PURPOSE: To prevent fine particles from readhering on a substrate to be cleand when the substrate to be cleaned is pulled up by a method wherein in a cleaning method, wherein a chemical or a rinsing liquid is made to overflow to perform a cleaning, the fine particles floating in the surface of the chemical or the rinsing liquid are forcedly removed along with the chemical or the rinsing liquid in the vicinity of the surface of the chemical or the rinsing liquid.

CONSTITUTION: Rectangular sweeping-out plates 3 having a length, which is equal with that of one side of a rectangular opening part of a cleaning tank 1 or is longer than that of the one side, are provided in such a way as to come into contact to the surface of a chemical swollen from an open surface of the cleaning tank 1 having the rectangular opening part. The plates 3 are parallel-moved from one side of the opening part of the tank 1 toward the side to oppose to the one side. When a part, which is swollen from the open surface of the tank 1, of the chemical is swept out and is eliminated from the tank 1 by moving the plates 3, fine particles floating in the chemical surface are also eliminated. When the depth, which comes into contact to the swollen part of the chemical 2, of the plates 3 is 0.5 to 20 mm, the fine particles can be fully removed. It is desirable that the traveling speed of the plates 3 is 10 to 6000 mm/minute.