Car Restoration Tip 40 - Darn those Metal Shavings!

If you have one of those strong, right-angled welding magnets you've run across the bane of their existence: metal shavings. These magnets - and to a lesser extent, any magnets kept in the workshop - are very good at attracting piles of sharp, dirty and difficult-to-remove metal shavings. What to do?

We've tried wiping the shavings off and in the process learned the importance of using work gloves. This technique works, but the gloves get filthy and the shavings tend to cut and shred the material. Blowing the shavings off with compressed air works too, but that just scatters the shavings around your garage.

Better yet, why not wrap the magnet in plastic wrap? A couple layers of plastic wrap will last quite a while and when the shavings get piled up the entire wrap can be peeled off and discarded. An alternative to this technique is to use a ziplock bag for the same purpose. Either way, these little tricks make life a bit easier.