A Clean Shop- Question of the Week
This week’s question comes from Jim. He writes:
Your shop is always soooooooo clean. Is that because:
a) You like to work in a clean environment?
b) You have a camera looking over your shoulder?
c) Your wife’s in next room and makes you clean up?
I do find your site informative and entertaining.
Keep up the good work.
And here was my reply:
“Well Jim. The truth is that I am the clean freak in the family. My wife generally pretends not to notice messiness in the house and she sure as heck doesn’t care what my shop looks like! In fact, I am still trying to teach her where the dishwasher is. She doesn’t learn very fast. :)”
“But you do bring up an important topic: shop cleanliness. A dirty shop is not only dangerous, but I personally find it stifling to my creativity. That may sound weird but I like a clear mind when I am “creating”. And seeing a bunch of stuff laying around the shop just annoys me and clogs up the limited space in my brain. So I keep it clean. Now, unlike most people, I do have a little helper. My step-dad, who also likes to see things squeeky clean, is the man behind the vacuum. He does the grunt work and helps me keep my sanity in the shop. So I do have him to thank for a large part of what you see. But ultimately, the cleanliness comes from the simple fact that I am anal.”
“Now a clean shop may not be necessary for everyone, but I do think its a good idea, if for the sake of safety alone. There is nothing worse than tripping over crap on the floor or knocking tools off the bench accidentally. One of my cleaning secrets is just a simple habit. I may have mentioned this before. I like to put 10 things away every time I enter the shop. A pencil counts as a “thing”. A screw can even count as a “thing”. But if you do this every time, youf shop WILL be cleaner. Give it a try!”
Comments
14 Responses to “A Clean Shop- Question of the Week”Speak Your Mind and Maybe Win a Prize!
Leave a comment and you could be a winner in our Wood Whisperer Giveaway!And if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Check it Out!
Premium Membership
Keep Up With TWW!
Shop our Affiliates
Latest Video
Proud to be Sponsored By:
Support our Advertisers
I was wondering why your shop was so clean too. Wanna stop by my garage and clean it up for me? Thanks.
The best podcast Marc made showed a delightful method of cleaning his shop….with a leaf blower! I managed to borrow one for fun and now my shop is much cleaner and like Marc, my dust seemed to just disappear into the wide blue yonder!
I’m the same way. I’ll (usually) do a quick clean up at the end of the day that involves putting all of my tools away and sweeping up the floor. Before the finishing stage of a project, but after the sanding, I’ll do a good shop clean-up that involves picking up everything off the floor and moving what I can to get all of the dust I can get. Once a project is done and I’ve resharpened all of my tools, I’ll even mop the place before I get started on the next one. How’s THAT for anal?
I am so not letting my wife read your response! Our relationship is the reverse of yours and Nicoles. I’m very OCD in many ways, but was not raised to notice clutter. I am trying for all the reasons you mentioned. Frankly, I’m just plain happier and way more productive when everything is in its place. I’m gonna try the 10 things, maybe that’ll work for me! God, please let it work for me!!!
Don’t be fooled. There are plenty of places I could show you in the shop that are dirty & messy ;)
now that i am divorced i feel i can let it go when i want and clean it when i want. before the divorce i felt like there were two of us and since we were a pair we needed to keep ip as clean as possible. we both cleaned on everything in and out of the house. she pitched in and helped with the shop while i pitched in and helped with the living room and bath room and so on. we just tried to make it fair for both of us. Dean
A clean shop is the sign of a craftsman. The owner of a dirty shop, where tools, junk and sawdust abound, can often be heard to say, “Good enough”, when fitting a joint.
I’m also a clean freak, but it can be very difficult to keep things organized if you don’t have enough room or storage space. I’m shy on both. Her car takes up half of the garage and my motorcycle takes up a fair amount of space as well. Fortunately, when it is time to make some sawdust, I pull the vehicles out and the tablesaw, bandsaw, jointer, planer, and Shopsmith are all on mobile bases. It isn’t convenient, but it works.
When it cools down, I’m planning to take a week off from work and build shop cabinets. The lower ones will be mobile as well and the wall mounted ones will be on a rail system. This way, when it is time to move, everything comes with me, quickly and easily.
Wish me luck…
The never ending story…… cleaning the shop……I always feel like I clean the shop just so I can tear it up again….. I have my garage set up as a perminent shop but it is not big enough. The part that drives me crazy is moving tools in and out when you use them. I am getting ready to move from Colorado to NC and the first thing coming out of the Earth is my shop (the one I want).
The things I look forward to most are: storage for my hand tools and small power tools, right now I keep them all in their cases and that takes up alot of room. A nice workbench and assembly table, right now I use my saw way too often for stuff I shouldn’t (cringe). And simply being able to walk from tool to tool without rolling things and moving D.C. hose’s………
John……..
oh yeah, cant forget about the new wood shed :)
I agree with picking up stuff, but how much residual dust escapes your dust collector? I don’t have a cyclone, I rely on my shop vac and even though I religiously hook it up to whatever tool I’m using, I still have dust that escapes and I end up sweeping at the end of a session. Any suggestions?
Hello I clean shop twice a year whether it needs it or not. It always needs it.
ONLY twice a year…geez i do like twice a week
Some of the most beautiful crafted furniture does not always come from a spotless neat shop. I have seen some pics of Mr. Maloofs shop and it’s not perfect but shows there is work being done and some very nice pieces at that. I wood love to do work like him and have my shop so messy.