash with warm.
This one tip saves relationships.
3. For Dried-On Starter: The Soak of Shame
Did you forget to wash the jar?
Has it turned into cement?
Is it personally mocking you?
Fill with cold water and walk away.
Starter melts with time — not force.
Let the shame soak off.
4. Flour Sweeps Better Than It Wipes
Grab a dry cloth or a small broom, not a wet sponge.
Wet sponge = flour paste
Dry cloth = satisfying dust cloud
Scoop, not smear.
5. Clean As You Go (Even Though You Won’t)
Every baker knows this rule.
Every baker ignores this rule until dough is up their elbow.
But truly:
rinse tools before dough dries
wipe spills quickly
scrape boards between folds
It will save your sanity.
6. The Towel Sacrifice
Your favorite towel will get dough on it.
Don’t panic.
Rinse in cold water, then wash.
Do NOT toss it into the laundry dry.
You will create a towel sculpture.
7. Oil Trick for Hands
Just a tiny bit of oil rubbed on your hands before working sticky dough = zero sticking.
Bonus: silky soft baker hands.
8. When In Doubt, Let It Dry
It sounds wrong…
but dried dough flecks scrape off WAY easier than sticky fresh dough.
Let it crust over.
Then pop it off like satisfying little fossils.
Your kitchen isn’t messy — it’s lived in.
Bread magic comes with crumbs, streaks of flour, and a little chaos on the counters.
Cleaning up isn’t punishment — it’s the last step of the ritual.
A return to calm, warmth, and that quiet pride that says:
“I baked something beautiful today.”
The Wild Crumb 
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