How Often do you Sweep your Shop?

[Andrew Joiner]

With your dust collection as good as you can get it, when do you sweep or vacuum? Do you still wear a dust mask when working? Sweeping and vacuuming can stir up a lot of dust so I tend to put it off.

[Thomas Bank]

Typically clean up at the end of each day.

[John Lanciani]

I put things away and vacuum at the end of each work session, I hate coming in to a messy shop. Another big advantage of putting things away is that I don't have to look for stuff as it is always where it should be. I never wear a mask in the shop, good equipment and good work practices make it unneccessary.

[Larry Whitlow]

I've gotten into the habit of cleaning up at the end of every day/session. Sweep and dump the big stuff if there is any. I vacuum the floor and tool surfaces at the end of each session. There usually isn't much. I have a dust deputy connected to a fein vac. Doesn't stir up any dust that I notice. For major tools I use an Oneida mini gorilla cyclone. Also have air filtration mounted on the ceiling which helps a lot. A while back, my throat did become irritated when working with some 25 & 40 year old walnut on the lathe. I wore a respirator when working with that stuff. Otherwise, I do not normally wear a dust mask.

[Biff Johnson]

I don't. That's what kids are for! I do clean up after each work session so I have a fresh start to the day. If lathe shavings are being tracked everywhere then I will do a quick vacuum, otherwise whenever the kids want something I barter for a shop sweep out and empty dust collector bag! Don't know what I will do when they grow up...maybe grandkids can be suckered.

[John Coloccia]

I try to sweep up while I can still find the broom.

[Jim Neeley]

I do a "bulk sweep" (90%+) each work session but the "pristine cleanings"????? ...not so often.

[Bill Whig]

Cleaning up after each day/session was the first lesson I was taught after "Put things back where you found them"

As others have observed, failing this puts a barrier into the start of your next session.

Bill

[Mac McQuinn]

I wear a mask, Vac the garage from back to front and then mop afterwards leaving house fan on blowing outwards. Go in the house and pull the mask.

Mac

[Larry Browning]

Who are you guys? Martha Stewart? Sheesh! If my shop doesn't have some sawdust here and there I would think there isn't any work being done. I cleanup maybe once a week, or just before it gets knee deep.

[Leo Graywacz]

I sweep when I have time, which isn't often. I don't make money sweeping. And cleaning up is low on my list of priorities too. I need to be is disaster area condition to do a clean up. But that is usually after a full kitchen build. The last two weeks of a kitchen build there is usually no time for cleaning.

And as for putting tools away I find it fruitless. As soon as I put them away I seem to need to take them out again. I have a pretty good dust collector and I don't get a lot of dust or chips from my machines. I do get a small bit of blow by on the panel shaper as the end of the cut is done. And the worst offender is the tablesaw from the tip of the blade. I don't have over blade collection, it's on the list.

The hand router has to be the worst offender. I don't do a vac on the router, it just gets in the way and makes things more difficult and hard to handle. The hose makes things harder to handle and I don't like it. So I just don't use it. I will usually push a broom after a good amount of routering, then suck it up with the jointer collection line, it just pops off.

[Brett Robson]

I sweep up constantly while working. I'm a bit OCD and hate walking around on shavings!

[Jon Shank]

I'm not real big on cleaning personally. I don't get a whole lot of time out in the shop, so cleaning is low on my priority list as well. I have decent dust collection now-a-days, so at least fine dust etc isn't a big problem. As far as larger chips and shavings from some turning and whatever the TS blade throws clear of the guard I don't worry about it until it starts piling up enough to be an issue. If I can't spot a turning gouge right away and look down and think it might be hiding down there in the shavings and I can't see it, then yeah, it's time for a quick vacuum. I've got the dust collection and a wand for it as well as a decent shop vac, so which ever is easiest to get to and use gets grabbed and a fairly decent cleaning gets done. Not every nook and cranny, just the bulk that's in the way. It works for me. Funny thing maybe is that I do stay pretty organized, I usually put the tools up in a fairly orderly fashion so they are where I expect them to be when I want them. So kind of half and half I guess.

Jon

[Kent A Bathurst]

Grab a broom and move floor dust-chips-curls out of the main pathways, and then sweep up after a trash-making function is complete. For example.....there might be a set of work, spanning a few days, that throws hand-held router chips around. I don't clean up completely until I'm done producing that mess, but I might push it out of the way if it gets over ankle deep............. Same thing for 20 table legs that got corners chamfered with hand plane....curls everywhere, but did not go after them until the plane got put away.

[Chris Damm]

Between the DC and a air cleaner I don't get much dust unless I'm doing a lot of hand work, so I usually vacuum once a month or so. A little dust on the floor has never bothered me!