Keep Garden Tools in Tip-Top Shape

BY: NHGC

To make sure your gardening tools are ready to use as soon as spring arrives, follow these simple steps:

Hose down spades, shovels, hoes, and edgers with water. Remove caked-on soil with a brush or steel wool and dry the tool with a rag. Clean pruners, loppers, and knives with mineral spirits to remove stubborn sap.
If tools are getting dull, sharpen them before storing. Use an 8- or 10-inch mill file to sharpen digging tools and a lubricated whetstone to sharpen pruners and knives. Maintain an even angle all the way across the tool so you don't create a thin, weak spot on the edge. Always wear sturdy gloves and safety glasses when sharpening tools.
If you don't want to sharpen your own tools, ask your local home improvement store, nursery, or garden center whether they provide this service.
Lightly oil any exposed metal.
Store tools where they'll stay dry--avoid garage floors or other places where tools might get wet from rain or melting snow. Hang shovels and spades on tool bars and put smaller tools on shelves or hooks.

Comments

By catmint Saturday, June 16, 2012 1:02 AM

You can have wooden handles that last forever if you treat them with linseed oil. Remove any of the previous finish with 100 grit sandpaper. Apply it with a rag, set it out in hot sun until dry. The first few coats will be absorbed until you have a hard shiny surface. Give it more coats to make it even better. Don't do it on a cool day or it may dry tacky. The metal parts like a linseed coating, too. \It protects them from rust. Wax is good on tools that go into the ground, shovels, post hole diggers, etc. Two coats will do it. It's good for cutting tools, like saws, loppers, trimmers, etc.