Video:Maintain Gardening Pruners

Transcript:Maintain Gardening Pruners

Hi, I'm Debbie Anderson for About.com.

Properly Maintaining Gardening Pruners

Properly maintaining your gardening tools is one of the best ways to ensure your tools get the job done each season for many years to come. So, today I'm going to show you how to properly maintain your gardening pruners!

What You Need to Maintain Gardening Pruners

For this task, you will need an adjustable wrench, a Phillips head screwdriver, WD-40, mineral spirits, steel wool, clean work rags, a sharpening stone, and a pair of work gloves.

Clean the Gardening Pruners

First, use your adjustable wrench and Phillips head screwdriver to remove the nuts and screws holding the gardening pruner blades together at the base of the jaw.

Next, after putting on your work gloves, use your steel wool to thoroughly remove any old dirt and rust buildup on the blades of the gardening pruners.

Once the large clumps of dirt and rust have been removed, pour a small amount of mineral spirits on a clean work rag and thoroughly scrub each of the blades of the pruners to remove any sap buildup on the blades.

Sharpen the Gardening Pruners

Next, use your sharpening stone to carefully sharpen the blades of the gardening pruners by gliding the blades across the sharpening stone in long even strokes until the blades are sharp again.

Prevent Blades from Rusting

Once the blades are cleaned and sharpened, spray the blades of the gardening pruners with a small amount of WD-40 and thoroughly wipe down each of the blades with a clean work rag to prevent the blades from rusting when the pruners are not in use.

Reassemble the Gardening Pruners

Finally, reassemble the gardening pruners by holding the two blades and the handle of the gardening pruners together, and then, insert all of the screws into the small holes where the two blades meet at the base of the jaw of the pruners.

Use your adjustable wrench and Phillips head screwdriver to carefully tighten the nuts and screws back together to hold the gardening pruner blades back in place.

Then, spray a small amount of WD-40 on the hinge at the base of the jaw of the gardening pruners and quickly squeeze the handles together to thoroughly work the lubricant through the hinge and to make sure you have the correct amount of tension on the gardening pruners.

How to Properly Store Gardening Pruners

As an added tip, always store your gardening pruners in a clean dry place when you're not using them to prevent future rust buildup and with a little proper maintenance of your gardening pruners, they're sure to last you for many gardening seasons to come!

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