Keeping your garden equipment well maintained and cleaned is essential to keeping the lawn tidy, as it will keep the equipment working for long. It will also keep you safe from any potential accidents and will complement your neat and clean lawn as well. Lawn mowers are one of the most important pieces of equipment for garden landscaping. It cuts the grass and keeps your garden and lawn looking fresh and healthy. It is important to clean and maintain your lawn mower blades well as it is necessary for an even cut lawn. It will also prevent the spread of contagion and diseases through open wounds in grass, But do you know how to clean lawn mower blades efficiently?
While you might want to sit down after a long day at the garden, your lawn mower will need to be cleaned before the grass debris on the blades and casing dries and becomes hard. Cleaning and maintaining lawn mower blades is not a difficult thing. There are some easy, quick and simple steps to follow and you will be done with the cleaning. Here are some easy steps to clean the blades of a lawn mower.
What you will need:
- Safety gloves and eye protection
- Hand pump siphon
- Wire brush
- Ratchet set
- Hose or bucket of clean water
- WD-40 Multi Use Product
Step 1
The first step is to make sure your safety is not jeopardized because you will be handling and working with very sharp blades. Therefore, it is mandatory that before you move on to the next steps, put on some heavy and sturdy work gloves to avoid getting into any serious accidents.
Step 2
The next step is to empty the fuel tank of the lawn mower. The lawn mower needs to be turned upside down to get to the blades and clean them the right way. It is important to empty the gas tank because not doing so will leave you at the risk of fuel spilling out from the tank. You can use a hand pump siphon to extract all the fuel from the tank or can run the tank dry before starting.
You will be rinsing your lawn mower down, and therefore, it is important to make sure that there is no current running through it. For this, you have to remove the spark plug wire from the spark plug. This will also save you from the worry of the lawn mower accidentally getting turned on while you are cleaning the blades. All you have to do is pull the spark plug wire upwards. Some lawn mowers may require you to remove the spark plug wire using a wrench.
Step 3
Take a hose and spray down the blade and the housing. This will get rid of all the debris and the crusted on grass from the blades and the housing. It is better to use a hose with a relatively high pressure stream as it will knock off all the grass accumulated. Lay the lawn mower on its side and keep spraying until the majority of the debris and grass has washed off.
Take a brush and use it to clean the blades and the housing. Using a stiff bristled brush is ideal to get rid of all the tough areas that the hose failed to remove from the lawn mower.
Step 4
Once the blades are clean, remove them from the lawn mower. Also remove the blades from the housing using a ratchet set. This will take some force and some serious leverage. Therefore, it is suggested that you use a long handled ratchet wrench.
Wipe the blade down thoroughly on both the sides. You can also sharpen the blades while they are off the lawn mower. You can easily do it yourself using sharpening tools of whetstone. If you plan to do it yourself, make sure you are extra careful as the blades are really sharp and can lead to deep cuts if not done the right way.
Step 5
Once you are done with lubricating the blades and housing of the lawn mower, now is the time to reassemble it. Reattach the blade making sure you tighten it well and thoroughly. Once the blades are set and tight, sit the lawn mower upright. Now reattach the plug wire into the spark plug. Once done, fill the tank with gas and the lawn mower is ready to be used again.
Once you have finished cleaning the blades and you have reassembled the mower, it is the perfect time to maintain the mower, you can simply spray some WD-40 Multi Use Product over the mower blades to keep them lubricated and sharp! This will help to prolong the life of the blades and your mower!
Cleaning the blades of the lawn mower does not take a lot of your time but if done right and regularly, it will increase the life of the lawn mower and will also increase its efficiency. The blades will be sharp and will cut the grass at the right level. WD-40 sprayed onto the blades will keep the blades free from rust and debris from accumulating on the blades keeping it fit for long use.
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