Cleaning & Sharpening your Sneeboer Tools

Click here to download The Gardener's Kit Guide to Cleaning & Sharpening your Sneeboer Tools.

The Sneeboer family has been producing tools for over 100 years. Sneeboer tools are beautifully designed and built for maximum strength and utility - the heads are hand-forged from one piece of stainless-steel, and they are fitted with ash handles from FSC-certified forests.

Cleaning & Sharpening your Sneeboer Tools: 

  1. Before their first use, treat everything with linseed oil. This way handles will remain their looks, won’t dry out and dirt will not stick to the wood. Even the stainless steel parts can be treated with linseed oil. That way dirt will also not stick to the blade of a spade, rake or hand tool.
  2. Wipe/wash off soil and mud, and dry your tools at the end of each workday.
  3. Remove rust from stainless steel tools with the abrasive cleaning block. Do this before it spreads or pits your tools, rust is corrosive and can ruin tools if left.
  4. Use a brass-comb wire brush to clean wooden handles and stainless steel tool heads. 
  5. Do a detailed cleaning and sharpening periodically if you use your tools frequently. Definitely at the end of the gardening year before you put your tools away. Use the Sneeboer tool sharpener which was designed specifically for Sneeboer's stainless steel. Do not use an electric sander as this can heat up the metal and will change their quality.
  6. Re-apply linseed oil to wooden handles and stainless steel to protect them from the elements and rust. Be sure to handle the oil-soaked rag with care, and store it in an air-tight container away from heat.

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