Clothes get messed up everytime I do some wood work cutting

Question

So recently I created some stuff for use in my large garden shed. It involved cutting pinewood beams and MDF using wood router, jig saw and circular saw. The amount of dust was absolutely horrible and outrageous. The dust and the larger threads that result from the work get stuck onto the clothes and also the hair. I am not sure if there an easy way to remove the dust and wood bits from the clothes and socks.

I think it will be better to have some sort of "workshop dress". I shall wear this when I going to do woodworking. It should contain something to cover the head and also the remaining parts of the body like torso and legs. This dress will be easily washable once it gets covered with all that wood dust.

What is the specific name of clothing article that I should search for and buy in this case?

Answer 1

What you need is dust collection for your shop, not some costume to wear. It might be a good idea to drag your work outdoors until you can get the dust control set up.

If you're working in a confined shop without adequate dust management, the important thing you'll want is some kind of respirator or air filter. (Especially if you're working with MDF. That stuff is just nasty! You don't want to be breathing in that dust if you can avoid it at all.) A pair of safety glasses (or better, goggles) would also be one of the first things you'll want to get your hands on as well.

You could pick up a cheap "shop vac" and a dust separator that attaches to a five-gallon bucket for around $100 that will make a bigger difference in your "dust experience" than spending $100 on clothing.

You'll want to choose your clothing with some care.

Most of us, I'd guess, default to something like a t-shirt and jeans. Loose-fitting clothes or garments with strings, straps, or belts are a huge, huge safety concern.

You'll want to also avoid wearing gloves, rings, bracelets, necklaces, neckties, bluetooth headsets (with dangling wires), etc. to prevent those things from getting caught up in the moving parts as well.

Even long sleeves or loose aprons can easily get caught on rotating machinery and pull you in to cutting blades, bits, etc. and result in you having a much worse day than getting some sawdust on you.

Answer 2

Generally you want natural-fiber clothing. All my shop clothing is natural fiber, typically cotton, which gives me very little trouble. Your problem may be synthetic clothing having static electricty attraction - I have one shirt that drives me crazy that way.

But that's not why I wear natural clothing in the shop. My reason is fire. If your synthetic clothing is exposed to fire, it burns aggressively, resists extinguishing, and melts into your skin like napalm. Horrific, and even worse if you try to pat it out with your hands. Whereas, natural fibers do burn, but not as aggressively and don't melt. You can pat out the fire or remove the garment.

Answer 3

I use a long sleeved leather welding apron - you wear it from the front like a hospital gown and mine has a high collar that goes to my chin. It's easy to put on (and take off) over regular clothes and being leather wood shavings don't stick to it too much. It does get dusty from finer wood dust (from sanding) but mostly on the outside and I didn't feel the need to wash or even brush it clean yet.