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Greg Just
03-22-2008, 11:54 AM
How do you guys keep the dust in your workshop, specifically the stuff on the bottom of your feet? My workshop is at the back end of a finished basement and I track the dust on my feet over the hardwood and carpet. I have a floor mat, but it doesn't do the job. What do you use?

Thanks for the suggestions!

Ken Fitzgerald
03-22-2008, 12:01 PM
Greg......I typically blow myself off with an air hose....then I have a floor mat that IIRC is made from the dried coconut husks... It's thick....about 1 1/2" .....I wipe my feet before leaving the shop.

Rick Levine
03-22-2008, 12:04 PM
First of all I have a good DC system installed. I also have a couple of hanging Delta air cleaners. But mostly my shop is a separate building about 75 feet from the house. I live in a rural area with no paved roads nearby so wood dust is not the main issue. How's that for a stealth gloat?

JayStPeter
03-22-2008, 12:16 PM
It's not always the stuff on the bottom of my shoes that's the problem. It's the stuff on the top of my shoes or in the folds of my clothes. I'm with Ken on the solution. Compressed air rules.

Richard Daly
03-22-2008, 12:28 PM
I leave my slippers where I change into my work shoes. Then change back to slippers .I don't like my wife b.. complaining that i'm tracking dust thru the house.. When i'm running to the john I don't have time to clean up the floor..

Keep fingers out of joiners....Stubby:o

Jason Beam
03-22-2008, 1:02 PM
I have "Shop shoes" and they are not allowed to venture much more than 3' away from the door into the house.

Steve Rozmiarek
03-22-2008, 2:50 PM
First of all I have a good DC system installed. I also have a couple of hanging Delta air cleaners. But mostly my shop is a separate building about 75 feet from the house. I live in a rural area with no paved roads nearby so wood dust is not the main issue. How's that for a stealth gloat?

Great to live in the sticks isn't it! Till it rains anyhow...

BOB OLINGER
03-25-2008, 10:42 AM
Greg, if you don't have compressed air, you can do reasonably good with the shop vac reversed to blow instead of vacuuming. Also, put down a wet towel or similar at your entrance to wipe your shoes as you come and go - this is very effective.

Rick Hubbard
03-25-2008, 11:09 AM
Here's what I use. There are lots of variants of this available, for a wide range of prices. I have 2 that I got from Chick's Discount Saddlery for about $9.00 each. They really work, but you DO need to remeber to use them when leaving the shop (which, according to my wife, is a task I seem to have trouble with):D.

Rick

John Michaels
03-25-2008, 11:12 AM
Try a large brush like the kind you wash the car with. Run it over the bottom of your feet. Helps if the brush is nice and dry (ie, you haven't washed the car with it recently).

Prashun Patel
03-25-2008, 11:16 AM
I leave my slippers where I change into my work shoes. Then change back to slippers .I don't like my wife b.. complaining that i'm tracking dust thru the house.. When i'm running to the john I don't have time to clean up the floor..

LOL! I thought I was the only one!!!

Prashun Patel
03-25-2008, 11:17 AM
The best solution is to have dedicated shoes for in and out of the shop.

Rod Sheridan
03-25-2008, 12:23 PM
I'm with Rick, I also have a boot brush in my shop.

My shop is in the basement, I have a good cyclone, so dust is minimal, unless it's shavings from hand tools, and those are large enough to be taken care of by the boot brush.

Regards, Rod.

Peter Quinn
03-25-2008, 12:29 PM
I have a laundry room adjacent to my basement shop where I go to change my shoes and clothes as neccesary. I have a dedicated pair of work shoes and a few pairs of carhart pants that never come into the house dirty. My crawling 1 year old puts the world in his mouth, he's a good reminder to keep the dust downstairs. When it was just me and my wife I did as I pleased and left the earplugs in if she started complaining...:D:D:D

Greg Peterson
03-25-2008, 1:14 PM
Dedicated shop shoes and air hose will do the trick.

However, if there is dust on the floor then the DC isn't working well enough. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of dust on my floor and I'm not trying to hijack this thread. But dust on the floor is a kind of the canary in the coal mine.

The day I can walk into the house with my shop shoes is the day my DC is working effectively. :)

Chris Padilla
03-25-2008, 1:52 PM
You need a "floormat downdraft" table! ;)

I'm picturing one of those "shower tubes" you see folks getting scrubbed down in when they are subjected to high radiation or the "body drier" seen in Blade Runner where you can go shake yourself and have the air movement take all the dust away.

:D

Brian Penning
03-25-2008, 2:17 PM
I've always felt that having these high end DC units is a bit of a joke. Sure you may get all the sawdust, etc. when you use whatever jointing, planing, cutting, routing machine you have BUT until you can get all the sawdust from hand sanding you're still gonna get dust all over the place. I hear the Festool sanders come close but I still have to do a lot of hand sanding after.
I like Chris's idea though...lol

Art Mulder
03-25-2008, 2:29 PM
The best solution is to have dedicated shoes for in and out of the shop.

This.

I also have a mat -- but it is a very "open" mat, with 3/4" diameter honeycomb holes in it, and it traps a lot of dust. But taking my shoes off outside the shop door is probably the best solution for keeping sawdust out of the shop.

I have also recently become a convert to wearing a shop apron. It hangs right by the door inside the shop. That also keeps dust off my clothes.

(and of course the DC is running and the air cleaner is running...)

Greg Peterson
03-25-2008, 3:27 PM
... until you can get all the sawdust from hand sanding you're still gonna get dust all over the place...

Getting shavings and larger particle saw dust is the easy part. Getting fine particles is the challenge. Even having a cyclone doesn't guarantee that you will capture the fines. For hand sanding, if you want to capture the fines, you'll need DC on the sander and a downdraft table as a minimum. Otherwise you can expect the fines to go wherever the air current in your shop takes 'em.

Effective dust collection is an entirely different matter from collecting saw dust and shavings.

Regardless, my shop shoes are also my yard working shoes. Steel toed low cut boot. They stay out of the house.

Raymond Fries
03-25-2008, 4:45 PM
I have shoes I wear only in the shop and just leave them at the door before entering the house. Myshop is in my attached garage.

JayStPeter
03-25-2008, 5:19 PM
The day I can walk into the house with my shop shoes is the day my DC is working effectively. :)

Ahhh, the mythical 100% dust collector. Wish I had one of those too :D:rolleyes::cool:

Scott Holt
03-25-2008, 5:27 PM
Greg-
I spent some of my former life working in a factory environment. In the paint prep area, people were given very lightweight Tyvek coveralls and slippers. I am sure that you don't want to be seen in this sort of get-up, however the premise is the same. To keep dust out of the house, see if you can find a lightweight coverall at a local industrial supply house to wear while working. This will also keep you from ruining your clothes.
As for the shoes, leave them in the shop. Also, I work in my downstairs garage, and in order to contain the dust in that one room, I'm planning to put up some "freezer/cooler" style, see-thru pleated curtains. If you are not familiar with these, ask to see them at any grocery store / Sam's Club freezer/cooler section. They will hang just inside the doors, and are designed to contain the temperature while the big doors are open. Something like this should keep the dust from making it's way upstairs into your home.

Scott

JayStPeter
03-25-2008, 5:28 PM
I'm picturing one of those "shower tubes" you see folks getting scrubbed down in when they are subjected to high radiation or the "body drier" seen in Blade Runner where you can go shake yourself and have the air movement take all the dust away.

:D

When I get my hair cut on base they use a vac on my head afterward so I'm not walking around with little itchy hairs on my head and neck. It feels pretty good when they do it, a massage of sorts. I imagine the full body version would be pretty nice ... but that could take this thread in entirely the wrong direction :cool:

Louis Rucci
03-26-2008, 11:21 AM
As I vacumn the house on a weekly basis, my wife can't much complain. If she feels the floor needs to be vacumned, I remind her where the vacumn is stored. :eek:

As for dusting, don't much remember when it was last done. :D

Gene E Miller
03-27-2008, 2:15 PM
Greetings & Salutations,

The Air Hose works good but since I live in a rual area
and my shop building is about 300 feet from the house I built
a complete 10x10 bathroom in the shop building when I put up
the 30x50 building.

So if I get really dirty a shower and clean clothes rule the day.

:D