How to Remove Lawn and Garden Equipments Rust

Most of the time, your lawn and garden equipments are going to see some rust over the years. The alloys that contain iron will combine with oxygen in the air and water and produce the reddish tint we all know as rust or iron oxide. Any metal that oxidizes is said to have rust, but there are other forms of oxidization like aluminum oxide and zinc oxide that don’t have a problem with tools.

In order to keep the rust off of your lawn and garden equipments, it pays to take care of your lawn tools up front, rather than after the problem has already occurred. You can keep your tools clean and dry and this will make your rust problem much easier to deal with in the long run.

Moisture and water will make the rust problem become even worse faster. If you store your smaller tools in a tool box and add a packet of desiccant, it will help with the moisture and oxidization problem. You can also hang them up to prevent water from staying on them, but they will also be influenced by airborne moisture, especially humidity. If you live in a very humid climate, this is not the best solution.

If you want to be proactive about your prevention, use a fine machine oil and coat the tools with paste wax to keep them dry and free from rust. You will have to re-apply the coat with each use and you will need to know if the coating will affect your plants since you don’t want to have your plants rub up against the coating and have problems. Most plants are not going to be that sensitive to it, however.

If your lawn equipment is already rusted, you can take some steps to make the tool cleaner. You will want to take the rust off quickly because it can weaker the metal part. Once rust is on your tool, it will go to the inside of the metal and make it harder and harder to get rid of and will ultimately completely damage the tool.

If you rub a bit of mineral oil on the rust patch, this will help. Scrub the area with steel wool and you should see the rust move away. Brush the tip away from your body and the tool. It will keep the substance away from you and minimize accidents.

It might be necessary to get a commercial rust remover to help you get rid of the rust. You can also try an old trick of preparing a broth will 2 cups of boiling water and several black pekoe tea bags. You can let the tea bags dissolve until the water is completely dark and then soak the tools in the water broth for 8 hours for the best results.

The tannic acid in the tea will help to remove the rusted part, but will be more gentle on the lawn and garden equipments than the chemicals used in commercial rust remover, which can be harsh. Wipe the gray power on the steel wool and use as directed above.

When you do have to use a commercial rust cleaner, you will need to get the remover off the lawn equipments as quickly as possible.

         

More Lawn Equipments Care Tips Articles