WD-40 On Gardening Tools?
 

Wondering about the residual toxicity especially on shears etc. I find this
oil is very good at keeping moving parts moving, rusty bits clean, so I dab
it on the leading edges and joints, and wipe down prior to storage.

But could I be harming my plants?

"Leon Trollski" wrote in
news:FLQBe.1959847$Xk.568440@pd7tw3no:

Wondering about the residual toxicity especially on shears etc. I
find this oil is very good at keeping moving parts moving, rusty bits
clean, so I dab it on the leading edges and joints, and wipe down
prior to storage.

But could I be harming my plants?





A nice alternative is oil of peppermint.

--
David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
email:
http://beyondgardening.com/Albums

Even better is Camellia oil, look for a supplier of Japanese tools
Hida tool comes to mind.

"Leon Trollski" wrote in message
news:FLQBe.1959847$Xk.568440@pd7tw3no...
Wondering about the residual toxicity especially on shears etc. I find
this
oil is very good at keeping moving parts moving, rusty bits clean, so I
dab
it on the leading edges and joints, and wipe down prior to storage.

But could I be harming my plants?

I have used it for years without any noticeable harm.

Leon Trollski wrote:
Wondering about the residual toxicity especially on shears etc. I find this
oil is very good at keeping moving parts moving, rusty bits clean, so I dab
it on the leading edges and joints, and wipe down prior to storage.

But could I be harming my plants?



Considering that people intentionally spray their fruit trees with
dormant oil -- a petroleum based product meant to kill off insects -- I
doubt that a minute amount of WD-40 on a tool would be a great danger to
the plants. 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 metal and I've not heard of any problems with the method.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

John McGaw wrote

"Considering that people intentionally spray their fruit trees with
dormant oil -- a petroleum based product meant to kill off insects -- I

doubt that a minute amount of WD-40 on a tool would be a great danger
to
the plants. 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 metal and I've not heard of any problems with the method."




Why should it be harmful? Petroleum is organic. Some people seem to
think that anything organic is magical, don't they?

Betty Harris wrote:
John McGaw wrote
[...] 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 metal and I've not heard of any problems with the method."




Why should it be harmful? Petroleum is organic. Some people seem to
think that anything organic is magical, don't they?



Yup, the stuff in belladonna is a magical people remover, all right... :-)

"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.

John McGaw wrote in
:

Leon Trollski wrote:
Wondering about the residual toxicity especially on shears etc. I
find this oil is very good at keeping moving parts moving, rusty bits
clean, so I dab it on the leading edges and joints, and wipe down
prior to storage.

But could I be harming my plants?



Considering that people intentionally spray their fruit trees with
dormant oil -- a petroleum based product meant to kill off insects --
I doubt that a minute amount of WD-40 on a tool would be a great
danger to the plants. 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 metal and I've not heard of any problems with
the method.

A healthy adult or plant will probably not show any indication of
deleterious effects because most toxins will be either metabolized,
excreted or stowed away in the liver or other body tissues (no, plants
don't have livers except liverworts har har). However, when you are old or
sick and your body metabolizes fat reserves that release the stored heavy
metals and other assorted crap that comes with used oil, don't wonder why
you don't feel so good. Maybe the quantity of contaminant isn't enough to
make a difference or maybe it is. Of course some people, e.g. smokers,
probably won't last that long anyway, so it probably won't matter at all
for them.

You can look up the MSDS for WD-40 on www.wd40.com. You will have to do
your own detective work regarding toxicity to plants. I don't have Acrobat
installed right now, so I'm not going to look. If you really don't care
for WD-40 I suppose you could use a bucket of silica gel for dessicant and
a swab of some kind of natural oil for lube.