Cleaning Your Lab/Workshop

[German_EE]

Question: How often do you clean your lab/workshop? In my case the workshop is a spare bedroom in the apartment that is also a guest bedroom so once every couple of weeks I sweep the floor to get rid of all the solder balls and component leads. Apparently that's not enough

We have a guest coming to stay over Friday night and not only has SWMBO insisted that the floor be vacuumed but afterwards it needs to be mopped as well. Electronic/Electrical Engineering is not THAT dirty an activity (after all, Dave walks around in bare feet) so how clean is your little lair?

Must go, I have to vacuum underneath the couch 

[Electric flower]

My "lab" is my bedroom and it has relatively small workbench and usually i don't bother cleaning it because it wont stay that way for more than ten minutes, I don't have any shelves near table so i keep a lot of tools and  parts on floor  , I keep it in mess sometimes for weeks and even months at some times, I only clean it all when i know i wont be doing any projects.

Btw. working in such environment is not pain in the ass, but more like pain in the eyeball and ass too, efficiency of work is very low, most of the time i work I spend on looking some tools that moments ago i had in my hand.

[nctnico]

I clean the desks and vacuum the floor every now and then. In order to minimize the effort the vacuum cleaner is always plugged in and the hose hangs from a cabinet so it is ready to go.

[nfmax]

I find that a paperhanging brush e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/T-Class-Delta-9-inch-Paperhanging-Brush/dp/B0079X2R2U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1443087177&sr=8-4&keywords=paperhanging+brush is a great tool for cleaning down bench tops of solder splashes, wire ends, metal swarf, etc. The lack of a long handle makes it easier to get into the corners, and the bristle density is high enough to handle the tininess of the typical bench debris. You can also use it to dust off instrument control panels, etc., although you need to make sure there aren't any trapped metal bits.

[fivefish]

I clean my workbench as I go along working... if more than a few lead clippings accumulate on the bench, I sweep them with my hand and throw them into the trash can sitting just beside my desk. 

And no, I'm not OCD... I do the same thing when I'm cooking... clean the work area as I cook, in-between steps... like a chef. With cooking, it's more of a healthy habit having a clean work area to avoid making people sick who'll eat my food, avoid cross contamination and all that... and I guess the same habit transferred to working with electronics too.

[Psi]

Never trust an electronics engineer with a tidy work area.   

[German_EE]

Exactly, a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/albert-einstein-laminated-print-and-quotation-on-cluttered-desk-/400738249261

[nctnico]

Never trust an electronics engineer with a tidy work area.   

I'm the other way around. I have seen some desks covered with piles of wires and boards and asked myself how anything serious could be made there. I have setup 3 work areas on my desk (it is quite long) and have the policy of clearing a work area before working on a different project.

[fivefish]

A picture is worth a thousand words... not white-coat lab clean, bunch of papers, breadboard in progress and some crap on the workbench, and test leads hanging willy-nilly. 

[Throy]

If a cluttered desk resembles a cluttered mind... what does an empty desk resemble then?

[VK5RC]

About once a month I vacuum the floor; usually 'stuff' slowly accumulates on the desk, e.g. DMM leads, various size solder, clips, spare parts , after a week or three I am overcrowded so have to tidy up. A new project may also precipitate a clean.
Across the small room from my electronics bench is a general purpose bench where I do panel drilling, filing etc, That gets vacuumed at the same time. Lots of swarf on the floor so definitely a shoe wearing area!

[LektroiD]

Seems there's a trend of untidy work areas amongst EE's, seems to have become popular since the Jim Williams story was posted a few years back. My first job was in avionics, they were strict about keeping your working areas tidy. I continue to work on a tidy bench; I can find everything easily, and have plenty space to work.

[GreyWoolfe]

My office/workshop is an addition on the back of the house and has the only door to the back yard.  Letting the dogs in and out multiple times a day tracks a lot of dirt so I sweep the floor every couple of days.  I try to keep my workbench relatively clean as I use it for both work and hobby, but that is usually a losing proposition.  Since I am also barefoot, if I drop screws/nails/cut solder leads, etc, I try to sweep that stuff up when I am done with whatever I am working on.  So far nothing in the bottom of my feet.  Now if I can stop dropping very heavy items (big UPS and Dell PowerEdge server) on the tops of my feet, I would be in good shape.  The UPS required a trip to the hospital as it landed with a corner right at the cuticle and my big to bled like a stuck pig/swelled up double and I thought I broke my toe.  Luckily, the x-rays were negative.

Now if you look at my desk, that's another story.  I have a big desk calendar that I write things to do for the month on, but it is always buried.

[Mechanical Menace]

My 'lab' is a fold out table and a box of tricks that gets set up in my living room or bedroom depending on my mood. I've never felt a need to clean either more often or more thoroughly than I normally would, even when my 'lab' has remained their for a few weeks.

[aargee]

Vacuuming is where you hear the tinkle in the vacuum tube of that small screw or part you spent half an hour on you knees searching for without luck.
I 'reset the parts void' - vacuum - every couple of months. More effective than sweeping, which just seems to redistribute the dust.

[Psi]

Never trust an electronics engineer with a tidy work area.   

I'm the other way around. I have seen some desks covered with piles of wires and boards and asked myself how anything serious could be made there. I have setup 3 work areas on my desk (it is quite long) and have the policy of clearing a work area before working on a different project.

Maybe I should adjust it slightly

Never trust a electronics engineer who's work area is always tidy.
A messsy work area is an area where interesting things happen and a tidy work area is a sign of no work at all.


It's like if you walk into a mechanics garage and everything is clean. Tools are all bright and shiny and hanging on the wall. There are no oil spills or grease marks anywhere.
Do you trust him to get the job done? Not a change you run away

[hammy]

I vacuum every second week and the room is mopped once a month.

A tidy workplace is, in my opinion, a better place to work. No frustration due long searching for parts or tools. A lot of space on the desk helps for a clean test setup.
The Equipment is in a better condition, even after years of use.

The other positiv effect is: A customer/buyer/client shows up and you can demonstrate or show something. A representative room and workbench, clean and tidy, shows a structured and proper work style. They trust you, if you say you take especially care for something or you do something precise and accurate for them. They see the room and workbench and believe your words.

Normal people don't like such untidy and cluttered workbenchs. They can only build their impression based on what they see. Your skills are not visible for them. Only the lack of your skill to keep your workbench clean is obviously visible.
If someone gets a bad first impression it is way harder to convince them.

But this is all a different story if you only tinker on your own for hobby or you don't need to show someone your work area. Or you run a mail-order shop.

I'm only able to be creative and effective in a workplace I feel comfortable. 

BTW a tidy workplace does not look like there is no work at all. It does not mean there is no DMM lying around or some leads are on the table, or even a piece of work is at the moment under test.

If I go into a hospital and look into a surgery room it has to be clean and tidy. It does not look like there are no surgeries at all. It just looks clean and tidy. And with my lab it is the same: If there is no "surgery" going on, it is clean and tidy. This does not mean I'm not going to produce a lot of chaos during development and testing. BUT afterwards I clean it up.

I don't trust a doctor whose surgery room is spilled with blood and he tells me he is the best in his job!

[SeanB]

Vacuuming is where you hear the tinkle in the vacuum tube of that small screw or part you spent half an hour on you knees searching for without luck.
I 'reset the parts void' - vacuum - every couple of months. More effective than sweeping, which just seems to redistribute the dust.

Buy a few pairs of pantyhose and slip them over the vacuum cleaner tube, so that you catch those small parts as you work. A few pairs on sale are cheap, as you do not care about size or colour, and you get 4 usable socks out of them, or more if you cut short or use the waist side. open end is closed with a small cable tie or a knot.

Ninian and Lister Factory is just down the road from me, the "not perfect" is less than 50C each or even less for the reject.  Went shopping there last week, got a month's supply of Jockey for under $20.

[Deathwish]

Vacuuming is where you hear the tinkle in the vacuum tube of that small screw or part you spent half an hour on you knees searching for without luck.
I 'reset the parts void' - vacuum - every couple of months. More effective than sweeping, which just seems to redistribute the dust.

I have a vacuum cleaner with tubes on the handle that insert into each other, I shove a pair of tights or such like across them and then I dont lose things to the suction monster.

[hammy]

It's like if you walk into a mechanics garage and everything is clean. Tools are all bright and shiny and hanging on the wall. There are no oil spills or grease marks anywhere.
Do you trust him to get the job done? Not a change you run away

If I see a mechanics garage and it is covered in oil, the mechanics are all dirty and the tools are old and exhausted -> I run away.
Obviously they pay low wages, they don't care for the safety of their people and they want to fix everything on my car with a hammer and a pipe wrench!

No way! I run away and have a look for a clean and tidy garage.

 

[free_electron]

Cleaning ? and lose all the 'patina' NEVER , JAMAIS, NIEMALS !!

[KJDS]

I probably vacuum my lathe more often than the lab

[alsetalokin4017]

Reminds me of the old joke about the town with one barber shop with two barbers. You go in for a haircut, and you see one barber is neatly groomed and clean, has a well-swept station and soft music playing, while the other barber looks like he's slept in his clothes, hair is all raggedy and unshaven and has hair all over the floor, with rap music on his radio. Which barber do you choose for your shave-and-a-haircut?

[fivefish]

and you see one barber is neatly groomed and clean, has a well-swept station and soft music playing, while the other barber looks like he's slept in his clothes, hair is all raggedy and unshaven

I think the raggedy hair barber cut the hair of the neatly groomed barber. 
But the neatly groomed barber is a selfish jerk and refuses to cut the hair of the other barber.

[nctnico]

Reminds me of the old joke about the town with one barber shop with two barbers. You go in for a haircut, and you see one barber is neatly groomed and clean, has a well-swept station and soft music playing, while the other barber looks like he's slept in his clothes, hair is all raggedy and unshaven and has hair all over the floor, with rap music on his radio. Which barber do you choose for your shave-and-a-haircut?

I was waiting for a punch line along the lines of the first barber going to the second to do his hair. Who else is available?