Clean and sharpen any pruning shears in 10 minutes or less! We're all slightly guilty of giving our gardening equipement, especially our pruning shears, a significant amount of work to do, and then not cleaning and caring for them properly.

The good news is that while it isn't always ideal for the equipement, most pruning shears can take a lot of abuse. Even a year or two later they can be cleaned and sharpened in as little as 10 minutes, and they will look and work like new.

No matter how rusty and dull they are because of all the plant residue that has built up, with few wasy steps one can correct the problem.

So go grab your pruning shears, and follow the steps below, so the next time you have some pruning to do your shears will open and close smoothly without sticking.

You will need the following:

• A small bucket of water
• A small wire brush (about the size of a toothbrush)
• A sharpening file
• Some bleach
• Some oil, like WD-40

Cleaning:

• Put some water in your bucket
• Take your small wire brush and start scrubbing
• No soap is needed, just water, and scrub vigorously over all the metal areas
• Stop when the metal is clean

Sharpening:

• Take hold of your sharpening file and with short, firm strokes push the file away from you making sure the file is still flush with the existing bevel
• Work your way from the base of the shear all the way to the very tip
• This may take a few minutes if your shears are really dull and haven't been sharpened in a while
• Using your finger, very carefully, check to feel how sharp the blade is.
• When satisfied with the sharpness, take the file and smooth off the other side of the blade if any filings are hanging over

Disinfect:

• Fill your bucket again, but this time with 1 part bleach to 10 parts water
• This will give you a mild disinfectant. Simply wash the cleaned and sharpened shears in the solution for a few seconds anf then allow to dry
• As a note, every time you are done using your pruning shears, you should disinfect them so yuo don't pass any plant diseases around next time you prune something

Coat with oil:

• Apply a very liberal coat of oil (I use WD-40 because it is so versatile) to your newly cleaned and sharpened pruning shears
• This will help prevent future rust from building up
• Oil also helps your pruners open and close smoothly without catching or sticking
• Use a paper towel and wipe off any oil residue, leaving a thin coat of oil

That's it. As usual, it takes longer to describe how to do this than to actually do it!

This entire process from start to finish takes less then 10 minutes, and that is nothing compared to using dull and dirty pruning shears that you are fighting at every cut.

If you have never done this, try it, you will be amazed at how much more work you can get done, and how much easier it is.

Gardening is very enjoyable, but sometimes a heavy pruning job can be tough work, so make life easy and tackle the next job with sharp, clean shears.

Good Luck and do come and visit us at Firm Romano Cassar.

Debbie 

The above is only an advise and Firm Romano Cassar can't be held responsible for any harmful results.