How to Clean Garden Tools

Keeping garden tools clean ensures long-term performance and stops the spread of certain diseases in your garden. In this quick guide from Sims Garden Machinery, we’ll show you how to keep garden tools clean, looking at how to store them through the winter and thoroughly remove all rust.

How to Clean and Maintain Garden Tools

In an ideal world, you would be looking to clean your tools after any use. This could be forks, spades, secateurs, or trowels. Leaving dirt on a hand tool can cause it to rust, and can also spread weeds and plant diseases. Here is the three-step process for cleaning a standard garden tool:

• Rinse and Soak: You should first deal with all surface mud and grime. A strong spray hose can clear away much of the soil and muck. Using a scraping tool or wire brush can further help with this task. Once you’ve removed as much as you can, you should soak your tools in a bucket of hot water and standard washing-up liquid. After letting them soak for around 20 minutes, you can rinse them again with cold water and dry them with a cloth.
• Deal With Rust and Residue: If there is any rust forming on your tools, then you should deal with it through the methods explained lower down in this article. You should also check your tools for any sticky residue, which can come from plant sap. This will be especially evident in tools like secateurs. You can clean away any residue using turpentine dabbed onto a cloth. Make sure to fully clean the hinges, where residual sap can impede movement over time.
• Disinfect: Disinfection is vital, as diseases from soil or plants can remain on tools, causing issues when they are used again. You can disinfect tools by submerging them in a dilution of bleach and water for 10 minutes and washing them thoroughly afterwards. If using tools to cut diseased wood, you should disinfect them before they are used on healthy wood.

Cleaning and Storing Garden Tools for the Winter

When looking to store garden tools over winter, you should first clean and disinfect them. This can also be a great time to sharpen the cutting edges of your tools. They should be stored in a dry and well-ventilated environment to protect against rusting. To offer further protection you can oil them before storage. Some people opt to submerge tools in a plant pot with a mixture of oil and sand, using lubricating oils like WD-40.

How to Clean Rusty Gardening Tools

Depending on the level of rust on your tools, you might need to use different methods to restore them to pristine condition. For old garden tools with a thick buildup of rust, it may well be necessary to use a steel wool scraper to remove the larger patches of it. While you should be careful not to damage the metal underneath, this can help to get rid of the bulk of the rust. You can also use sandpaper for smaller or more delicate areas. Once the rust has been removed you should wash and dry your tools.

Can You Properly Clean Rusty Tools with Vinegar?

Another option for cleaning rusty garden tools is to use vinegar. If possible, you should remove the metal blades of tools like secateurs, pruning shears, and hedging shears, so you can clean their full length. You should place your metal tools within a container, covering them with white vinegar and salt, which will heighten the acidity of the vinegar. You’ll then need to leave them to soak for up to 3 days. If the tools have moving parts that can’t be separated before soaking, you should move them around from time to time to ensure the whole surface is cleaned.

The tools should be scrubbed free of rust after this, using a scouring pad, restoring them to a brilliant sheen. To remove the acid from your tools you should clean them in a solution of water and baking powder, scrubbing them with steel wool during the process. After this, wipe them down with denatured alcohol to help protect them against future rusting.