My wife and I spend a bunch of time working in our shop, and usually we’re wearing ear muffs, coveralls, eye protection, etc… When the work is done all of this nice gear gets kinda laid around, or coveralls get worn back into the house, which is kinda counterproductive when we’re trying to keep the mess outside. Has anyone come up with a good storage idea, like a place to hang a couple pairs of ear muffs, small slots for eye protection, and some hanging areas for coveralls and shop aprons? I’m sure I can draw something up, but there’s some really smart folks here and I’m just wondering what they’ve come up with. Did a googly search and didn’t really find anything, but maybe my search terms are wrong.
Unless you are particularly interested in making special holders for these things and the rabbit hole of revisions to get things just right, I’d just get a couple coat hooks for the coveralls, ear protection, and breather. Easy and functional. That is my solution.
I hang standard safety glasses with a temple piece in a screw eye or drop them in a cloth bag that I can hang on a hook (regular shop users vs traveling sets). Then again, I buy the two styles I like by the 12 pack, as well as the cheater (1.5D dime store reading glasses) that they fit over comfortably.
I think you’re looking for a neat organizer solution. I don’t have one that’s very fancy.
I hang shop aprons on (I know, this is a really amazing thing… ) A hook by the door. I always use disposable earplugs (I find them more comfortable, and less in the way), and the dispenser box is attached to the wall next to the hook. I use the earplugs for running the snowblower, lawn mower, weed whacker and so forth as well, so having them on the way into the garage where all those things are is nice. I have a full face shield that I hang on the same hook the aprons are on. Welding jacket, gloves, helmet, etc has a different place. I keep a respirator/mask in a 1 gallon zip freezer bag, and it seems to keep the cartridges in pretty good shape for many months - I don’t have a lot of uses for it, but when I do, its usually only for a few minutes.
Yup, I have a few hooks right now, looking for more of a purpose built solution. My current hooks end up with everything under the Sun hung from them. Plus I have a large array of tools that I “almost” know how to use, I think something personal for my shop would be a cool project. Surely someone smarter than myself has built something cool and useful, actually finding it pretty odd that googly didn’t turn up a bazillion results.
I found a -few- with a search on “shop safety gear organizer” but they all seem to end up being a hook and a small cubby, or a variation on that theme (and often for a class full of kids)
I have no real suggestions, then. I wear eye protection all of the time in the shop (home and work) and have never found a better solution.
I just looked and on the four coathooks in a row I have welding shield, muffs (better than plugs, since they block chips and sparks), FRV coverall (fire retardant/visibility), grinding shield, and welding leathers. I don’t use an apron. Next to these is binder clips on hooks for gloves, paperwork, spare t-shirt (100th anniversary of the local fire company is there now), and whatever else a binder clip will hold. Then a screw eye for the in-use safety glasses (they used to hand over an exposed length of romex) and brazing/cutting glasses. Then a few hooks for goggles and things with straps (brazing goggles, glasses with straps shields/glasses in cloth bags for use on the road, etc)
Sounds like a lot, but it is only about 1m of wall space. I have considered a craigslist bowling locker (6 cubby and tall section for jacket/coverall would be ideal). It will take more space, but protect the gear a bit better. Then again, it might hinder the reflex to put it on. As I have things now, I don’t even think about it when I walk into the shop space, since it is all right there.
Yep, I’m really horrible about wearing PPE, which is partly due to never having it in one place, or having it laying on a bench all covered in saw dust. I’ve had a couple trips to the doc in the past for foreign objects in eyes (one while wearing glasses, took them off to wipe away sweat, and dragged chips into my eye). And what I’m really bad about is hearing protection. I’m a former jet mechanic and metal smith, both extremely loud occupations. At some point I was tested and was told that I was losing hearing, but it wasn’t until someone asked me why I had to turn my head sideways to hear what they were saying that I really took notice. Obviously I made some stupid choices, but I’m really trying to save what I have left now. I think what I’m gonna do is just make a simple cubby with two spots for glasses and two spots to hang my ear muffs, then put hooks along the bottom for aprons and coveralls. Thanks to you guys for the ideas, I’m probably trying to engineer the Space Shuttle when all I really need is some better coat hooks!
) A hook by the door. I always use disposable earplugs (I find them more comfortable, and less in the way), and the dispenser box is attached to the wall next to the hook. I use the earplugs for running the snowblower, lawn mower, weed whacker and so forth as well, so having them on the way into the garage where all those things are is nice. I have a full face shield that I hang on the same hook the aprons are on. Welding jacket, gloves, helmet, etc has a different place. I keep a respirator/mask in a 1 gallon zip freezer bag, and it seems to keep the cartridges in pretty good shape for many months - I don’t have a lot of uses for it, but when I do, its usually only for a few minutes.