Cleaning Gardening Tools

**lily** · #1 September 23rd, 2008, 08:07 PM

I've been reading a lot of information on the necessity of cleaning your garden tools, pruners etc. Cleaning them will help prevention of spreading disease and fungus from plant to plant. Do you clean them every single time you use them? or just before working on a different plant? I'd like to know what some of you would recommend for cleaning please? Thanks again for all your help.

**Ron B** · #2 September 23rd, 2008, 08:22 PM

Lysol between plants when pruning kinds like roses or cherries that may have contagious viruses or bacteria. If cutting visibly infested growths out of an otherwise clean-looking plant would also not want to spread it to other parts of the same specimen.

**lily** · #3 September 23rd, 2008, 09:07 PM

Thanks Ron, I never thought of Lysol Spray. Thanks also for reminding me to spray my pruners, after using it to cut out an infested part of a plant where the rest of it is healthy. Good, I will remember that!

**togata57** · #4 September 24th, 2008, 07:39 AM

Cleaning---and lubricating---implements is important with house plants, too.

**lily** · #5 September 24th, 2008, 09:36 PM

Thanks T0gata, I appreciate your thoughts. What do you use to clean your gardening tools?

**togata57** · #6 September 25th, 2008, 09:43 AM

Like Ron B, I use Lysol spray on my clippers. Fast, easy, and effective. With orchids in close proximity to one another, the LAST thing I want to do is spread any possible fungus or virus!!! ---I have used rubbing alcohol when I've been out of Lysol. ---After cleaning I sometimes apply a thin coating of petroleum jelly, especially when I'm going to let tools sit for a while.

**lily** · #7 September 25th, 2008, 10:10 AM

Thank you Togata, This is very helpful information for me. Okay, off to the grocery store for Lysol and petroleum jelly.

**jimmyq** · #8 September 28th, 2008, 04:12 PM

I use Lysol and an aerosol oil product called, Moovit. clean the major gunk off manually, spritz with Lysol, wait a minute or two, spritz with the oil and go to work.

**lily** · #9 September 28th, 2008, 05:49 PM

This is interesting to learn what everyone uses. So far, it seems that Lysol is the recommended choice.
Thank you jimmyq!

**lorax** · #10 September 29th, 2008, 01:45 PM

I use mentholated spirits (menthol-denatured ethanol) to clean my tools, and 3-in-1 or WD-40 as a lubricant, and I clean between each plant. If I'm trimming anything from the Euphorbiaceae, I use dilute hydrogen peroxide to cause the sap to gum up faster so I can just roll little gooey balls of it off the blade, then the spirits to disinfect. It's particularly important to oil your tools before you put them away, if you live in a humid climate like I do.

Then again, I'm also a garden-tool nut and I have different shears for different parts of the garden. That way, I know that I'm not even close to trimming my orchids with the banana pruners, and so on.

**lily** · #11 October 6th, 2008, 08:40 PM

Thank you for sharing your gardening tips Lorax. Good information about the hydrogen peroxide too.