Gardening tools are an important part of maintaining a good garden, but did you know that maintaining these tools is also critical to successful planting? Using clean, sharp tools will help keep plants healthy and make your gardening easier and more efficient. These simple tips on how to clean and protect garden tools will keep your tools working for years to come.
1. Keep Tools Clean
Take a few minutes to clean garden tools every time you use them, which will greatly help ensure their service life. After each use, quickly rinse your tools with strong water to remove dirt. For caked soil, use putty knife to loosen it. After washing them, the tools must be wiped dry before they are put away to prevent rust.
At the peak of the growing season in spring and summer, your gardening tools are likely to get regular exercise. If you want to clean tools faster and easier, please fill a large practical bucket with sand and add 1 cup of vegetable oil to set up a quick cleaning bucket. At the end of the day, insert your tools into the sand to remove all dirt and protect the finish.
If you pack tools in this season, clean them thoroughly to ensure that they are in the best condition when you are ready to use them again. After removing dirt, juice or rust and disinfecting, soak the tools in hot water and detergent. Rinse them and thoroughly dry them.
2. Disinfect to Protect
In some cases, your tools may require more than simple cleaning. When you care for plants with fungal problems or infections, it is important to disinfect your tools to prevent the spread of disease to other plants. To quickly resolve the problem, wipe the garden scissors and other tools with alcohol or isopropyl alcohol wipes. For larger tools such as scissors and shovels, soak them in a bucket of diluted bleach after removing all dirt. Soak in 10% diluent (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) for half an hour.
3. Remove the Rust
Rust will corrode the metal parts of tools, wear them down and blunt them over time. If your tools have rusted, you can wipe them off. First, clean the tool to remove any dirt, then use a fine steel wool or wire brush to remove the rust. The best way to prevent rust in the first place is to store it in a proper garden. Keep your tools indoors and away from moisture and other elements that may cause rust.
4. Don't Stick With Sap
It is important to remove any sticky juice collected on the tool blades to keep your garden or pruning shears working effectively and to ensure a clean cut. Dip a clean rag with turpentine or paint thinner, and then wipe off the juice.
5. Oil the tools
Oiling your tools will help prevent rust, keep moving parts running smoothly, and prevent wood handles from drying and cracking. Wipe some vegetable oil, linseed oil or any horticultural tool lubricant with a rag and coat them with a protective layer to prevent dryness and rust.
6. Store Your Tools Properly
Proper storage of tools can prevent rust and other wear caused by exposure to factors such as humidity and high temperature. Whether you have a dedicated tool shed or a simple handbag, there are many garden storage options to meet your needs and tools. Easy to use tool bucket or handbag throughout the growing season can make your tools easy to use and safe. Consider using safer options in winter, especially for large tools such as shovels, rakes, and scissors.
No matter how much you love your gardening tools, they will become dull and worn over time. Aging gardening tools will cause you to do more work because their efficiency will be reduced, such as scissors, which can no longer be clean. Some signs that it may be time to replace gardening tools are blunt blades, mechanical devices that stick even after being oiled, rust that cannot be removed, degraded metals, and cracked or fragile wood or plastic parts.
Through some TLCs and these tips on how to clean garden tools, your tool shed will support your thriving garden and help you in many growing seasons in the future.
