How to spring clean your gardening tools — two household ingredients that really work

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Now that spring is here, it’s time to gather your gardening tools and make sure they are fit for purpose before you set to work in your yard.

But while your garden tools have been just as dormant as your plants during the colder seasons, they are often out of mind, and cold and damp conditions can cause them to gather more than just dust.

So, whether you are pruning, planting or taking cuttings, using clean pruning shears and other gardening tools free of dirt, grime and rust will make your job far easier and prevent passing infections onto your plants.

Here, with gardener and author Misilla @learntogrow, we share how to get your pruning shears and other gardening tools back into shape for springtime.

A pair of dirty, red-handled pruning shears on soil — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

In her Instagram post, Misila explains how to rejuvenate your garden tools and remove rust if you’ve left them out in the rain. But rather than using over-the-counter products, she suggests raiding your kitchen and bathroom cupboards.

Thrifty hack
I love a cheap hack that saves you money and stops you from buying a product that you will only partly use, so here we share the steps she suggests to clean your gardening tools.

The essentials
All you need is vinegar, baking soda, a toothbrush and steel wool or a scouring sponge. You’re bound to find the vinegar and baking soda in your kitchen cupboards, and you can raid your bathroom for an old toothbrush — just remember not to put it back!

Easy Way to Remove Rust from Garden Tools - YouTube

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Your cleaning toolkit

Vinegar
Baking soda
Toothbrush, steel wool or scouring sponge
Oil to finish

How to clean your gardening tools

1. Place your tools into a container and soak them in white vinegar for 24 hours.

2. After 24 hours you'll notice that the solution has turned brown in color. Discard the used vinegar outside.

3. Place the tools in a bucket and rinse thoroughly with water before discarding the liquid outside.

4. Protect your hands with gloves before taking hold of a toothbrush, scouring pad or a wire brush.

5. Dip your cleaning tool in the baking soda with a small amount of water to form a paste. Work the paste into your tool. (The baking soda will neutralize the vinegar if any remains.)

6. Rinse your tools in water and dry thoroughly with a cloth.

7. To protect and lubricate your tools apply a small amount of oil and rub it in with a cloth.

Your tools are now set for springtime gardening.

Which type of oil is best?

Applying oil once you’ve cleaned the rust and dirt from your tools will help to protect them from the elements and provide lubrication.

Misiilia chose to use a mineral oil, as she already had it to hand to oil her cutting board. However, she also recommends using linseed and camellia oil.

However, she warns against using vegetable oils as “they won’t provide long-term protection from rust and lubrication, and it will go rancid.”

Apart from adding oil to the metal parts of tools, she suggests rubbing the oil into tools with wooden handles, as it will prevent them cracking and drying out.

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Camilla Sharman has worked in publishing and marketing for over 30 years and has covered a wide range of sectors within the business and consumer industries both as a feature, content, and freelance writer.

As a business journalist, Camilla has researched articles for many different sectors from the jewellery industry to finance and tech, charities, and the arts. Whatever she’s covered, she enjoys delving deep and learning the ins and out of different topics, then conveying her research within engaging content that informs the reader. In her spare time, when she’s not in her kitchen experimenting with a new recipe, you’ll find her keeping fit at the gym. In the pool, stretching at a yoga class, or on a spin bike, exercise is her escape time. She also loves the great outdoors and if she’s not pottering about in her garden, she’ll be jumping on her bike for a gentle cycle ride.

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