Cleaning Up Broken Glass

When you’re ready to begin cleaning up, a broom and vacuum cleaner will provide the quickest and best results. On hard floor surfaces, sweep as much of the broken glass as you can find into a pile and carefully remove the largest pieces into a rubbish bin. It may help to dust the area lightly with baking soda or baby powder to keep the smallest fragments of broken glass from sticking to your floor or your broom’s bristles.

Because of the chemical composition of water and glass, you may find that a wet paper towel is an excellent way to collect small pieces that might otherwise get away from a broom. Wipe the surface, starting with the far reaches of the glass bits, in toward the centre of the impact, being very careful not to handle the side of the paper towel that has been on the floor.

When the largest pieces have been removed, sweep as much as possible of the remnants into a dustpan and dispose of it in the trash can. If your vacuum cleaner has a hose cleaningattachment, use it on all surfaces where you may have previously seen any broken glass. Remember that some types of glass can shatter and scatter. For instance, a broken light bulb can scatter pieces of broken glass several feet from impact, so be thorough. Also, using an upright vacuum cleaner on hard surfaces may cause the debris to further scatter, so repeat cleaning with your broom or disengage the brush roller on your upright.

Drilling Into Walls – Electrical Safety

It will seem obvious to state that you should never work on anything electrical that is conductive, or live, without first disabling it, but let’s face it, even the best of us get lazy once in awhile. We get tempted to grab that fallen piece of banana bread by sticking a fork into the toaster without first unplugging it. Yes, you know you did something stupid like that once, before you thought better of it.

In any situation where you need to make an electrical repair, first disable the power supply. Few people realize that this is also true before you drill into ceilings or walls—you may hit a wire without knowing it, so shut off power at your circuit box before you drill. Keep a flashlight near your breaker box so you can see what you’re doing.