Trowels Are Important. Keep Them Clean All the Time

Trowels Are Important. Keep Them Clean All the Time

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Plastering and rendering jobs take a lot of time. What makes the job so time-consuming is the amount of time designated for cleaning and preparation. But have you really listened to the warnings properly? When construction jobs have tighter time requirements and you are called to work smarter and faster, doesn’t cleaning trowels seem like unnecessary work? Whether you are cleaning NELA plastering trowels, your hawk, or other cement or plastering tools, remember why the job needs to be done in the first place.

For the Project

When you work with old plaster sticking to your NELA trowels, this compromises the job because the dried pieces might break off and find their way into your plaster mixture. The flakes dry out your carefully formulated mixture which you have worked to keep at the right consistency. This will cause your plaster to set a lot more quickly and create an uneven finish. Besides the drying out, it may affect the texture of your wall by adding bumps and lumps. It does not give off the best impression because it appears as if you did not mix the plaster in the water properly – a very amateur mistake.

Keeping your trowels clean has the same principle as prepping your wall before you plaster. If a wall that will be covered in plaster needs to be cleaned, it shows that there is a high importance in keeping foreign debris away.

For the Tools

If you do not clean your trowels for the sake of having quality work, remember that it is to ensure you have work, as well. To keep your projects going, you need to be well equipped with your kit to take on any kind of job. It might be cement rendering, bricklaying, or plastering interior walls and ceilings. No tools – no jobs.

Having a dirty kit compromises the quality of the tools significantly. While a NELA trowel is designed to last a lifetime, poor handling will ruin the grip and rust the trowel. Keeping your tools clean isn’t only about making sure there is no old plaster attached. It is also about knowing how to do it right. Submerging your whole trowel underwater damages the grip. Using muriatic acid rusts the metal. Cleaning your tools in a rush after poor handling will only force you to retire your tools early – forcing you to buy new ones.

If you do not clean your trowels for the quality of the job, then do it for their maintenance. In as much as this is common knowledge, laziness might force even the most hardworking plasterers to forget why trowels have to stay clean. Remember that when you cut corners, they will find their way to cut you back!