I can't eat bread, so I don't keep any in the house.

I guess I'm back to the vacuum cleaner...

Maybe pasty white bread will work but I try to have healthier alternatives in my larder.

Isn't there a risk that a shard of glass will poke through the bread and cut you? Or is this just for the teeny pieces? I don't know why this would be better than a vacuum cleaner.

I heard that if you get punctured with shattered glass, a small enough piece that just goes into your skin without blood, that the piece of glass floats in your body and comes out in your pores at some other time. I want to say I heard that a doctor won't necessarily cut you open to get out a piece of glass. Anybody know? Because it's a natural substance.. Just curious, because of the topic.

However, if a light bulb breaks IN the socket, they say you should use a potato. I can't remember where I read or heard that, but it made some kind of sense.

This basically works - first sweep up the big pieces with a broom, then use the bread to get the little leftover bits. Just be sure to dispose of it properly so that pets/animals don't dig it out of the trash and eat it. Ow.

How does anything just "float" in your body? You're not a big balloon.

Bread does work, but so does a dampened paper towel or cloth. This isn't much of a tip, but then what do you expect from someone who writes a book about a "clean enough" house?

ummm...tape?

I use a wet rag or paper towel.

Curtis, I've heard the potato trick works, but you should turn the power off for that socket, otherwise the moisture could cause it to short circuit.

This reminds me of the Bill Plympton animation "ONE OF THOSE DAYS"
It's known for the famous "hair on the toast" sequence. Obviously memorable, even after 20 years. You can see a still of it here..
http://www.plymptoons.com/biography/anishorts.html
Anyone else know this?

PlanItGirl: My brother was in a serious car accident in which a lot of shattered glass (i.e. the windshield) cut up his hands and forearms really badly. Doctors removed a lot of the glass at the hospital but for years after there were tiny glass fragments being pushed up out of the scar tissue. Is this what you are talking about?

yep, I do the damp paper towel or rag that I can toss.

I did have a doctor tell me (as she was digging in my heel with a scalpel for an hour for a miniscule piece of glass) that if I had waited any longer and it had started to heal over, that the tiny shard would make its way into my bloodstream and ultimately my heart.

Another handy way to pick up the tiny pieces is with a cotton ball - great between bathroom tiles. If I didn't live alone I'd be tempted to write BROKEN GLASS on a piece of paper and lay it on top of the shards on the floor, a la the movie "Kicking and Screaming" (Noah Baumbach, not Will Ferrell).

I had stepped on a tiny piece of glass that became embedded in the bottom of my foot & stayed there for two years. I could only feel it in there when I would run. After 2 years the piece of glass turned into a blister of sorts and came out on its own. Ah, good times.

Yes, I have used a piece of bread my whole life to pick up glass. You don't pick up the big pieces, just the tiny ones.

If a light bulb breaks in the socket, turn off the power and use needle-nose pliers on the metal part of the bulb. That will start the thing out of the socket, and then put on rubber gloves to get traction while working it all the way out.

The damp paper towel works well for me.

yup wet paper towel for the tiny pieces, broom and dustpan for the bigger ones, if they're big enough, carefully with me bear hand.

so you're saying its not common practice to sweep up the bitty pieces with the furry pup? boy have i been going about this all wrong...

And if it is a compact flourescent bulb that breaks it is toxic due to the mercury. fun fun...

We once had a thermometer break on our tile floor. Never did find the mercury ball...