I’m down to just one last big problem in my little asbestos laundry – how to store the big garden tools like rakes, spades, forks, etc??

I bought one of those flimsy corner plastic …. thingies … admittedly I didn’t screw it to the wall like the instructions said, but it seems to be no good – you could store 9 broom handles in it for sure, but once you add big metal bits on the end of each broom handle there’s just not enough room.

From the ideas I’ve seen so far the best option seems to be those little ‘u’ shaped clips you can stick on the wall.. I’ll try to find a picture as I can’t explain what I mean…

Something like this:

But I can’t help thinking I am missing some simple, DIY idea – am I???

There are some fancy options at Howards Storage, Ikea etc but this is a crappy old asbestos laundry which will be knocked down sooner or later… so I’m not keen to go buying fancy shiny things!

looks like what we have in our shed.

I have mine in a corner in the shed, standing in a big tub. The tub stops them sliding all over and catches any crap that may fall off. Mind you, mine ain’t a laundry.

I’ve just got a peg board in hubbys shed, big and small pins hold everything well, it’s adjustable and take’s up no extra room ect.

I bought myself a tool trolley. you can stand your tools in a framework that holds them up and it has a tray for loading potting mix or whatever on. The idea is that you can wheel it around the garden with you and have all your tools on hand. Problem is I can’t get it out of the garage anymore because of all the stuff that has been put in front of it, so it stays there and I still have to walk back and forwards to get what tool I need at the time.

my rough method is to bang nails into one of the timber rails in the shed – then you hang the tools on a set of two nails – you need to measure the handle widths approx – so the rake handle nails are closer than the mattock handle nails.

i’ve got the U clips screwed into a length of wood, and that attached to shed wall. the main thing is to space them out appropriately according to each of the tools that will be hanging. nails, screws, hooks, and pegs will also work. how perfect do you want it?

You can also get a large bucket type container —fill it with sand and pour some oil into it (this can be old engine oil or such) and ram the tools into it—stops them from rusting.

Grasshopper said:

You can also get a large bucket type container —fill it with sand and pour some oil into it (this can be old engine oil or such) and ram the tools into it—stops them from rusting.

That’s a good one, Grasshopper…

I honestly never thought about storing the garden tools so neatly…I have tried to have a place for them but they always end up somewhere else…maybe I should give it another go?

LOL same here I normaly leave them out side the back door ready for a bit of work when I get time—but what I suggested works well—

as you are right by the seaside (I think?) the oil in sand would be a matter of necessity…all that salt, so good for the sinuses and lungs, not so good for the metal tools…

I am on the Bay so don’t get salt damage here—thank goodness—I did use this method when I lived in Sydney as well—not near the water

OOh, thanks everyone for all the awesome ideas!!

My three favourites are:
- banging nails in to fit either side of the ‘business end’ of the tool
- just some kind of tub but heavy enough to not fall over and tall enough to keep the tools very upright
- Grasshopper’s tub with oil and sand

I will have to do a reccy in the laundry tonight – it’s just wood frame and asbestos panels so it’s a bit adhoc in terms of the amount of wood available for banging nails in. If that doesn’t look like a goer.. I reckon a few tuff tubs would work well for Grasshopper’s oil and sand method – I guess you need to label the handles of the tools too so you don’t have to pull out ten tools to find the one you want :D

Dinetta said:

as you are right by the seaside (I think?) the oil in sand would be a matter of necessity…all that salt, so good for the sinuses and lungs, not so good for the metal tools…

LOL!! Perth may be on the coast, but Bon and I are a 30 min drive from salt laden air! Perth’s not THAT small! ;)

OK, I have come up with a different plan.

I had a squiz in Bunnings (a quick squiz as I was burdened with a bunch of heavy edging stuff!!) to see if they had any ideas in the tool section… I noticed they had a bunch of tool handles for sale, and they had stored them by sticking two (maybe 30cm long each) sections of PVC pipe on to the wall – one sort of near the floor and one higher up near the top of the handles.

Should’ve taken a picture I guess!! But it was such a cheap, easy, and low space thing – this is what I am going to try. I will see if I have any appropriately sturdy plastic pots to use to save having to buy some PVC pipe. Not sure sure how to stick them into the wooden frame in the laundry – I suppose using screws would be stronger than liquid nails.