How often do you close your shop to focus on cleaning & organizing?
  • Nadeem Muaddi
    84
    Not sure how many of you read this article by Shane Lile: Sewn Tight Custom Interiors' Secret to an Organized Shop

    But in it, he suggests that trim shops close their doors for a couple days to focus on themselves -- cleaning, maintenance, organizing, office work, etc.

    It's a great idea. But I'm curious how many trim shops do this and how beneficial they find it? Do you do it every year or more frequently? And do you have any tips on how to do it without disrupting a busy shop's general workflow? Or is that pretty much inevitable?

    Really considering this. Our trim shop has never closed to focus on itself -- which, if I'm honest, kind of shows.
    Nadeem Muaddi Options
  • Hal Bast
    13
    I never close for cleaning and maintenance, but my shop shows it. It is a great idea which I think I will try in the near future. Thanks for the idea.
    Hal Bast Options
  • Cody Lunning
    39
    I can’t say I go so far as wiping lights and things down. But once a month maybe every 2 months I’ll actually move everything out. ( I believe in a Mininimalist approach to were I work, vs were instore material.) almost everything is on wheels. Turn on some ventilation fans and grab my leaf blower. I then go around and blow all the dust out. Of course this is done after I have picked up large debris and swept. So it’s just dust at this point. I blow the walls and lights, floors everything. In the summer I was down the floor.
    Cody Lunning Options
  • Phillip Aldridge
    4
    Using the holiday break to clean and reorganize. Let a year of busy turn the area into a disaster area. Putting up more vertical storage for sew foam and other supplies. Would be the first time I've set aside time to clean up though
    Phillip Aldridge Options
  • Nadeem Muaddi
    84
    That's a good idea @Phillip Aldridge.

    I think that'll be our NYE resolution, to do as @Cody Lunning and make a top-down deep cleaning/organizing a regular part of the routine. Perhaps once a quarter.
    Nadeem Muaddi Options
  • Dean McConnell
    2
    I try to stay on top of things on a day-to-day basis, keeping things tidy as much as possible. Difficult to spend valuable time doing that instead of chargeable hours on a customer's car, but it helps in the long run with efficiency I think. I set aside the day before the Christmas break each year to do a big tidy up, clear out and do any maintenance / upgrades that I've been planning. This time I had quite a lot to do so I came in for a few days over the holidays to get the workshop ready for the new year. Nobody else there so it was nice and peaceful at least!
    Dean McConnell Options
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