LOL. You probably just freaked someone out with that "you don't have to get it perfectly clean" part. Some people freak out if they see just one little smear of dirt somewhere that they think might be poop.Na, just use that shavings fork without any wire. I'm telling you, it is a real skill to work a fork and a rake the way the racetrack grooms do. You don't dig into the sand--just take what's on top. Give it a couple of little flips, sort of like a chef flipping food in a saute pan. The sand will fall out. Then, gently rake the remaining bits into a pile, put the pile onto the upside-down rake and flip that a bit. You can get every bit of straw and manure off the sand and leave all the sand behind. It takes practice.
All joking aside (although I would never joke about the skill of a racetrack groom!), you don't have to get it perfectly clean. These are livestock.