How to Easily Clean & Sharpen Your Pruning Shears

Learn from my mistakes – always, always survey your working area before packing it in for the day.

Or else…this will happen:

Yup, gardening tools left outside to weather the elements will soon look like old pieces of junk.

Rusty hand shears with a dull blade certainly take all the joy out of pruning. Not only does it make cutting more difficult and time-consuming, the jagged cuts aren’t good for the plant either.

Smoothly snipping away is so much more satisfying and plants will appreciate a clean cut too. Straight cuts will heal faster and the wounds will better resist diseases and insects.

A good set of hand pruners are made to last a lifetime, so don’t chuck ‘em away. It’s really easy to restore a used and abused pair of shears back to nearly new condition.

Supplies:

Large glass jar or casserole dish
White vinegar
Table salt
Baking soda
Multipurpose oil
Carbide sharpening tool or diamond file
Steel wool
Clean rag

Remove the Rust with Vinegar and Salt

To bring your snips back to their former shiny glory, all you need to do is soak the rusted parts in a solution of white vinegar and salt.

This trick works will any metal tool that’s corroded with rust – hammers, wrenches, loppers, scissors, and the like – by following these same steps.

My pruning shears are in pretty bad shape so I disassembled them first by removing the bolt that holds the blades together. It’s not strictly necessary to do this, but I wanted to make sure the solution would reach all the inner bits.

Next, fill a glass jar or baking dish with vinegar. Add roughly 2 tablespoons of salt and stir until the granules are mostly dissolved.

Add your pruners to the mix and top up with vinegar, if needed, to completely submerge the metal. Toss in the bolt and nut too.

I used an old pickle jar, which was the perfect size for my clippers.

After a few hours, you’ll see little bubbles working their magic on the rust:

Let the pruners soak for 12 to 24 hours. I left mine immersed for a full day.

After 24 hours, the vinegar-salt solution caused most of the rust to flake away.

The remaining rust can be scrubbed off using steel wool.

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