how to: paint garden tools

I actually painted my garden tools this year! It was on my September garden plan. But in truth, it’s on my radar every year. That’s because I keep skipping this task and it rolls over to the next year, every year…

Let me back up – what I painted was the wooden handles of four of my tools. The materials needed for this little mini-project comprised a short and inexpensive list:

• cleaning cloth and cleaner (I used a bucket of hot, soapy water, nothing very strong)
• sanding paper (I used 80 and 120 grit, kept going back and forth, couldn’t decide which one was best for this job)
• paint brush
• paint
• misc painting supplies (can opener, stir stick)

The project itself was pretty easy and I worked on it over the course of several days. Waiting for the paint coats to dry took the most time.

First, I gave the wooden handles a good cleaning. After they had dried, I sanded the wood to make a smooth surface, or relatively smooth. That was the hardest part. Before painting I wiped them down to get the sanding dust off. Here is what they looked like prior to beginning. The metal parts need some love too, but that was definitely outside the scope of this project. I may address that next year. Not even sure how to get the rust off and/or refurbish.

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Next I gave the handles several coats of a bright orange, exterior, high gloss paint. I bought a quart and even after giving each of the four tools 3-4 coats, there is a lot of paint leftover. Hmm…what can I do with neon orange paint??

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At first I was planning to use red – that’s pretty bright, right?? and I love the color red – then gave it further thought when I was at the paint store choosing a color. The orange paint chips jumped right out at me. What brighter color than orange? Think: traffic cones.

One thing I found difficult was painting a curved surface. The brushing on wasn’t difficult, but it seemed like I had a hard time getting an even coat due to the roundedness of the handles.

They didn’t turn out perfect and I sure wasn’t as particular about getting a good paint job like I would be painting walls inside my house, but I think the purpose was served.

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There are a number of reasons to paint the handles, and a bright color at that:

• protects the wood from the elements and from wear and tear, extending their life
• protects your hands from splintering wood
• keeps the wood from drying out
• makes the tools easier to locate when they are laying in the grass

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I actually have misplaced tools in the grass a few times. I’ve been known to set them down, then walk away to do something else, then come back and not be able to find them. DOH! Only temporarily though, I always find them again.

The funny thing is that the tools I am most likely to misplace are the shorter handled tools. None of which are the ones I just painted. My short tools have plastic or spongy cushioned handles, which means I can’t effectively paint them. But! I have an idea that I am going to try on these to give them the same flashy treatment. Stay tuned!

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