How much of your shop time do you spend cleaning or tidying up?

I try to keep a somewhat neat and clean area to work, but it seems Im spending more time with the shop vac and putting things away and back in their place than I am actually working a piece.
Do you clean up everytime you work, once a week, once a month, or just wait till youre knee deep in tools and stuff and let the wind blow the sawdust out of the shop?

allen levine said:

I try to keep a somewhat neat and clean area to work, but it seems Im spending more time with the shop vac and putting things away and back in their place than I am actually working a piece.
Do you clean up everytime you work, once a week, once a month, or just wait till youre knee deep in tools and stuff and let the wind blow the sawdust out of the shop?

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yes

allen levine said:

I try to keep a somewhat neat and clean area to work, but it seems Im spending more time with the shop vac and putting things away and back in their place than I am actually working a piece.
Do you clean up everytime you work, once a week, once a month, or just wait till youre knee deep in tools and stuff and let the wind blow the sawdust out of the shop?

Click to expand...

Actually, I generally sweep up at the end of the work day... I keep tools where they are supposed to be when I'm not using them or else I'll spend too much time looking for them.. and unfortunately, I have a closed shop and the wind isn't much help.

I tend to work until my bench is full, then clean it up. I do try to keep my work area open and free, but it doesn't usually go that way. I also often have lots of shavings on the floor, which I sweep up some of the time.

Not often enough, and not thorough enough...

I think my problem is the amount of 'stuff' in the shop exceeds the available space to put it, so I probably spend more time re-arranging stuff rather than putting it away...

I've been trying for 3 weeks to get the shop cleaned up after getting the OSB up on the finishing room. Thought for sure this past weekend. LOML keeps having other thoughts. But I'm not working on anything until I get all the OSB cuttings from using the jig saw and circular saw. It's a mess and very slick. Did get a new light up last weekend in the finishing room. Took the old T12 8 footer down and now need to get rid of the bulbs and fixture. Jim.

Once I started a small stack in the shop, it was all over. Need to get back in gear and finish more shelves and get things organized.

To answer your question Allen I clean up after I'm done working in my shop for the day. It takes about 10 minutes to put tools away and sweep or vacum up any mess. I find that sometimes the next time I'm in the shop I might not be working on the same project and it lets me get going quicker on the project at hand. Loml hates it cause I can tell when she has been in my stuff since she can never put it back the same way.

And for the record I was never like this till I got my cyclone and dust collection system set up. Doing this one thing makes it so much easier to keep it clean and organized.

I'm kind of a clean nut. I try and clean up the dust off the machine and floor after every operation. Besides, if I track dust and chips upstairs the lady of the house yells at me.

allen levine said:

I try to keep a somewhat neat and clean area to work, but it seems Im spending more time with the shop vac and putting things away and back in their place than I am actually working a piece.
Do you clean up everytime you work, once a week, once a month, or just wait till youre knee deep in tools and stuff and let the wind blow the sawdust out of the shop?

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stop trying to get out of it allen you have to tidy up from time to time, or you will find that you won't be able to find some small tools that are buried under the dust/chips/shavings...

ken werner said:

I tend to work until my bench is full, then clean it up. I do try to keep my work area open and free, but it doesn't usually go that way. I also often have lots of shavings on the floor, which I sweep up some of the time.

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That pretty much describes me, too.

I find it also matters what I'm doing. If it's a household DIY project, well the stuff just seems to pile up and doesn't get put away, because I'm in the shop getting something, going somewhere else and doing something, etc...

If It's a dedicated shop project, I'm usually able to get the place organized and keep it (relatively) organized while I'm working and at the end of the day.

But DIY projects, forget it. They take a long time and generate a huge mess...

It depends on what mode I'm in. If I'm just doing casual shop projects, I tend to clean up at the end of each day, and usually try to keep things picked up and put away as I go. If I'm in more of a production mode, where I'm planning to be back the next day to resume where I left off, I'll often leave chips on the floor and tools sitting where I left them (and where I know I'll need them next). I do scoop up the chips if they start getting too deep...if the lathe starts seeming shorter, it's time to clean up the curlies. Lately, I've been in production mode getting ready for a show at the end of the month, so the only times I've done any serious cleaning is when someone is coming by to visit the shop.

After a project I try to clean up and put everything away. Sometimes in mid project when stuff get's cluttered I'll stop and straighten up. I usually try and sweep the floor fairly regularly to keep from tracking saw dust in the house, for some odd reason the wife tends to get aggravated when I do that. Like my grandmother used to say I think I have old timers. If I lay something down in 1.3 seconds I can't remember where I put the dang thing. It seems like I spend more time looking for stuff than building things.

Cleaning only happens between big projects or when it get to deep from the little projects. Or when I have no place to put anything down to work on it any more.

when someone is coming by for a visit sometimes.

Don Baer said:

when someone is coming by for a visit sometimes.

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Nope not even for the ambassador him self Ask him he'll tell ya

People tease me about how clean my shop is but, it really isn't. I have a "put away" place for the things I use most near the areas where I use them. I return things to their place as I work and put away the last 2 or 3 things before I leave the shop.

I don't get out the drill, drill one hole, put away the drill, get out the drill, drill one hole, put away the drill, get out the drill, drill one hole, put away the drill or anything like that. When I am done drilling holes it is just as easy to un-chuck the bit and put it in the index, take a couple steps and put the drill motor where it goes as it is to set it all down where I know it will be right where I need to put something else that I am using .

LOML keeps a 'big bag' of a purse. She is forever pawing through stuff to find her phone or her wallet. I prefer to have a "place" for my phone or my wallet (no I don't carry a purse ). I just don't understand why someone would put themselves through the frustration of trying to find something they use time and again as opposed to just putting it where it goes .


I also don't suffer items to just "sit over there" because that's where it got set down. If it doesn't have a place, make one. If you don't have room for a place, put it out in the shed or over the rafters or give it away/sell it; whatever. If it isn't important enough to have a proper place in the shop, it doesn't warrant sucking up the space.

Maybe there's something wrong with me. Should I enjoy wondering where the double-square went that I had 5 minutes ago? What I did with that clamp? Where my marking tool is?

Glenn, now we know why your place looks like something out of FWW. You and Glassman would get along great.