Find out when and how to clean your garden tools to ensure peak performance for years to come.
When to Clean Garden Tools
Ideally, garden tools should be cleaned off after every use.
Plus, doing this important task during the colder months ensures your tools will beready to go for spring.
Credit:Peter Krumhardt
Heres how to make your tools shine and prep them for a long winter’s rest.
Materials List:
Step 1: Remove dirt.
Step 2: Soak.
Fill a bucket with hot, soapy water and a squirt of dish soap.
Soak your tools in the bucket to loosen the remaining dirt.
Then scrub the dirt away with a stiff brush.
Dump out the bucket and rinse your tools with fresh water.
Step 3: Scrub away rust.
For rusty tools, refill the bucket with 50% water and 50%distilled white vinegar.
Thoroughly dry your tools to keep rust from reforming.
Use a whetstone tosharpen pruning shearsand other blades.
Step 4: Sterilize.
Alternatively, you could spray your tools with rubbing alcohol and allow that to air dry.
Step 5: Add oil.
Remove any excess oil with a clean cloth.
Tool handles may need to be replaced if theyre badly warped or cracked.
Rusty tools are usually salvageable unless the rust is so bad it compromises the structure of the tool.
