Spring is the perfect time to get out and get to work. It doesn't take long to write a whole list of repairs, each one adding money to be spent. Spring cleaning and repairs don't have to cost you a lot of money. I try to use my spring cleaning as a good opportunity to clean out my cleaning supplies. I love new cleaning supplies, so I have a tendency to buy new before I finish the old. Spring is a good time to use up all the odds and ends. Don't forget to not only clean, but check for repairs. If you take care of things on a regular basis, you will find that they don't cost you much or even take much time. One of the first things you need to do before you start your spring lawn care is to service your lawn mower. We do this in the fall before we put it away for the winter. Then in the spring all that is needed is oil, gasoline and off we go. But if you didn't take care of all the details last fall, do it now, before your mowing season gets serious. One of the best ways to keep your mower mowing at top efficiency is to keep the blades sharp. You can either have them sharpened by a professional or do it yourself. You can file the nicks out of the yourself and even carefully sharpen them. Keep in mind that you want to keep the blades in proportional balance. You want the blades to match each other. Start with disconnecting the spark plugs. This prevents the motor from starting. Drain the gas and oil and then turn the mower over. All you have to do is remove the nut that holds the blades on. Use a flat medium file to trim of nicks. The edge doesn't need to be really sharp, but make sure they are even and smooth. Make sure the blades are balanced, by putting a screwdriver in the center and seeing if they wobble. If so, find the imbalanced side and fix it. You may have to file down a side a bit to get the blades to balance. Replace them. Put in gas and oil and get mowing. If you need to get rid of piles of leaves around your home, you may find that your rake needs a little care. If your rake is rusty, you don't need a new one -- you can fix it yourself. First, clean off all the rust you can with a good scrubber. Then coat the tines with heavy oil. I use oil that my husband puts in a container after oil changes. This oil is also good for keeping your gardening tools clean and sharp. I keep a bucket of sand on my garden bench. Ever so often I pour oil on the top of the sand. When I've used my tools, I rinse them off and wipe of the water. Then I stick them down in the bucket. They stay clean, sharp and rust free. I've never had a garden hose get a hole in it, because I've taken good care of them to begin with. But if you do happen to have a whole in garden hose you don't have to throw it away -- just patch it with a kit. All you have to do is cut the hose on each side of the damaged area. Slip the kit's plastic couplings onto each end of the cut area and insert the joiner piece and push the two sides together. Then you twist the couplings together. It's simple and doesn't take very long. While you can use duct tape, it will need replacing frequently as the sun and heat breaks it down. Often, you will find that you can repair something for less money than you can replace it. Frugal spring cleaning is easy if you just look to what you can do yourself. |
