Technical How often do you clean your tools/tool drawers?

Just installed a trailer hitch on one of my DDs, and tools are full of dirt/rust/grime. Was just going to toss them back into my messy drawers, but then got the inspiration to clean them. Got me thinking how often, if ever do you clean your tools/tool drawers?

 

I wipe them off before I put them in the tool chest, nothing goes in the box greasy. HRP

 

Wipe off the tools after use, but the drawers only get cleaned every...uh....20 years? or more?

 

Oh, and as far as cleaning the box,------- never have. HRP

 

Yup. Wipe the tools down before putting in the box and I try to give the box a ******* every once in awhile to mitigate the collection of grinding grit.

 

I’m **** about organization and having clean tools thanks to my dad and how I was raised. If I ever left anything greasy or out of place then I would be banned from the garage. And that was never gonna happen!!!

But true to form the top of my box is a free for all

 

Eons ago I knew a good mechanic that taught me a bunch about cars. He always said, "Never put a tool away dirty. It'll still be that way the next time you need it."

 

I clean my tools up before putting them away. I cut pieces of cardboard to fit the drawers and use that instead of the rubber or foam liners. I don't like how the typical liners get wrinkled and bunched up over time. Cardboard is easy to remove to vacuum up the drawers when needed. It will also soak up any residual oil and grime, helping to keep the drawers clean. When the cardboard gets dirty I cut another piece and replace it. Works for me.

 

Greasy tools get wiped clean before they get put back, that way the box itself never needs cleaning (except for the outside). Home tool boxes are just a pile of wrenches, tools semi sorted by type (one side sae, other side metric) and I have smaller containers to hold more tools that I’m using currently also semi sorted (too many tool swap meets). Work box is well organized and clean.

 

I subscribe to “The jobs not done until the tools are cleaned and put away” I also have very organized toolboxes with a place for everything and everything in its place. It also helps to make sure no tools are lost or misplaced. Some of my friends think I’m **** but if you have to stop and look for a tool it’s a waste of time. Your mileage may vary!

 

I operate in chaos
I try to do a yearly tool round up at home

 

I try to keep stuff somewhat organized, but it always seems to be a losing battle. Haha! I swear it sometimes takes more time to get the tools all out and back than to do the actual job. I thought I had a chance at these drawers the other day, but they were scooped up in no time. Would have helped a lot to get stuff organized.

 

I do the same. MOST of the time.

Ben

 

Yup, tools cleaned up and put back in the box. Box clean-up, not so often. A good blow job now and then though.

 

Maybe dirty but never greasy.
I ALWAYS return my tools at the end of the day or at the end of my repair. Hate to see them laying around.

 

It's on my "to do"list!

 

I clean them after every use. I have a peg board wall and hang everyone up so I can spot it quickly.

 

I clean my tools as needed. As far as my drawers I throw the them in the wash basket every night
Dan

 

Like most guys, I acquired a hodge-podge of tool brands over the years. Industro, SK, Craftsman, Proto/Challenger, Williams, New Britain, Snap-on, plus brands ***ociated with my trade (electrician) like Klein, T&B, Gardner Bender, Channel lock, Cresent and Ideal. Some sets, but more than a few individual pieces. After my back blew out and I was done doing field work, I went into the office. Retirement was now looming much closer, so I decided to 'tool up'. I was doing eBay a lot in those days and saw a lot of Proto stuff being sold for cheap, sometimes real cheap. I liked Proto, as on every 'big job' I ever worked that was the brand you found in the tool room. I found that Proto tools don't break; in 40+ years of using them, I can count the number of them I broke on the fingers of one hand, and all but one was due to extreme abuse. You won't find any specialized automotive mechanic tools as their thing is industrial use, but very, very bulletproof. All of my sockets, hand wrenches, ratchets, screwdrivers, nut drivers and torque wrenches are now Proto, I handed off my old stuff to the kids. I particularly liked their handle designs. They've since been sold to Stanley unfortunately, so quality/design on some items has slipped...

If the job got hand tools greasy and/or dirty, I'll run them through my solvent tank, blow them dry, then wipe them down and re-oil any with moveable parts before putting them back in my box. All of my ratchets have knurled handles that are great for grip but hold crud really well. I used to have a few with smooth handles, but those can get too slippery and turn into knuckle-busters. I had some Snap-on hand tools, but learned to hate that full polish for the same reason so those are all gone now. For sockets and wrenches, if any signs of rust appear inside of them on the working surfaces, I'll give them a light sandblast then repaint them inside with silver paint. There's enough humidity where I live along with an unheated shop so that's something I watch. Keeps them looking almost new. Everything else gets wiped down before going back into my main box. I never leave the box drawers open while working, so I haven't had to clean the inside since I got the box about 20 years ago other than a quick shot of air for light dust once in a while.

 

So what do you coat your tools with to keep them from rusting? I just use WD40, but somewhere way back I recall seeing something that was supposed to be way better. Maybe it was on Project Farm.

 

I clean all the tools off before I put them away and have a pretty good organization system. It's better now than years ago as I have more time and not really fixing or building much anymore, I still have 1 project left, not sure if that's going to get done or not. I need to meet a youngster eager to learn "stuff" I have the tools, garage, skills to p*** on, at this stage of my life, I'm in need of some physical help, this aging deal ****S !

 

I don't use anything. I want clean, dry tools when I grab one. That's what the silver paint is for; sockets tend to rust inside because it's tough to get plating to go into holes, and if the plating is wear damaged you may see some rust, same solution. Maybe Proto's plating is better than most, because I don't recall ever having any peel or crack, which I can't say is true of other brands I've owned. The paint does wear off, sometimes quickly, but is fairly easy to touch up.

But there are times when rust is your friend... The offset 9" linemen pliers are notorious for being 'tight' when you first buy them, so you allow some rust to get into the pivot then lube it and 'work' the joint to re-loosen it. Do this a few times, then they'll loosen up enough to fall open.

 

It's difficult to explain and I don't know the psychology behind it but when my tools are at work my tools are spotless, each in its place and the drawers are clean, blown out at least once a month. At any given moment I could tell you where the exact location of every tool I owned at any given time if it wasn't in its exact spot in the toolbox.

At my home home shop ? It's a free for all !
Now I clean everyone before it goes in the tool box but other than that it's a game of "where did i have that last " ohh and a couple good head scratches before I remember.

I guess it's because I know in my home shop my tools aren't going to walk off on their own, if the did I'd be p*ssed because they sure don't do any mechanic work when I'm not out there.

Still hoping one day those damn keebler elves would show up and lend a hand but I'm still waiting.....

...

 

Gibbs Oil works good. Oil down let sit and wipe off
Dan

 

The tools get cleaned off before they go back in the box, that happens at the end of the day, or the end of the project, or before the end of the week.

Clean the tool box drawers???? 40 years, maybe?

 

Do what?

 

I'm pretty good about keeping my tools clean and in the proper drawers. I built in LOTS of plywood cabinets with drawers on bottom, Work counter and upper cabinet shelves with doors. Biggest cleaning problem is sawdust buildup in drawers. About once a year I'll open all the drawers and blow them out with compressed air.
With advanced age I am finding more often that I'll open a rarely used tool drawer and find a tool I forgot I had! kind of a big surprise gift!

 

I just wipe them down if dirty, maybe a shot of brake cleaner to cut the grease if necessary. Then they go back in the correct drawer in the correct one of 5 toolboxes in the shop. Giving my BS and Whitworth tools away got me some needed space in the "oddball" toolbox for other tools.

But, getting them in the right drawer in the right box is the extent of it for me. When I was working as a Millwright and then later as an A&P there was more work to do in a day than hours in the shift so I never got into all the fancy things used to keep every tool in its exact spot.

Guess I was usually getting work done when the tool freaks were messing with their toolboxes...

 

My coworkers tell me I am "OCD" with my tools, maybe I am but I like knowing exactly where everything I own is. I try my hardest to keep my boxes as organized as I can because of that. My home box I basically never clean, my work box I blow out all the time to keep the Bondo dust at bay. I clean my tools all the time too, I paid way too much for these tools to not take care of them.