Never dry-sweep the studio

Walk into most home pottery studios with a broom and you'll make the air worse, not better. Dry sweeping launches settled clay dust — including respirable crystalline silica — straight back into your breathing zone. The particles that damage lungs are too small to see, so a floor that “looks clean” after sweeping can still leave the air full of them.

The rule is simple: water beats brooms. Wet-mop floors instead of sweeping, wipe work surfaces with a damp sponge, and wet down any dry spill before you touch it. If you vacuum, it must be a true HEPA-filtered vacuum — a standard shop vac blows fine dust straight through its filter and back into the room.

This isn't studio folklore. OSHA's respirable crystalline silica standard for general industry restricts dry sweeping and dry brushing where it could contribute to employee silica exposure, favoring wet methods and HEPA vacuuming instead. Your home studio isn't covered by that rule, but the physics of dust doesn't care where you work.

End every session with a 10-minute routine: damp-wipe your wheel and tables, mop the floor around your work zone, toss scraps in a covered reclaim bucket, and wash your hands and forearms before you leave the studio.