Thread: Why you shouldn't have an open rubbish bin next to your workbench

You can guess where this is going from the thread title.

Upright vacuum cleaner stopped working. Dismantled it and found rubber drive belt broken. Cleaned up roller and bearings. Ordered new belt online. Arrived a few days later. Roller with bearings attached had disappeared from the workbench I thought I'd left it on. Couldn't find it. Checked open 20 litre rubbish bucket I keep at end of workbench where I'd been working on it. Not there. After a ridiculous amount of time undertaking the same searches again and again over several days, I thought I'd better check the main rubbish bins before they were collected. And there it was. Must have rolled into the bin off the end of the bench unnoticed and been emptied into the main bins.

All my bins are now a metre or so away from workbenches.

Another handy tip. If you have to go through your messy main rubbish bin, put a tarp on the ground and tip the bin on its side onto the tarp. Carefully drag the rubbish onto the tarp while wearing rubber gloves. On my limited experience, odds are that the item you're looking for will be near the bottom of the bin and covered in crap. Push most of the rubbish back into the bin, then put the bin upright and use the tarp to funnel the rest of the rubbish into the bin. Wash or dispose of tarp, depending upon what decaying slime is upon it. Probably best to dispose of the gloves as well.