How do I look after garden tools?

Cleaning, sharpening and storage that make tools last decades and work better while they do.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 1 hr
Read: 2 min

Short answer

Clean the soil off after every use, dry them, and keep the cutting edges sharp and lightly oiled. Rust and blunt edges are the two things that ruin garden tools, and both are prevented in seconds.

Garden tools fail from neglect rather than use. Soil holds moisture against steel and causes rust; blunt edges make every job harder and damage plants. A minute after each use prevents both.

What you'll need

Wire brush or scraper
Oil
Sharpening file or stone
Bucket of sand (optional)

Step by step

Scrape the soil off before putting anything away.Soil holds moisture against the metal and that is what causes rust. Ten seconds with a scraper is the whole job.
Dry tools properly.Especially after wet work. Water left on steel overnight starts rust, and rust pits the surface permanently.
Sharpen cutting edges regularly.Spades, hoes, secateurs and shears all cut better sharp. A file along the existing bevel is enough for most tools.
Oil the metal parts.A wipe with an oily rag, or push the tool into a bucket of sand mixed with oil. It prevents rust between uses.
Clean and oil secateurs after each use.Sap dries into a sticky residue that stiffens the action. Wipe with an oily cloth and open and close them a few times.
Look after wooden handles.Sand off any roughness and rub in linseed oil once a year. It prevents splitting and splinters.
Store tools off the ground and under cover.Hanging on a rack rather than standing on a damp shed floor. Ground contact is where rust begins.
Service machinery at the end of the season.Mowers and trimmers: clean the deck, sharpen or replace the blade, change the oil, and empty or stabilise the fuel before storage.

Tips

A bucket of sand with a little oil mixed in, kept by the door, cleans and oils a spade in a single push. It makes maintenance effortless enough to actually happen.
Disinfect pruning tools between plants when disease is present. Secateurs spread infection efficiently.
Old good-quality tools are usually worth restoring. A rusty forged spade cleaned and sharpened outperforms most new ones.

Common mistakes

Putting tools away with soil on them — Soil holds moisture against the steel and causes rust, which pits the surface permanently and makes digging harder.
Leaving fuel in machinery over winter — Modern petrol degrades and gums up carburettors, which is the most common reason a mower will not start in spring.
Never sharpening anything — A blunt spade takes far more effort and a blunt blade tears plants rather than cutting them, which invites disease.

Questions people ask

How do I stop garden tools rusting?

Clean the soil off after every use, dry them properly, wipe the metal with an oily rag, and store them hanging up under cover rather than standing on a damp floor.

How often should I sharpen garden tools?

Secateurs and shears whenever cutting becomes harder, which is often several times a season. Spades and hoes once or twice a year makes a noticeable difference to how easily they work.