Clean Up After YOURSELF

[Tangent Creations]

Does anyone else here have the problem of constantly cleaning up after other people?

I don't really get to use my shop, for several reasons. But it seems all the time I spend in it is cleaning up other people's messes. Do I really need to post a sign that says "CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF!"???? I go out and there's tools, rivet ends, leather scrap and even broken razor blades ON THE FLOOR! My three year old son is allowed to go in there...need I say more on that end? I find old bowls of burnishing water, and today, several empty gator ade bottles all over the place. We have cats...and they are allowed in the shop because it's temperature controlled. I'm allergic to cats, I don't like cats rant rant. My shop is full of cat hair tumble weeds. I've found cat hack all over the floor, on my work bench and on the leather!!!!! :excl:

They'll be getting shut out of there REAL SOON. I'm tired of it. Everytime I go to get something or put something away I see my shop and want to cry. I bought a huge beautiful chromed wire shelving system for the leather. It ends up on the floor. Sometimes it makes me want to give up the shop completely and return to doing the leather as a hobby so that it's small. *sigh* I'm just really peeved right now. And super embarrassed when people see the shop.

Thanks for listening to my rant, and sorry, I just really felt the need to get that off of my chest.

[Luke Hatley]

IT'S YOUR SHOP.

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE SAID WHEN I WAS I MANAGNMENT

"MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY"

ALSO "your moma dont work here, so you will have to clean up after

yourself.

i do know what you are going thru.hang in there, they will get the

the message.

[wolvenstien]

How many people besides you and your spouse use the workshop? Are they paid employees?

If they are paid employees and not your spouse who is wrecking the place.... Tell them point blank.... here is the garbage... use it. If I have to come in here to clean up, I am charging you for it.... cleaning up behind themselves is apart of the job.

I personally am a very cluttered but an anally organized person.... oxymoron right? LOL, I want everything to be organized to perfection, but I find that I spend way too much time organizing than doing the actuall job that needs to be done... so I allow myself to be cluttered.... I did a custom sheath for a friends butcher knife and while I was doing ti every tool I used was on my work top and in the way.... I knew that if I stopped to clean up, I would go from putting the tools up to cleaning the floor, and organizing the leather, and patterns and books and it would be the next day before I was able to get back to the sheath so I left everything the way it was until I was finished.....

However, if I am working for someoen else or in someones house doing work.... I am anal about cleaning as I go....

Go into the shop on a closed day, clean it to the way you want it, and when everyone comes in the following work day have a meeting... Dont single any one person out and tell them point blank.... You are not their mom, or their wife, and you will not clean up behind them any longer.... if they do not clean up you will let them go. Cleaning up as they work is apart of the job, and if they cannot fulfull the requirements of the job, they will not be needed.....

[barra]

I must admit I'm a tad anal about a tidy shop. I like a place for everything and everything in it's place. I think the military man in me has corrupted me. I can let the shop get untidy to a point but then it is clean up time. If others were making the mess and not cleaning up it would bug the gizzards out of me and I'd kick them out.

Barra

[Johanna]

I put the tools away when I'm done, and get them out again five minutes later, but it's easier than searching though everything to find the rivet setter or whatever. It's a few extra steps, but I don't mind. I like my kitchen the same way- when I go in to cook a meal, I don't want to clean up the last one that we ate before i can start. In the shop, I want to start each job with a clean bench, and all the tools where they belong. Since I put them away as I'm using them, clean up is never too hard.

Tangent- I'm with you about kids in the shop! Especially little ones who don't know that the blade is sharp, the chemical is poison, the string shouldn't get wrapped around the neck... My kids are older, and if i go downstairs, they all want to follow. They get in my way, and they want to look at this and touch that while I'm trying to get something done. I made a rule that only one at a time could be by the bench, and the rest had to sit on the stairs, rotating every five minutes. It made me crazy trying to make sure no one was smacking my stamps into dry leather or on the marble, no one was chasing anyone with my spray bottle and someone else wasn't taking some of my better scraps to cut up and mangle. If I want to do a project with the kids, I organize it ahead of time, give each of them their own space and supplies, and try not to have anything distracting me while I keep an eye on them. It's not so much for their safety any more (my kids are 7, 9, 10 & 13) but the protection of my tools. Anyone who has ever watched someone use a belt strap cutter without scrap leather or a poundo board knows exactly what I mean. Biggest rule- NO ONE touches the head/round knives. They are all in sheathes, and there is no reason at all to get them out, for that is nothing but an accident that will involve the ER just waiting to happen.

My husband says they will grow up and move out into their own homes someday. I hold on to that fantasy on the difficult days. 18 days until school starts. >YEAH!!<

Johanna

[pepin1948]

When I'm doing a project it's mess mess everywhere, but when it's done, I straighten up so I can find everything for the next time.

Sometimes my cat gets in my workroom, but it's generally a no-zone for her (and when she's in there she usually just finds an empty box and crawls in). If, however, she were messy, shedding, and/or hacking, she wouldn't be allowed in there ever again. I love cats, but limits need to be imposed where valuable material is concerned.

As to the humans making a mess, same principle - limits are needed. I've been to several seminars on the topic of "boundaries", and whether others like it or not, they are a necessary step to healthy relationships. Some people are just not used to being told "no", or "pick up after yourself or you're not coming back". But if you make a rule, FOLLOW IT. You're not helping any if you give in.

[Tangent Creations]

The people who work in the shop are mainly myself and my husband, but on occassion we have about 5 other people that come in and work. Right now my husband has an armour apprentice and that's what started this thread. I just don't want to seem like I'm nagging at him all the time.

Some of the mess comes down to me being anal about my shop. Some of it creates a liability. The cat thing's been discussed and he'll be sealing up the 'cat door' hole that we made when we moved in. Seeing as the cats'll catch moths and lizards all day long but will watch a mouse run by. They'll still have the safety and comfort of his shop (which looks as though it was hit by a tornado, but we're working on that one together...)

And as for my personal workspace...well, I like all my tools that I'm using for my project right there in front of me. Then when I'm done they'll either stay for the next project (if they're in conjuction) or be put away. I am organized but cluttered and am slowly getting my shop in line (big messes practically make me feel like I have to start over). I've made a sign for the metal/painting side (his side) of the shop that says 'Clean up after yourself' among other things for liability, but I think people ignore them (except the no drinking/drugs/smoking, which we simply won't tolerate in either shop, those are sure ways to be booted to the curb in a heartbeat) .

Dangerous tools like shears and knives are kept up high on the peg board and out of reach of the kids. But I find my belt strap end cutters and other such tools on the floor and I get super peeved. Especially if the specific project has been completed for more than 24 hours...

But, alas, I must say Thank You All for listening to me grumble and helping me feel better about trying to keep my shop in order. Next will be my paperwork.....ugh.

[wolvenstien]

Ok, with it being an apprentice of your husbands.... It falls upon your husband to hear your wishes and have a talk with the apprentice.... If you are more involved then you might be able to..... I dont know your situation.... either way, it needs to be made clear to him.... he is getting a free education in turn for doing things around the shop, and one of those things that he is being taught is how to keep a clean working enviroment....

[Art]

Don't worry Johanna,

They will grow up all too soon and move out. You will be sad, but don't worry, in this day and age THEY COME BACK, sometimes bringing someone or something with them, AND THEY STAY. Or even better, THEY NEVER LEAVE. Ain't it grand?

Art

I put the tools away when I'm done, and get them out again five minutes later, but it's easier than searching though everything to find the rivet setter or whatever. It's a few extra steps, but I don't mind. I like my kitchen the same way- when I go in to cook a meal, I don't want to clean up the last one that we ate before i can start. In the shop, I want to start each job with a clean bench, and all the tools where they belong. Since I put them away as I'm using them, clean up is never too hard.

Tangent- I'm with you about kids in the shop! Especially little ones who don't know that the blade is sharp, the chemical is poison, the string shouldn't get wrapped around the neck... My kids are older, and if i go downstairs, they all want to follow. They get in my way, and they want to look at this and touch that while I'm trying to get something done. I made a rule that only one at a time could be by the bench, and the rest had to sit on the stairs, rotating every five minutes. It made me crazy trying to make sure no one was smacking my stamps into dry leather or on the marble, no one was chasing anyone with my spray bottle and someone else wasn't taking some of my better scraps to cut up and mangle. If I want to do a project with the kids, I organize it ahead of time, give each of them their own space and supplies, and try not to have anything distracting me while I keep an eye on them. It's not so much for their safety any more (my kids are 7, 9, 10 & 13) but the protection of my tools. Anyone who has ever watched someone use a belt strap cutter without scrap leather or a poundo board knows exactly what I mean. Biggest rule- NO ONE touches the head/round knives. They are all in sheathes, and there is no reason at all to get them out, for that is nothing but an accident that will involve the ER just waiting to happen.

My husband says they will grow up and move out into their own homes someday. I hold on to that fantasy on the difficult days. 18 days until school starts. >YEAH!!<

Johanna

[Tangent Creations]

I made my wishes heard, and now the shop looks MUCH better! LOL