After work cleaning: tools, clothes, ourselves

I think we do not have a thread yet where we can share tips on afterward cleaning.

I will start with a question.
Tanglefoot on clothes - machine laundry, hand washing or trash can?

Haven’t worked with it (yet, its on order as we speak) but my go to for cleaning anything sticky is mineral spirits, citrus cleaners or some kind of cooking oil - depending on what the surface can tolerate.

Pre-treating with one of the above and then laundry machine is what I would try.

Kind of a tangent but because I was curious I looked up “what is goo gone” and found this:

Goo Gone is a commercial degreaser we like because it makes removing sticker or tape residue a breeze. But if you’re looking to save money or you enjoy making your own cleaning agents you can make it yourself with gasoline and citrus oil.

Sounds like a bad idea to me, but what do I know - there’s a thread on here about acidifying blueberries with battery acid.

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On the subject of cleaning tools, make sure to sharpen and lubricate them afterwards to greatly extend their life and make them easier to use.

For lubricant all rubbing parts that are metal benefit from lubrication, whether its vegetable oil, 3-in-1 oil, or lithium grease, anything is better than bare metal-to-metal. WD-40 should not be used as a lubricant, but a cleaner and rust-remover.

For sharpening, and many professional sharpeners will hate this, I just use the Corona AC 8300, Garden Tool Blade Sharpener. It’s literally a piece of carbide on a stick so every time you use it you are basically shaving off metal - that is to say that its a lot more aggressive than normal sharpening should be. So don’t go crazy with it on your family heirloom pruners, but for tools that see a lot of use and abuse its super handy and easy to carry around.

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For tanglefoot I use plastic disposable spoons and wear disposable gloves and just toss both when I’m done. Haven’t tried getting it out of clothes yet, though I imagine a good degreaser should get it clean enough to put it through a machine wash.

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I do the same. But I had to place it on the metal frame legs and touched it with my clothes 2 days later…

For Tanglefoot type stuff I think mineral spirits (paint thinner) but if that doesn’t work consider acetone or even parts cleaner from the auto supply places.

Good ventilation, skin and eye covering, etc. recommended, of course.

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good ol’ gasoline usually washes out anything. not the best to get on your skin but a good wash of soap and water after to remove gas. launder immediatly.

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Goo Gone is actually mostly mineral spirits, so I don’t know why they’re jumping straight to gasoline. That being said, gasoline isan excellent solvent and it used to be pretty common to have a container used for cleaning and solvent purposes. WD-40 will usually get the things that mineral spirits won’t.

For cleaning tools, I agree that WD-40 shouldn’t be used as a lubricant, but it actually does leave a nice protective coating once the solvent evaporates, and it’s tops for cleaning sap off the pruners. I like to use it to protect my smaller tools or tools with moving parts in storage. For larger items (hoes, axes) that get hung up for a while between uses or over the winter, I’ll give them a coat of a paste wax before I hang them up for the winter. I might also give them a shot of WD-40 beforehand to get rid of any residual moisture. The “WD” stands for water displacement, so it’s an excellent tool in your rust prevention arsenal.

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Not just bad for skin

Absorbed into skin and goes straight to blood stream and liver. Don’t get it on you

My dad washed his hands in it all the time. Died of liver cancer younger than he should have. Also exposed to agent orange etc so …who knows

But surface tension of gas takes in right into body

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Gasoline is laced with known carcinogens. If it weren’t essential to the economy, it would be regulated to within an inch of extinction. The only thing one should ever do with it is move it from an approved container, safely into an approved gas tank - and don’t breath it or spill it on you when you do that.

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As i read through these posts i recall as a kid getting gas in my eyes, mouth, and so on. Im not saying you should just saying we did. The good old days were not that good. Typically the old farmers had a milk jug you put gas in and you syphoned it out of the big farm trucks with your mouth to mow their yard. When we got tar or paint on us we washed our hands in gas. We washed our hands daily in laquor thinner to get paints off when i was younger. They did not have syphons or safety gas cans then. Glad we do now. Most things change for the better. Maybe thats whats wrong with my health today. We did worse as well. Be very thankful life is better now. Things were tough in those days.

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I can imagine getting Tanglefoot in someone’s hair, could be a problem.

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great for getting bugs off bumpers also. :wink:

@galinas
It seems some of the methods to remove TangleFoot do more harm than good. Since I have used TF for many years so I have the “experience”. My clothes , a hat and my hair have gotten TF on them more than once.

If it was bad, I threw the stuff away.
@Bradybb , I did “trim” off my hair that was stuck by TF.

I have hung fake red apples with TF on trees to trap apple maggot flies. There have been times I forgot that they were there and get TF on my clothes or my hat. I can say those apples trap more than flies.

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got some black grafting pitch in mine last week. wasnt fun trying to get it out. it was dry by time i knew it was there. basicily had to brush it out with most of the hair welded to it.

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i here you. that said ill probably die of cancer or liver issues. cant take back what weve done except try not to do it again. my brothers a mechanic and has been coated in oily crud going on 40 yrs. supprised hes not had issues yet. still doesnt wear gloves, smokes a pack of marlboros a day and likes his crown royal. he is full of arthritis though. was wild back in the day and has wrecked many a atv and motorcycle.

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@steveb4

We did not have a choice but to do the things we did. The gas was all reddish orange full of lead but its what we used. Most paint still had lead in it. We should never apologize about the things we did not have a say in. That way we did stuff kept us and others alive. In 50 years this new generation will say they used light bulbs with mercury in them and solar panels full of lead. We manipulate our environment more than a callery pear or autumn olive ever will.

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