Keep your garden tools in top condition with this rust-busting hack from TikTok

Are your garden tools looking a little rusty and discoloured? Then this rust-busting storage hack from TikTok will leave them looking and performing their best.

The best garden tools do numerous jobs to help your outdoor space look neat and tidy all year round. From pruning and digging to snipping and lopping, both manual and electric gardening tools tackle the majority of tasks around your garden… but they need to be in good condition to get the job done.

Having rusty tools not only looks bad but they impact performance. Rust affects the sharpness and movement of your tools, making it hard to snip through even the easiest of branches, and effectively, rendering them useless. To keep your tools rust-free, it’s all about how you store them.

The main reason your garden tools collect rust is due to water and moisture. By storing them in a cool dry environment, you’re avoiding this damage and giving your tools good air circulation, which prevents rust and mildew from growing on them. But a recent rust-free storage hack that’s currently doing the rounds on TikTok from Epic Gardening is being heralded by many and it involves burying your tools in sand.

TikTok user, Kevin from Epic Gardening creates informative videos that show how to tend to your garden, including pruning tips, growing advice and other gardening DIYs. His advice for storing your tools and avoiding rust is to give them a proper cleaning before plunging them into a bucket of sand.

In his video, Kevin is seen giving his secateurs a proper oiling to get rid of rust, dirt and grime that have collected on the blades. As he says in his TikTok, “I use a 3-in-1 oil and a block to start melting away rust. Then we need a few passes with a sharpener on the back to remove any burrs and then we oil it up again and massage it in.”

@epicgardening

♬ original sound - Epic Gardening

Using oil on your garden tools is one of the most popular ways to remove rust from them. While there are plenty of rust-busting oils on the market from retailers like B&Q and Toolstation, cooking oil is also frequently used to prevent rust on metal surfaces.

After removing all dirt and rust from the tools, Kevin prepares his sand. In a bucket of sand, he adds a healthy dose of oil into the sand before giving it a stir. Once the sand is mixed with the oil, your tools can be stored in the sand and continue to be lubricated until your next use.

This hack keeps your tools clean, decontaminated and preserves them for longer. Of course, if you’ve neglected your garden tools and they’re so rusted over that they can barely move, a bucket of oily sand isn’t going to fix this problem. But, if you keep on top of their care, you can prolong the life of your tools with just a little sand and oil.

For more gardening tips, here are 10 essentials every gardener needs in their tool kit.