How to clean and protect tools after a flood.

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By cyclecyco
User-Submitted Article

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Recently my area in which I live was struck by a flood. I'm going to show you how I cleaned my tools and toolbox after being submerged in dirty flood water.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Rags,old towels,drain oil and WD-40. 409 type of cleaner works great on the inside and outside of your tool cabinet.

Step 1

Take your nonplated tools such as allenwrenches,older pliers,punches,vicegrips,etc and toss them into a pan of drainoil or if you don't have some old oil in your garage go buy some of the cheapest oil you can find. Let these guys soak for a couple of days.
Step 2

Now for the tools you don't want to submerge in oil. Heres where one of the greatest inventions of cro-magnon man has ever developed: WD-40! Spray your tools that have a foam type of cover on the handles. Place these on a towel and let sit for a couple of days. NOTE: DO NOT use your ole ladys bathroom towels,for she could legally by some state statute remove your testicles.Also, your chrome wrenches can be wiped down with a clean dry towel.
Step 3

Now while your tools are soaking, take your electrical tools such as holeshooters,grinders,sanders, etc. and set these guys in the sun. If you have a compressor blow dry as best you can. I'm not going to promise,but if you dry these out well theres a really good chance that they will work ok.
Step 4

Now your cabinet,after all of your tools are pulled out of the toolbox, start cleaning the in and out of it. Use a good spray cleaner and spritz it down. With a clean old towel wipe down and let dry. Take your soaked and drained tools and wipe off all excess oil. Now go ahead and put everything back in its proper place in the toolbox.