Winter obviously is not a good time to garden or keep plants outside due to snow and chilly weather. By the month of November, you should have packed all of your tools that you use for gardening. It will take at least three months before you can make use each of them again.
Preserving tools is a basic task of every home gardener. It is somehow an investment as you do not have to buy new ones everytime spring season starts. You can certainly use tools for so many long years.
In order to keep tools sturdy and useful for the next season, it is a must to clean them up before storing. There are some secrets as to how you will clean them without causing any damage or trigger that makes them wear out.
First, prepare warm soapy water and all of the tools that you use in planting and maintaining the garden. It is recommended that you use a biodegradable soap. You can soak all tools in the bucket for easy removal of stain and dirt. This should not take more than an hour. For sure, you prefer waiting for the dirt to soften and stain to gradually vanish rather than having difficulty brushing off the fragments.
After soaking, wipe out any residue left on each and every tool. It is better to use a wire brush as the bristles are firmer, which makes the process much easier and quicker. Some dirt residue and stain can be thick that it cannot be easily wipe out with just any brush and sponge. You need to use something sturdier and stronger to remove smears. Also, you brush with the same soapy water so you won’t have to use another mixture.
Make sure that you rinse each and every gardening tool. Have them dry up by wiping with a clean, dry cloth. You can set them aside, as you pack other stuffs, like the hose, bottle spray, buckets, empty pots and lawn mower. See to it that they are also clean before storing them in your garage or greenhouse.
Once the tools are dry, you may sharpen them to be fully prepared by the time you unpack them. You use a sharpening stone that you scrape with your knives, shears, nippers, and other tools for gardening that need sharpening. Finish the process by cleaning off rust with the use of steel wool
You may start covering them with bubble wraps or paper bags before storing them. Choose a cabinet with lock to keep your tools out of reach of children. These materials are usually pointed and sharp, and no parent likes their kids to mess around with them.
It does not have to be a difficult task to clean all your gardening tools. It is a way to keep things useful and store them to protect your kids at the same time. So, there are two reasons why you have to do that anyway, which is significantly important.
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