Garden tools are a significant gardening expense, so proper care can make them last a very long time.

Ideally, garden tools should be cleaned and prepared for the next growing season in fall or during the winter.

Tools left outdoors or not properly cleaned before storage are likely to rust on the metal parts and wooden handles begin to age and form splinters.

Remove any soil still clinging to tools with a putty knife or steel brush.
Metal Tool Parts: If there is rust, rub it off with sand paper or steel wool pads.

Shovels often take a beating if used often and need to have the edge smoothed out.

A shovel is a single-beveled tool.
Do not sharpen the opposite edge.
Use the angle at which it was originally sharpened.
If it is so dull you cannot tell, make a 45o angle.
With the file, push forward in even passes, across the full length of the tool.
When it is sharpened, no more than 1/8-inch of the shovel blade will be shiny.
The metal edge should not be filed so thin that it is knife-sharp.
You may feel a burr along the entire cutting edge on the back side of the blade.

To remove a burr, make one or two light strokes along the back to remove the burr.
Then make a few light strokes of the file on the front for a final sharpening.

It is best not to use a grinder to sharpen shovels, too easy to remove too much metal.

All metal tools: Using a rag with a little kitchen vegetable oil, rub the oil into the metal to make a light protective coating.

Use a piece of sand paper and buff it until smooth.
Sand up and down the handle, with the grain of wood, to remove any roughness or splinters.
Rub linseed oil or vegetable oil into wood with a rag.
(wear plastic gloves when using linseed oil to prevent staining hands)

Cleaning Garden Tools