Blackboard cleaning the German way

For more information contact: Thomas Mohaupt, Aleksandr Pukhlikov.

• Come to the lecture with a wet cloth or sponge (in a suitable container) and a wiper with a rubber blade of the sort used by window cleaners.
• After cleaning the board with the wet cloth, remove the water with the wiper: it becomes dry enough to use immediately.
• Avoid exposing chalk and the provided 'dry' erasers to water: you should remove them from the sill under the board before the lecture.
• Wipe the board with your non-writing hand to avoid mixing the water with the chalk, and dry it with your writing hand.
• This method isn't suitable for boards with a very smooth surface, such as those in the Chemistry lecture theatres: it makes the board too shiny to hold the chalk.
• It is essential that you clean the board at the end of your lecture, or the following lecturer, armed only with a dry eraser, will have problems.