It can be a challenge to clean your pruners between cuts. If you’re like most gardeners, you spend most of your time in the kitchen and have a few pieces of cutlery on hand. You may own a few brands of electric pruners or a few garden shears, but they’re typically used for cutting onion stalks, cutting carrots, or cutting grapes. These are heavy knives and require some care when cleaning up between cuts. The following tips can help you safely clean up your pruners between cuts.
If you’re new to owning any type of pruning tool, you should know that many brands of electric garden shears are designed for safety. The blade is usually enclosed in a guard that prevents it from being damaged in the event of an accidental slip or fall. Many brands, including the Mr. Electric brand, also come with a self-sharpening blade so that it can be sharpened by the user if need be. To sharpen your pruning shears, simply apply some common sense to your daily activities. For example, if you’re in and out of the kitchen chopping onions, you wouldn’t want to use your electric gardening tools’ sharpener every time you took a shot at an onion.
The guard on the pruners is often made of rubber, which can become detached if the shear is used incorrectly. This doesn’t mean though that the rubber guard needs to be removed entirely. All you need to do is expose the exposed portion of the rubber to a solution that will soften it. Cleaning the rubber before reusing the garden tools is recommended so that it doesn’t get damaged. If the solution is too harsh on the blades of your pruners though, it might be best to just send them back to the manufacturer.
Cleaning the heads of your shears is another important step that should not be overlooked. You should never handle cleaning pruners with any kind of handles. This is because the handles may have been damaged during the manufacturing process. Even when the handles are new, they can still be hard to clean as dirt and oil accumulate on the interior of the handle. So, don’t let any dirt fall onto the blades as well. Instead, use a cotton swab and gently clean the head of the garden shears before storing it away.
Never put your cleaning shears in a dishwasher or washing machine. Most of the chemicals used in washing machines and dishwashers can be harmful to your sharpen pruners. If you must do so though, make sure you use the gentle cycle only. In addition, never allow the dryer to run if there is an excess of sap. This is because dried sap can cause the blades to become rough and the resulting cut will be very difficult to adjust.
When you are done sharpening your pruning shears, store them in their original bag or box. However, if you intend to store your pruners in a drawer or other outlet, remember to first soak the tools in warm water and then put them in a paper or cardboard bag. This will help to keep the prune in good condition. The last thing you want to do is to leave your pruners in a damp place for too long as they can begin to absorb moisture. This will cause the blade to wear out more quickly and will reduce their effectiveness.
When you are done sharpening your shears, wipe them down using rubbing alcohol. Then, spray them off with a hair spray to remove any soap residue. Before storage, you may even consider spraying the heads of your pruners with rubbing alcohol to destroy any germs that may occur after use. You may also want to dry the shears completely between uses so that they will be new and clean when you are ready to sharpen your garden tools.
Finally, follow these simple steps: Place all your sharpened objects in a nylon bag and label each bag with a serial number. Store your sharpen garden tools in their bags at the correct temperature. Avoid storing your tools near a gas flame or an open flame. And, if you are going to store your felco pruners in a drawer or outlet, label each compartment with its serial number.