5 tips to clean broken glass safely, without using a brush

Cleaning up broken glass requires you to be very careful. And to be thorough enough, sometimes you need to be resourceful. You may want to consider other methods than using a broom to clean as small debris will get caught in the bristles, endangering the next sweep.

If you want to make sure that no debris remains, then you need a little ingenuity. Here are tips for cleaning up glass shards without a broom.

First thing: Protect yourself and those around you

When glass falls to the floor, remind people to pay attention, and keep children and pets away from debris. When cleaning, you should also prepare protective gear for hands and feet such as gloves and closed-toe shoes.

First, pick up all the big pieces. If you don't have gloves, use tongs. Never kneel on broken glass, as sharp shards can easily pierce your pants and the door to your knees.

After picking up large debris, try the following techniques to deal with all remaining debris.

Use a vacuum cleaner

Vacuum up shards of broken glass that can damage the inside of your machine. If you use a vacuum cleaner, cover the vacuum hose with socks or thin napkins. This 'shield' will catch all the small pieces of glass that are sucked up, you just have to be careful when disposing of it after you're done smoking.

Use a wet tissue

You can use a wet paper towel to clean up the pieces of glass that brooms often miss. For this method, it's important that you wear gloves to prevent glass shards from piercing the tissue.

Also, make clever use of the food in your kitchen. The following two foods will be very helpful when clearing broken glass: sandwiches and potatoes.

Use a slice of sandwich

Place the slice of bread on top of the glass crumbs, and gently press the surface of the bread with your hands. After the glass crumbs are pinned to the bread, just pack it up in a trash bag and throw it away.

Use potatoes

Potatoes also have this pretty good use. Cut the potato in half and then press the inside of the potato against the floor to remove the crumbs, pressing repeatedly until you get quite a few small pieces of glass.

Use something sticky

Even if you've cleaned up most of the debris, there's bound to be debris hanging around. You should double-check the area using duct tape, a lint roller, or any similar adhesive.

Once you've cleaned up your broken glass area, make sure to dispose of it properly. Instead of dumping them straight in the trash, wrap the pieces of glass in an old rag and put it in a paper bag and then a cardboard box. Take extra precautions and make a note on the box so that anyone who comes into contact with the container has sharp objects inside.