Let the sun shine
Mar. 1st, 2025 08:09 pmOnce a year, Club Mud has an all-shop clean-up. We do some cleaning between-times: Linda hoses down the floors once a week, and we're expected to do the glaze and kiln room floors when we're firing. But this is the time we all turn out and scrub bats, organize the materials room, clean the microwave. (Don't think too much about that last one.)
This year, we got a HEPA-rated shop vac, so can safely vacuum without concentrating free silica into the air--it's so fine, it goes right through a standard vacuum filter. So I cleaned up all the bits and pieces of brick and shelf chips around the big gas kiln, then vacuumed up the dust and grit. Afterwards, I took on my usual task--going up on the ladder and cleaning the windows.


It's amazing how much dirt they collect; some of it is clay dust, but most seems to be soot from the gas kiln. See how much brighter the clean side is?

This year, we got a HEPA-rated shop vac, so can safely vacuum without concentrating free silica into the air--it's so fine, it goes right through a standard vacuum filter. So I cleaned up all the bits and pieces of brick and shelf chips around the big gas kiln, then vacuumed up the dust and grit. Afterwards, I took on my usual task--going up on the ladder and cleaning the windows.


It's amazing how much dirt they collect; some of it is clay dust, but most seems to be soot from the gas kiln. See how much brighter the clean side is?
