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How to Care for Your Gardening Tools

Spring and summer bring a beautiful time of year with the joy of tending to a garden. This means that there is going to be wear and tear. It can be expensive to constantly having to replace your tools repeatedly. With good care our tools can last a long while. Prime Custom Builders wants to help you take the best care of your tools so that you can keep your home looking beautiful and not have to spend so much in the process of doing so.

The first step that you want to do in taking care of your tools is to clean them after every use. You want to make sure that you rinse your tools with water and scrub them with a brush to get off all that you can. Then periodically you want to do some routine cleaning on them by soaking them in different types of solutions. Depending on the type of material the tool is and what foreign material you have all over it from gardening will depending what type of solution that you need to soak it in. For the routine cleaning you’re going to want to make sure that you soak it in a diluted bleach solution. If you have sap all over your tools, then you’re going to want to make sure that they are soaked in turpentine. If you have tools that are covered in rust, then you’ll want to soak them in vinegar. When you have tools that have wooden handles you want to take care of that aspect as well because splinters can occur as well as the wood can start to breakdown. For this part of your gardening tools you can rub the wood lightly with linseed oil to help keep it fresh and looking good.

The second step is to keep your tools sharp. This means that on the occasion you need to make sure that you take the time to sharpen them. Such gardening tools would include hoes, shears, scissors, pruners, knives, and shovels. The best way to go about doing this is to get a clamp that can attach to the table. Take the handle of your tool and clamp it in a way that secures the tool while still exposing the blade. You’re then going to want to lubricate the edge with WD-40 and start to file away with a 10” flat mill file. There are some tools that are going to need a finer edge. Make sure to do research to see which one needs a finer edge.

The third step in taking care of your tools is by storing your tools in the proper place. This means that even though it may be a hassle, make sure to always clean your tools after you use them and then put them away whether in your shed or garage. You want to make sure that you protect them from the elements. Rust can quickly form on such tools making them less than ideal to work with. It might not rain but the sprinklers are bound to go off which will then cause your tools to begin to rust.

Following these three steps will help to keep your tools in a pristine working condition. This means that you can keep your home looking beautiful with the correct tools. Prime Custom Builders builds beautiful homes with beautiful yards for you to be able to form into the perfect garden for you and your family. Check out the homes we have available today! And start getting your tools ready today!

By Prime Custom Builders 6-27-2018