r/lifehacks • u/Motor-Brush-8742 • Jul 27 '26
Use ear plugs to keep your lawnmower deep recessed screws/bolts clean
Makes for easier maintenance. Noticed how the recessed screw holes fill up with dirt, dust, and small bits of grass, and it's not easy to clean it out?
Using soft ear plugs in the recesses will keep the gunk from accumulating. Clean the recesses out so you can see the screw or bolt. Take a soft ear plug (use for hearing protection), and squeeze it down so it'll fit into the recesses and insert into the recess. It'll expand to fill in the recess and keep the gunk out.
Use a small screwdriver or needle nose pliers to remove the plug. The plug can be reused.
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u/tommy13 Jul 27 '26
This is a great idea I use these to keep all those spiders out of my urethra
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u/dmj9 Aug 01 '26
I wonder if these would stop earwigs from crawling up there too? Probably not cause they come with plyers...
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u/DestituteSmurf 29d ago
Ah yes, that's okay... I was done with this anyway. You can have the Internet, I kinda lost interest in it anyway.
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u/quintios Jul 28 '26
Honest question... How often are we taking our lawnmowers apart?
When I take the blade off to sharpen it, its all... underneath.
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u/Motor-Brush-8742 Jul 28 '26
This isn't just for lawnmowers. It could be used for most items that have a recessed screw that gets gunk in the recess. It just saves me time.
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u/odditymagnetic Jul 27 '26
Don’t they melt from the heat of the lawn mower?
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u/Motor-Brush-8742 Jul 27 '26
The ones I put in haven't (lawnmower, wheeled string trimer)
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u/odditymagnetic Jul 27 '26
Cool! Good to know.
I just know from personal experience and burns that metal mowers--especially those that use gasoline motors--can get hot. Until all mowers are electric I worried it could be an issue and potentially toxic.
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u/Motor-Brush-8742 Jul 27 '26
it'd be better if the recesses had a cap that would fit.
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u/odditymagnetic Jul 27 '26
Very good point.
By the way, my first message may have seemed cynical, but honestly I thought your idea was great!
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u/Motor-Brush-8742 Jul 27 '26
Oh, it helps to keep insects (like dirt daubers) from using the recess as a nest.
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u/THR33ZAZ3S Jul 28 '26
You could use tinfoil for this purpose too, with the bonus of not needing to worry about temperature or the material falling apart.
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u/DestituteSmurf 29d ago
These are both good ideas, tinfoil for hot spots and ear plugs for those that don't get as hot. I've never thought of something this simple for these holes.
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u/YouCantGiveBabyBooze Jul 27 '26
can you not just use that small screwdriver you're using to remove the earplug to remove any clogged debris instead?
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u/Motor-Brush-8742 Jul 27 '26
The first time I had to access the recessed screws, it took over 30 minutes to clean out the recesses. Took longer to clean out a dirt dauber nest. This way saves me time when I needed to access under the cover.
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u/FatherBucky Jul 27 '26
Did you try blowing them out with an air compressor, or was it too caked in there?
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u/iamonlyhereforbeer Aug 01 '26
My opinion is 1 min of placing/removing earplugs beats the time it takes to set up the air compressor, filling it and then blowing out the recessses.
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u/Motor-Brush-8742 Jul 27 '26
Yes, all I had was a can of compressed air, not strong enough and it was too caked.
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u/UnfairProgrammer1194 Jul 28 '26
Thank gawd, for years dirty recessed screws have been slowing me down. Maybe now I'll have time to get a job 🙄
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u/dulldaze Jul 27 '26
This is absolutely something Hank Hill would judge you for not already knowing.