# Getting in Trouble for Metal Chips in the House



## Lloyd-ss (Sep 8, 2021)

My shop is in a nice heated/cooled garage attached to the house. Everything is one one level, no steps anywhere. I have a sink and such in the shop but have to go inside the house for the bathroom (or occasionally out the back door).
Try as I might, there are always chips that get tracked into the house. I have a rough jute rug to scrub my shoes off with, but I don't want to change shoes every time I go in or out. Does anyone have any suggestions.

I have to mention that we have a couple of cats and they occasionally like to come in and say hello and let me know they are hungry. I try to blame them for tracking the chips into the house, but my wife isn't buying it. One of the cats has a real attitude and yawns at me when I mention the chips. 





Tidiness is not her concern.




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## trackmaggot (Sep 8, 2021)

Tack/sticky mats. The cleanroom grade is expensive, but a cardboard sheet layered with double sided tape works.


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## ShopShoe (Sep 8, 2021)

I use a coarse-bristle brush to pull the chips out of the rubber soles of my shoes. The ritual is: sweep floor, brush off shoes over "dirt" pile (while wearing them), sweep again, then wipe feet on mat I have at the shop door. (I do have to admit that my main shop is not in or attached to the house.) I do also try to leave the shop shoes just inside the house door if I'm going to be inside for awhile. It also helps that we have wood and vinyl flooring in all but the bedrooms: Easily swept and mopped.

--ShopShoe (whose avatar picture captures the chips in the shoes as well as the paint and grease on them.)


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## Lloyd-ss (Sep 8, 2021)

ShopShoe, those chips embedded in the soles give decent traction in an icy parking lot.


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## SmithDoor (Sep 8, 2021)

Take off shoe in shop.
I have try everything. The only thing  that work is a set shoes for hobby shop. 

Your clothes will also hold ships too. I will use a shop coat too.

Dave


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## delalio (Sep 9, 2021)

id have a conversaion with the cat in the video!


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## davidl (Sep 9, 2021)

I found the best thing was to have a a pair of slip on steel cap boots in the workshop.  Easy to change into household slippers for a dash to the bathroom.  Like you my shop is a well appointed, insulated and air conditioned garage - the car sits outside.


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## Lloyd-ss (Sep 9, 2021)

delalio said:


> id have a conversaion with the cat in the video!



The little foot flourish at the end says it all.  We do tend to get stupid when it comes to our pets.


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## Lloyd-ss (Sep 9, 2021)

davidl said:


> I found the best thing was to have a a pair of slip on steel cap boots in the workshop.  Easy to change into household slippers for a dash to the bathroom.  Like you my shop is a well appointed, insulated and air conditioned garage - the car sits outside.


Having a car taking up valuable machine space in the shop just feels wrong.

I think the most practical solution for my situation is to have a pair of shop shoes. When its muddy outside I change into "hose shoes" when I come inside, so I guess I could do the same for the shop. Just pretend like the shop is a muddy garden. That will add a whole minute to the process of raiding the refrigerator for a snack. Darn.


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## Tim1974 (Sep 9, 2021)

Yer don’t where your boots inside!


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## Lloyd-ss (Sep 9, 2021)

Tim1974 said:


> Yer don’t where your boots inside!


Ha ha, You funny guy!
You don't stay married 40 years wearing muddy boots inside. The cat can wipe its butt on the rug, but I rank below the cat.


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## Tim1974 (Sep 9, 2021)

Lol I have a cat to she is a good one but I work in the trade fiiter and turner and I get swarf every where never do my boots come inside and still I get in trouble


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## olympic (Sep 9, 2021)

Shop shoes! And don't let the cat come into the shop; he may pick up swarf and cut his pads.


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## Apprentice707 (Sep 9, 2021)

I too have been in trouble with Domestic Management for the metal chips which I unthinkingly bring into the house. My workshop is in the basement but I have to gain entry and exit via the stairs up to the kitchen.
Over the years when caught "messing up the whole house" (Unquote) I keep quiet and when the verbal diarrhea has abated I reply "so sex is out of the question then?".   Most of the time I get silence as the loud reply, but just occasionally I don't need to produce chips for a while.

Last year a friend of mine was caught in the same scenario and was quick-witted enough to realise the chips were aluminium, he replied that they must be tinsel leftover from the Xmas tree, he got away with that for a while until his wife sussed his excuse. More cold shoulder and tongue pie I guess.

The war goes on!!


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## Lloyd-ss (Sep 9, 2021)

My wife swears that I have a secret remote button to turn the air compressor on "every time" she is near it. Nope. I am still designing that switch.

But honestly, she is very tolerant of the amount of time I spend in the shop. And she does appreciate the emergency household repairs I can do with the shop equipment. Of course, most of those emergency repairs are on "conveniences" that I originally made in the shop but didn't get exactly right the first time.


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## Chips Ahoy (Sep 9, 2021)

But, when the first chip showed up in the bed..... well.....


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## comstock-friend (Sep 9, 2021)

Hand held hospital type urinal (or liter water bottle) and pee in the shop to eliminate frequent dashes to the house (at least for this old man!)


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## SmithDoor (Sep 9, 2021)

I move shop to new location 
My has new car  so took a storage shed and insulated and plywood walls .
Fix the problem now hobby shop is in backyard.  

Dave 



Lloyd-ss said:


> My wife swears that I have a secret remote button to turn the air compressor on "every time" she is near it. Nope. I am still designing that switch.
> 
> But honestly, she is very tolerant of the amount of time I spend in the shop. And she does appreciate the emergency household repairs I can do with the shop equipment. Of course, most of those emergency repairs are on "conveniences" that I originally made in the shop but didn't get exactly right the first time.


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## SmithDoor (Sep 9, 2021)

Need to plant a tree  they always need water . 

Dave



comstock-friend said:


> Hand held hospital type urinal (or liter water bottle) and pee in the shop to eliminate frequent dashes to the house (at least for this old man!)


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## KJE (Sep 9, 2021)

45 years of making chips as a machinist and as a hobby a few chips have made their way into the house. Have to change my boots at the door and blame the dog when a few get thru ……..


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## steveastrouk (Sep 9, 2021)

I still remember, 24 years later, being bollocked by my wife for the crying baby....with chips in the back of his diaper.


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## rlo1 (Sep 9, 2021)

Been there....Done that.  I put down a sticky absorbant mat.  McMaster-carr #3437N12 - Very comfortable (Carpet Like) to walk on.  It attracts chips of all kinds!  I use a little bissel $20 push broom from amazon and it cleans right up.  I went with this after I tracked coolant in the house.....  (Another story)

So far so good, my Bride is much happier now...


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## Lloyd-ss (Sep 9, 2021)

steveastrouk said:


> I still remember, 24 years later, being bollocked by my wife for the crying baby....with chips in the back of his diaper.


That is a rough one, and I feel for you. One of those things you would give almost anything to undo. You are not alone.


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## mcostello (Sep 9, 2021)

If You think chips on the carpet brings a howl, just wait till She finds one in Her undies or turns over in bed and one scratches Her arm, both real situations. Asking Her why SHE bought them out of the shop does not help things.


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## Balta (Sep 10, 2021)

I have one of those YDBY outdoor doormats from IKEA. The nap is like plastic grass and not woven. The chips fall right through and don't get stuck to my shoes. When is too loaded, I just turn it upside down and shake. The chips just fall off just as easy (vacuuming doesn't seem to work as well as expected). Not a end all solution but one can envision putting enough of these mats in a row to get rid of must of the problem. The nap provides enough cushioning to make it very comfortable as well.


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## Basil (Sep 10, 2021)

Years ago I new a welder that had a shop behind his house and I spotted 2 brown paper grocery bags stood open at his back door. I thought it was a brilliant idea. Think his wife had that well sorted and was happy to keep them at the ready.


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## Gordon (Sep 10, 2021)

My main problem is with chips caught in my clothes and in my pockets. I can take my shoes off at the back door but chips get caught in my clothes and even get into my pockets. Chips also get caught in my hair and my beard.


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## comstock-friend (Sep 10, 2021)

I have oak floor boards in front of the South Bend lathe and the Bridgeport mill. Chips (and small parts!) fall between the boards so I'm not standing in a sea of chips. Before entering the house I check for the occasional stuck one. Also, being a Southern Californian, I frequently am just wearing Crocs in the shop, so easy to flick off at the door. Hot chips in the Crocs are another issue!


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## Lloyd-ss (Sep 10, 2021)

Comstock, you must have cleaned up for that photo.    I don't even see any chips under the roll arounds.
Maybe general housekeeping should be my focus.  If cleanliness is next to Godliness, I am a dead man.


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## comstock-friend (Sep 10, 2021)

Lloyd-ss said:


> Comstock, you must have cleaned up for that photo.    I don't even see any chips under the roll arounds.
> Maybe general housekeeping should be my focus.  If cleanliness is next to Godliness, I am a dead man.



Just illustrating the floor boards. This is the shop where I bought my mill and lathe. Wealthy retired guy (that had died) that really never did any work with them. I think he sat around with his buddies drinking beer. Love the boards, a little springy, much better than standing on my garage's concrete floor. Only problem is having to lift them up to retrieve that screw I just dropped!

Here's the real deal in the cramped garage...


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## elcid (Sep 10, 2021)

davidl said:


> I found the best thing was to have a a pair of slip on steel cap boots in the workshop.  Easy to change into household slippers for a dash to the bathroom.  Like you my shop is a well appointed, insulated and air conditioned garage - the car sits outside.


 Now theres an idea, magnetised you toecaps, wear plastic bags over your feet and slip them off when you leave.


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## dnalot (Sep 10, 2021)

I am required to remove my shoes before entering the house. My gripe is that my wife's hobby is sewing and she tracks thread all over the house and my socks get covered with the crap. It gets wrapped up in the vacuum and the wheels of our rolling chairs.  Do I complain? You bet I do but it gets me no where. I think there must be different rules at play.  

Mark T


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## MRA (Sep 11, 2021)

dnalot said:


> I am required to remove my shoes before entering the house. My gripe is that my wife's hobby is sewing and she tracks thread all over the house and my socks get covered with the crap. It gets wrapped up in the vacuum and the wheels of our rolling chairs.  Do I complain? You bet I do but it gets me no where. I think there must be different rules at play.



Wow, don't complain!  She might give up her hobby, develop a liking for TV soaps, and start to insist that you do likewise! 

Meanwhile, regarding the 'dash (upstairs) to the bathroom' - errrr...someone I know quite well...errr...has a downspout going into a drain grid quite close to the shed door, and...errr...keeps a water butt and watering can by it and...errrr....re-routed the washing-machine drainage into that particular grid just to help keep the whole thing...errr...fresh   A lot less swarf in the stairs carpet!


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## roncohudd (Sep 11, 2021)

rlo1 said:


> Been there....Done that.  I put down a sticky absorbant mat.  McMaster-carr #3437N12 - Very comfortable (Carpet Like) to walk on.  It attracts chips of all kinds!  I use a little bissel $20 push broom from amazon and it cleans right up.  I went with this after I tracked coolant in the house.....  (Another story)
> 
> So far so good, my Bride is much happier now...
> 
> View attachment 128989


I use older rubber truck mud flaps. Perfect size and work very well. Have a washer in my shop so my work clothes don't wash in the house.


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## LorenOtto (Sep 11, 2021)

elcid said:


> Now theres an idea, magnetised you toecaps, wear plastic bags over your feet and slip them off when you leave.


Aluminum chips are my nemesis.


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## Richard Hed (Sep 11, 2021)

Apprentice707 said:


> I too have been in trouble with Domestic Management for the metal chips which I unthinkingly bring into the house. My workshop is in the basement but I have to gain entry and exit via the stairs up to the kitchen.
> Over the years when caught "messing up the whole house" (Unquote) I keep quiet and when the verbal diarrhea has abated I reply "so sex is out of the question then?".   Most of the time I get silence as the loud reply, but just occasionally I don't need to produce chips for a while.
> 
> Last year a friend of mine was caught in the same scenario and was quick-witted enough to realise the chips were aluminium, he replied that they must be tinsel leftover from the Xmas tree, he got away with that for a while until his wife sussed his excuse. More cold shoulder and tongue pie I guess.
> ...


Do like I did:  put the wife in the backyard with a chain around her neck and give her the doghouse to sleep in.  during the winter, yuou can put a small electric heater out for her.  I put the lathe in her former place in the bed and the mill at the foot of the bed.  Werks out FINE!  If She barks too much I put her on a muzzle.


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## willray (Sep 12, 2021)

mcostello said:


> just wait till She finds one in Her undies or turns over in bed and one scratches Her arm, both real situations. Asking Her why SHE bought them out of the shop does not help things



I gotta tell you, on that front, some of us have got it hard man...


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## ajoeiam (Sep 13, 2021)

willray said:


> I gotta tell you, on that front, some of us have got it hard man...
> 
> pic snipped



You know - - - - I'm reminded of a 50s song - - - - All I need to do is dream  - - - - - happy dreaming!!!!!


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## Gordon (Sep 13, 2021)

I don't have one of those in my shop. My wife objected to a calendar I had so I doubt whether she would approve a worker like that.


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## willray (Sep 13, 2021)

Gordon said:


> I don't have one of those in my shop. My wife objected to a calendar I had so I doubt whether she would approve a worker like that.



I told her "no loose clothing in the shop" and she complied -- what's a guy to do?

Will


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