I went through this only once before I started using a blow off tube on every batch...just in case. What I did was (if you have them) is sanitized a towel, wrapped it around the neck of the carboy, and kept a few extra bungs w/clean air locks ready to swap off at a moments notice. Then sanitized another smaller towel, and covered the air lock and top of the carboy.
For buckets, it can be harder to do this. If you are using a bucket, you need to be careful on removing the airlock each time to clean it. You can either pull out the grommet or push it inside the bucket trying to reinstall it.
What type of fermenter?