Garden tools can sustain a lot of wear and tear during the growing season, so cleaning and maintaining them is essential if you want your tools to last. While it may be tempting to wait until spring to spruce up your shovels, pruners, and hoes, allowing dirt to remain on your garden tools all winter may not be the best idea. Here’s why you should always clean garden tools thoroughly after the growing season, plus a step-by-step guide for cleaning, sterilizing, and prepping your tools for spring gardening.
When to Clean Garden Tools
Ideally, garden tools should be cleaned off after every use. But if you don’t have time to clean your tools that regularly, be sure to properly clean your tools at least once a year and after working with pest-ridden or diseased plants.
Not only do dirty tools transmit fungi, bacteria, and viruses between plants, but dirt and grime can affect the lifespan of tools and make them more vulnerable to rust and pitting. Cleaning tools in autumn or early winter is recommended because it reduces the amount of time that dirt is left on tool blades and limits rust issues. Plus, doing this important task during the colder months ensures your tools will be ready to go for spring.
How to Clean Garden Tools
During the busy spring and summer months, you may just need to wash off garden tools with your hose or sterilize them with a spray of rubbing alcohol. But if you’re at the end of your growing season, it pays to show your tools a little more attention. Here’s how to make your tools shine and prep them for a long winter’s rest.
Materials List:
- Bucket
- Steel wool
- Sandpaper
- Dish soap
- Vinegar
- Bleach or rubbing alcohol
- Clean rags
- Mineral oil
- Linseed oil (optional)
Step 1: Remove dirt.
To start, use a stiff brush or scraper to remove as much dirt and mud off your tools as possible.
Step 2: Soak.
Fill a bucket with hot, soapy water and a squirt of dish soap. Soak your tools in the bucket to loosen the remaining dirt. Then scrub the dirt away with a stiff brush. Dump out the bucket and rinse your tools with fresh water. Dry off your tools with a rag or other clean cloth unless rust is present (see next step).
Step 3: Scrub away rust.
For rusty tools, refill the bucket with 50% water and 50% distilled white vinegar. Position the rusty sections of your tools in the bucket and soak the tools for 12 to 24 hours to loosen the rust. Badly rusted tools may need to be taken apart so you can access hard to reach spots. After soaking, dump out the water, scrub the rust away with steel wool or a stiff brush, and rinse the tools with fresh water. Thoroughly dry your tools to keep rust from reforming.
After cleaning off dirt and rust from your garden tools, take a few moments to sharpen edged tools like shovels and hoes with a flat file. Use a whetstone to sharpen pruning shears and other blades. Wear gloves while sharpening to protect your hands and wipe off the tools with a clean cloth when you’re done.
Step 4: Sterilize.
Refill your bucket with 9 parts water and 1 part bleach and soak the tools in the mixture for 30 minutes before drying. Alternatively, you can spray your tools with rubbing alcohol and allow that to air dry. Both of these sterilization techniques effectively kill pathogens on your tools and will help prevent the spread of plant diseases next spring.
Vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and bleach should never be mixed together. For safety, be sure to thoroughly rinse tools and buckets after using vinegar and sterilize with either rubbing alcohol or bleach, but not both!
Step 5: Add oil.
To keep rust from reforming, wipe the metal sections of your tools with a cloth soaked in mineral oil and add a drop or two of the oil to pruner bolts and other moving parts. Remove any excess oil with a clean cloth. If your tools have rough wooden handles, smooth the handles out with some sandpaper and apply linseed oil to the wood to prevent drying and cracking. Tool handles may need to be replaced if they’re badly warped or cracked.
