Maintaining your Secateurs

You probably have an effective rust remover in your house in the form of white vinegar (cleaning vinegar is the same thing). Put your tool in an old bit of tupperware, pour over the vinegar, and check it in 15-30 minutes. Scrub it with a brush or steel wool, and if there is more to go, resubmerge and repeat.

Different steels respond in different ways - so don't take for granted that all your tools will need the same amount of time.

It is important to check your tool regularly, as leaving it in acid for extended periods (such as overnight) can cause the surface of the steel to be etched black. While this can be repaired with steel wool, it adds another step to the process.

After removing the tool from the vinegar, submerging it in a bath of water mixed with bicarb soda will neutralise the acid.

It is worth noting that diluted solutions of other acids (such as phosphoric or acetic acid) will also remove rust - and probably much quicker than vinegar. However, they become more difficult to safely work with.

Commercial rust converters vary in their chemical makeup, and generally aim to convert the iron oxide (rust) to a black oxide that is inert and can't harm the tool further.

They often incorporate other polymers that then dry on the surface of the tool to form a protective layer.

This changes the finish of the tool, and if you wish to restore the steel back to bare metal, will need to be removed by mechanical means.

This property also makes rust converters hard to use on the flat backs of secateurs, as it can add thickness that prevents the blade and the anvil from sliding over each other.

Rust converters can be useful in removing the last bit of rust after mechanical removal or electrolysis. If you are determined to use one, try it in an area away from the blade edges first to see how it responds.

Having tried different combinations of the above chemical methods, we eventually got a hold of the Renaissance brand De-Corroder as we had good experiences with their wax.

This chemical acts like an acid rather than a converter, in that it does not create a new surface layer as it reacts with the rust.

However, we find it more controllable than acids as it is much slower to oxidise the steel and turn it black.

The De-Corroder is designed for use in museum conservation settings, and it can be sped up or slowed down by heating or cooling the solution.

Although the bottle instructions suggest that you submerge your tool in the decorroder, this would require a very expensive amount of it. We prefer to cover the surface of the tool, and then reapply regularly by scrubbing the solution back on with a toothbrush.

Wash off with hot water and detergent and you're most of the way there - have a look at the video below to see Mitch use the decorroder to clean up a rusty pair of seccies over a period of about an hour.

Trusty, dependable and a known quantity. These simple materials can get your tool a long way to rust free with a bit of time and elbow grease.

Scotchbrite is generally quite coarse - keep it away from your cutting edges and the flat backs.

When using steel wool, you can consider using a few grits, but the 0000 fine grade is a good choice that will remove rust without digging too much into the steel of your tool.

For the most thorough results, you can use these with a bit of vinegar for a chemical and mechanical removal that is comprehensive and effective.

These little guys are simple to use and easy to handle. They look and feel like your old school-room eraser, but incorporate abrasive particles.

This means they wear away as they work, which keeps their cutting ability consistent and fresh.

Although they are quite new to us, we have found them a great alternative to other abrasives in all tool-restoring applications so far.

We currently stock these in a #120 or #240 grit option. If you only end up owning one, the #120 is ally you are looking for in the fight against rust.

In the video below we used the #120 on our gnarly pair of secateurs after giving it a good hit of decorroder. A couple of minutes with the rubber had it looking pretty good - job done!

We mention this here because we have enjoyed playing around with electrolysis recently - there is something about mucking around with electricity and water that feels so wrong, and yet it is so effective.

Electrolysis acts like a reverse electro-plating process, using an electrical current to peel the rust particles off your tool and deposit them on a sacrificial electrode.

If you have a lot of tools that need de-rusting, or some particularly large ones, the sheer speed of this process makes it incredibly handy. However, it is a lot of mucking about in order to repair one pair of secateurs. Fun, but involved.