Grumbling about print tables

Today is Sunday, so I went for my swim as usual.  I did 1000m and was quite pleased with myself.  Then I jumped back on the bike, assessed the weather, and decided to take a chance on being caught in a shower and set off home. 

It got quite grey as I left Riverton, and rather than get wet once I had crossed the river, I went into Curtin University.  I had agreed with Mark, the technician, that rather than wait until end of semester to participate in cleaning day, I would get my contribution done early, as I am going home immediately after assessment.  On Friday, I started cleaning one of the print tables.  Today, I went in to the textile workshop intending to finish it.

The print table was in a shocking state.  It was covered in old print binder (print paste), threads from the edge of cut cloth, bits of masking tape, and snippings of plastic and lurex.  I find this quite worrying.  It is the Surface Design class who are making the mess, and they are not being instructed to clear up their mess.  I have spoken to their tutor about this. When you work on a table that has this amount of debris stuck to it, you cannot get a good print.  I really don't care if they wreck their own work, but some people in my class need to print for their Cloth & Habitable Space project.  I care a lot about my classmates' work being wrecked by other people's slovenliness.  Print tables are best cleaned immediately after use - wet binder comes off easily and the table can dry thoroughly so the next user is able to gum down their fabric without the washing water staining their fabric.

This morning I spent about an hour soaking, scrubbing and drying the print table.  I cleaned about half of it, and had to stop, only because the scourer wore out.  I am quite concerned about the impact of the Surface Design class on my work.  I have ordered 6m of silk/cotton batiste, which is likely to arrive shortly before assessment.  This fabric is easily stained and shows imperfections in print easily.  I will be working to a time deadline.  I do not need to arrive at the workshop and find the tables covered in wet or dry binder, with thread trimmings giving an uneven surface.  Neither do I need to spend an hour cleaning a table, then spend another hour waiting for it to dry, when I am under time pressure.