CLEANEST shop?

[steed]

I've searched; hoping y'all could share. I am on the never ending path of "a place for everything, and everything in its place". I don't want to be the one that makes excuses for being messy. Ive gotten some ideas here for organization and storage, etc. but there could always be more.

So- drop some photos of your tidy, organized, or otherwise CLEAN work space.

 

[Jeff C]

Yes please. I unfortunately have nothing that meets the OPs criteria but love seeing organized pictures. If you’re one of those people that have it together, don’t be ashamed to let us gawk over your ability.

 

[imagineer]

Nope...Sorry, can't do

 

[Notgrownup]

Ha ha ha

 

[jblnut]

“Clean” is a bit subjective. I get all anxious and feel crappy when the shop is so plugged full of stuff that I can’t move around or need to search for longer than I think necessary to find something. My shop is a working farm shop and is rarely “clean” to the point that absolutely nothing is out of place. This is a fairly recent picture and I’d say it’s to my level of clean at that moment. A shop that is completely clean is a more tool warehouse than shop.

 

[DaChev]

I have felt pads under my freshly painted pallet racks.

But, I am moving in very slow in an effort to keep things clean. Right now, my storage stuff is pretty empty or still being built.

 

[jarhead]

welp, i've been doing sheetrock for a few weeks. No pretty pictures yet

 

[rsparks64]

This is a friend’s shop/garage. Those cabinets are full and are just as neat as the rest of the garage. You can eat off the floor and the work benches. I don’t know whether I am jealous or if it makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

 

[bdbecker]

(Its a joke... last pic of the old shop after moving out last summer)

 

[aka Larry]

As far as a working shop we all know Mike (Zmotorsports) wins the cleanest shop on GJ.

 

[Dagny]

If you run a business out of your shop it just isn't going to happen.

 

[PoorUB]

This is a friend’s shop/garage. Those cabinets are full and are just as neat as the rest of the garage. You can eat off the floor and the work benches. I don’t know whether I am jealous or if it makes me sick to my stomach.

I wouldn't trust this guy! something definitely wrong with him!

Seriously, how much real shop work goes on there? Welding? Painting, how about wood working. Is the guy doing a major remodel while replacing the front suspension in his wife's twenty year old car?

 

[zmotorsports]

Clean is rather subjective. I try to keep mine organized and clean but it's not a garage mahal, it's a working shop.

 

[zmotorsports]

If you run a business out of your shop it just isn't going to happen.

I would dispute that. I ran a speed shop out of my last home shop for 20 years and kept it clean and organized, and it was much smaller than my current shop.

 

[PoorUB]

Clean is rather subjective. I try to keep mine organized and clean but it's not a garage mahal, it's a working shop.

To me, that is a real, functioning and clean shop. It might no be perfect, but if it gets used, it won't be.

 

[rzims]

I have dreams of a clean, organized shop....unfortunately its still a dream. I continue to take steps in that direction but have not achieved shop nirvana.
One thing I'm trying to do is get everything on mobile bases or up off the floor. This should make sweeping and cleaning easier.

 

[PoorUB]

If you run a business out of your shop it just isn't going to happen.

I would dispute that. I ran a speed shop out of my last home shop for 20 years and kept it clean and organized, and it was much smaller than my current shop.

When I had my engine shop it was relatively clean. I had customers comment on how clean it was all the time. Fortunately, all the mess was in the storage part of the shop. That was always a disaster!

 

[zmotorsports]

I have dreams of a clean, organized shop....unfortunately its still a dream. I continue to take steps in that direction but have not achieved shop nirvana.
One thing I'm trying to do is get everything on mobile bases or up off the floor. This should make sweeping and cleaning easier.

That looks pretty damn nice and clean to me. I found doing routine 5S's in my shop help to keep it organized and applicable for the current work envelope as well.

 

[zmotorsports]

When I had my engine shop it was relatively clean. I had customers comment on how clean it was all the time. Fortunately, all the mess was in the storage part of the shop. That was always a disaster!

In my last shop I didn't have a "storage area", so it was all in the open to be seen, but I too had clients comment routinely on how clean and organized I kept my shop.

My current shop it a bit easier to keep clean and organized but that is just because it is larger. I still try to keep projects laid out in an orderly fashion whenever working as I can't seem to function in chaos.

 

[rzims]

That looks pretty damn nice and clean to me. I found doing routine 5S's in my shop help to keep it organized and applicable for the current work envelope as well.

I've found my shop cleanliness goes in waves. Pre-project=clean, mid-project(s)=chaos and pandemonium, post-project=clean again

 

[aka Larry]

Clean is rather subjective. I try to keep mine organized and clean but it's not a garage mahal, it's a working shop.

I rest my case.

 

[steed]

I should have clarified. I think TIDY is more appropriate, though I don't know how many of my friends with successful shops are falling over parts all over the place. I think there is a correlation between the need to do good work and keep a TIDY workspace. ZMOTOR is a perfect example; it's subjective, some would say that's SUPER clean while he says it could be cleaner. Ive got about $40K left of work to do to my new place and thousands of hours before it's NICE. But I enjoy the challenge.

 

[niget2002]

This is the last time mine was clean. It was the day we moved in right before we started emptying the trailer with the tools. I should have just sold everything and started over with the last move.

 

[zimman]

Cleanest shop on GJ was an off road Baja 1000 vehicle builder somewhere in Las Vegas. It was awesome but can't remember the name. That was back in 2008 when I first got here on my old account.
Zim

 

[zimman]

This is all I got for the moment. When the garage goes up, I'll be in the running. LMAO
Zim

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Clean yes, organized I’d never get anything done if all my time was putting stuff away. This way I can play that old game of “where the hell did I put that”.

 

[PoorUB]

The problem I have to much stuff, and no place to store it. My wife will come out and complain about the condion of my garage and I just ask her where I should put stuff. She says, " I don't know!" And walks away!
I could use an additional one or two car garage just to store things I don't use regularly, then my garage might have a chance of being clean.

 

[steed]

Im hoping because this new place has an attached garage in addition to the shop the car and bikes can go in there and maybe stay cleaner, while the shop is just used for work and parts storage. possible game-changer.

 

[jblnut]

Clean yes, organized I’d never get anything done if all my time was putting stuff away. This way I can play that old game of “where the hell did I put that”.

It's way easier to buy more tools so you always have what you need within reach than to put the only one you have away so you know where it is all the time.

 

[PoorUB]

Clean yes, organized I’d never get anything done if all my time was putting stuff away. This way I can play that old game of “where the hell did I put that”.

Mine is organized, but never clean!

 

[Aspen RT]

My dream too is to have clean and organized. ....Im failing miserably

 

[Bad Habit]

Not it

 

[Shiftless]

My workbench was cleared off the last time I sanded and refinished the top. This is all I got!

 

[Sturgeon]

My shop could use more organization, sometimes items just don't store well, such as a half roll of paper or buckets and boxes on pallet racks. Constantly trying to minimize plus the dust I swear, it's a battle. Plus having to give up space for seldom used items around the inside perimeter is getting old. Short of building a warehouse for the shop, I'm not sure how one's to have a realistic steril shop.

 

[cad70]

Every time that I finally get the shop (3 car garage) cleaned and organized, my wife throws empty card board boxes out there. What Ive done over the past couple of years is work towards anything being on the floor is on a set of dollies so they can easily be moved around. I do shop vac the floor often, and dont park the daily drivers inside when it is sloppy, snowy out.
Thankful for the lift....and trailer for keeping the weekly racing pieces out of the garage.

Clark

 

[zmotorsports]

Im hoping because this new place has an attached garage in addition to the shop the car and bikes can go in there and maybe stay cleaner, while the shop is just used for work and parts storage. possible game-changer.

Agreed. Having an attached "garage" to house the daily drivers in as well as things like lawn and garden equipment, etc. in is a game changer. Then the "shop" can and is used solely for work to be accomplished. I've been blessed in that our last home had a nice sized double garage attached and then I built a 34' x 34' x 14' detached shop in the backyard in which to work out of. We ran a speed shop out of that home and shop for 20 of the 26 years we lived there.

We bought a new home in late 2016 on 3/4 of an acre that had a relatively large 3-car attached garage and then I built a 50' x 60' x 16' shop in the backyard. 40' x 50' is the actual shop and 20' x 50' is the RV and storage bay where we park our 40' coach as well as have shop equipment that is not utilized as much which is all on wheels in which to roll into the shop when needed. For me this is the perfect setup as having that 50' dividing wall between the shop and RV bay allows for 100' of real estate in which to stage shop equipment against. In the RV bay I also have a metal rack mounted to the wall up above the equipment which is where I store my bulk lengths of steel. Equipment is stored under that on wheels.

There are quite a few pictures of the shop and RV bay on either my shop build thread or my Shop Projects 2.0 thread.

 

[Bodj Built]

This is a friend’s shop/garage. Those cabinets are full and are just as neat as the rest of the garage. You can eat off the floor and the work benches. I don’t know whether I am jealous or if it makes me sick to my stomach.

Honestly, if you don't do any metal fabrication, woodworking, or have toys that are used in the dirt (I see a couple mountain bikes there - those are easy enough to keep clean), then I don't see why a clean shop like that isn't attainable. My garage is nowhere near that level (I try and fall short by a long shot), but I have metal/wood dust, big tools (plasma table, stomp shear, table saw...), so it makes it a bit more of a challenge. If my garage was just being used for toy storage/basic maintenance, I could probably get it to look something like that lol.

(All this to say that, yes, I'm extremely jealous and in love with his garage)

 

[zmotorsports]

Honestly, if you don't do any metal fabrication, woodworking, or have toys that are used in the dirt (I see a couple mountain bikes there - those are easy enough to keep clean), then I don't see why a clean shop like that isn't attainable. My garage is nowhere near that level (I try and fall short by a long shot), but I have metal/wood dust, big tools (plasma table, stomp shear, table saw...), so it makes it a bit more of a challenge. If my garage was just being used for toy storage/basic maintenance, I could probably get it to look something like that lol.

(All this to say that, yes, I'm extremely jealous and in love with his garage)

Agreed. It's the machining and fabrication work that keeps me on my toes about cleaning up. I also find myself opening the shop doors and using compressed air and/or leaf blower multiple times a year, usually after a big fabrication project just to get the areas clean that are less accessible with brooms.

 

[TerryH]

Well....