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Hi I'm Tricia a California organic gardener As my husband and partner Eric
always says you've gotta have the best tools if you want the job done right
Today I'm going to give you me some tips on how to maintain your quality tools to
improve their performance and prolong their life
After using any of your long handled tools be sure and wash them well spray
them with water get rid of any caked dirt or mud
Always be sure and wear your protective equipment when servicing any of your tools
An ordinary barbecue grill brush works great for any kind of cakes mud that
might be left on your tools
Never put your tools away without cleaning off any caked mud
Once your tool is clean you can use a vegetable based cooking spray to prevent rust
For tools that come in contact with your soil we recommend a vegetable spray as
opposed to a petroleum based oil spray that may pollute your soil
To keep the joints lubricated like on this stirrup hoe out we recommend the Felco
biodegradable lubricants
To take care of the wooden handles and keep them smooth use this sanding sponge
this can be washed and reused as compared to sand paper that you would throw away
After sanding rub the handle with a natural based oil
and remember that some oil soaked rags can spontaneously combust read the
label
Sharpen your shovels
sharpening your shovels will reduce the amount of work that your body has to do
and let the shovel do more To sharpen your shovels use and it's really called
this a *** file
sharpened at a forty five degree angle
don't over sharpen and then top it off with a little bit of vegetable oil then
your shovel is ready for the shed
It's important to keep your pruning tools clean clean sharp pruning tools make
cleaner cuts
and help prevent spreading disease
To sharpen the pruners or the loppers were only gonna sharpen the edge that looks
like a blade
This part and this part are not blades
Holding the pruners like so
take the sharpener and follow the factory bevel
like this
about four or five times you'll see the blade start to shine up
as it gets sharpened
turn it over
and remove the bur
it's basically the same procedure with the loppers
as with the pruners
but you might want to use a vice or have a friend hold the loppers for you
and remove the bur
Check the bolts nuts and any moving parts on your pruners and loppers
tighten anything that's loose and order any replacement parts that you might
need then
you wanna spray with the Felco spray to lubricate
this spray by Felco is my favorite for cleaning and lubricating pruners
and you should use it
after each time you prune
After cleaning store your tools inside either upright or hanging and they'll
be ready for you for the next season or the next pruning session which for
me is gonna be in the next couple weeks
so use the best tools to get the job done and grow organic for life!