"Betty Harris" wrote in message
ups.com...

One of the commonly suggested treatments for garden tools
is
to keep a bucket of coarse sand saturated in oil (often waste oil
drained from a vehicle!) into which tools are plunged to clean and coat

The oil/sand idea is a good one, but not used motor oil. Many mechanics now
wear latex gloves around used oil because it's considered toxic and possibly
carcinogenic. Since you'll be handling the tools, use mineral oil.