Realized I was washing my trowels wrong after 8 years in the trade

Tbh last week I was on a job in Arlington and my foreman looked at my trowel and laughed. He asked why I always had rust spots near the handle. I told him I just rinse them off and toss em in the box at the end of the day. He showed me how he scrubs with a wire brush and dries it with a rag before putting it away. Ngl I thought he was being extra until I tried it for 3 days straight. My trowel feels way smoother and I'm not fighting rust buildup anymore. Anyone else got a weird tool care habit they picked up late?

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1 Comment

the_joel12d ago

Hold on, let me get this straight - you went 8 years just rinsing and tossing? That's wild to me because the rust spots near the handle sound exactly like moisture sitting in the gap where the tang meets the handle. Did your foreman mention if he oils the metal after drying it, or is the wire brush and rag the whole secret?