Clean, Sharp Tools Work Better

Hand Tools

If you’ve rinsed off and dried your Garden Cleaning Tool  rakes, shovels, trowels, garden forks or other hand tools after each use, you won’t have to do much at the end of the season. But if they’re dirty, don a pair of goggles before using a stiff-bristled brush to scrub off any mud or rust. Fine sandpaper or steel wool will take care of small, rusty spots. 

Sharpen any dull tools you use for digging or cutting and file down nicks. Wear heavy gloves to protect your hands while doing this. Don’t have the proper files or sharpening stones? Your local hardware store or garden center may be able to handle these chores for you.

Next, gently run your hands down the wooden handles to check for cracks or splinters. A medium-grit emery cloth or a piece of sandpaper will smooth rough, weathered wood. Replace broken wood handles; tapes and glues don’t usually last. To remove a tool head from the handle, protect your eyes with safety goggles and strike the head with a ball-peen hammer. Never hit metal with a nail hammer, which can cause dangerous metal fragments to fly off.

Coat the metal parts of your tools with light oil or spray them with a lubricant like WD-40 before putting them away. To protect the wooden handles, apply linseed oil. Hang your tools in a shed or garage, out of the weather, until you’re ready to use them again. If you prefer, keep small hand tools stashed in a bucket of sand mixed with oil; it will help guard against rust. 

Lawn Mowers 

Most small, gas-powered, air-cooled engines last longer if you drain the fuel before they’re stored. Otherwise, the alcohol in the fuel can eventually degrade plastic and rubber parts, plus it attracts moisture than can cause the tank to rust.

Always read your owner’s manual for specific instructions on storing your lawn mower, trimmer or other small, gas-powered machine.

In general, run your gas mower until it’s out of fuel. Otherwise, add a fuel stabilizer, sometimes called a fuel protector, to a full tank of fuel. Then run the engine for a few minutes to let the mixture circulate. Turn the engine off and top off the tank with more fuel.

Next, disconnect the battery and spark plugs, so the mower can’t accidentally start. Remove the blade and sharpen or replace it, as needed. Follow the manufacturer’s directions to drain and change the oil or oil-and-gas mixture in your mower.

Clean the frame, and gently turn the mower on its side to wash underneath with a hose. Scrape off any stuck-on dirt or clippings with a tool or putty knife. (Never get into the habit of working around the blades with your hands.)

When the mower is clean and dry, replace the spark plugs. Check your owner’s manual for any additional care directions, such as replacing air and fuel filters. Keep the mower in a dry, protected shed or garage, away from the furnace, water heater and any appliances with pilot lights. Wait until you’re ready to mow again before re-connecting the battery and ignition cable.

If you have a string trimmer, replace the line now so you’ll be ready to go when everything starts growing again. 

Garden Sprayers

Wash your sprayers inside and out with soapy water, using a sponge or scrub brush. Spray some of the soapy mixture through the lines to clear them. Then rinse thoroughly with clean water, spraying again to flush the lines. Allow the sprayers to dry thoroughly before storing them out of the weather. While you're at it, store the chemicals you use in the sprayers away from freezing temperatures. Earth and sap left on digging tools add to the spread of soil-borne maladies and weeds; they likewise draw in and hold dampness, prompting the spread of rust. On the off chance that your apparatuses have moving parts, for example, with pruners, shears, and loppers, dismantle them first. Clean aggregated rust and soil off every single metal surface with a wire brush. Expel difficult rust from little devices with fine steel fleece. Utilize medium-coarseness sandpaper to expel rust on bigger instruments, for example, scoops, spades, and hoes.Once your devices are spotless, they're fit to be honed. While honing, attempt to keep up the first industrial facility slant or edge. For pruners, utilize a whetstone since it delivers an extremely sharp bleeding edge. Contingent upon the kind of whetstone, apply a couple of drops of oil or water to the stone. With the sloped side of the cutting edge against the stone, rub the sharp edge of the edge toward the stone in a bended movement, as though you were attempting to shave off a dainty cut from the stone. Hone just the inclined side of a cutting edge, however you should expel burrs on the level side.

Utilize fine-and medium-coarseness, single-cut factory knave records in progression to hone shears, loppers, scoops, spades, and tools. When working with a record, balance out the cutting edges in a tight clamp or against a strong surface, for example, a work seat to keep away from injury and guarantee an even stroke. Continuously push the record over the sharp edge in a movement away from your body and don't drag a factory knave document in reverse over the cutting edge on the arrival stroke. Move the record corner to corner, with the goal that its cutting teeth are gnawing into the metal on the apparatus. While honing with a document, don't utilize oil; metal filings will gather and obstruct the record's serrations.Lubricate all spotless, honed metal sharp edges and the heads of scoops, tools, and rakes with a light machine oil or an engineered oil. When a year, set aside the effort to recondition your device handles. Clean wooden handles with a firm bristled brush, smooth scratches and splinters with medium-coarseness sandpaper, and coat handles with bubbled linseed oil to help forestall future fragmenting. In the event that plastic-covered handles are wearing ragged, expel the covering with a specialty cut and supplant it with a fluid or shower plastic covering. When the handles are fit as a fiddle, reassemble the apparatuses.