Over time, cutting different materials with your circular saw can cause material build-up from wood and plastic, this leftover debris on your dirty blade can affect the quality of your cut in your work and reduce the lifespan of the blades. 

Luckily, circular saw blade cleaning is an easy process, just make sure you have some laundry detergent, a steel scrubber, a container and clean water on hand as you will need to submerge the stainless steel blade to wash it thoroughly.

We have put together an informative article below that will take you through why it’s important to clean your circular blades and how to do it, as well as how to sharpen your saw blades to keep them in the best condition possible. 

Why Should I Clean My Circular Saw Blades? 

Many of us realise the importance of avoiding dull blades on our circular saw, but few of us realise the importance of having a clean sharp blade for the best cut. 

Cleaning the blade of your circular saw should be done at least 3-4 times a year depending on how often you use the machine, this is because sawdust builds up on either side of the blade which can make the carbide tips duller quicker. 

More debris on your blade edges could even cause the saw blades to overheat which will cause the saw to work harder than needed and potentially damage the whole blade and machine itself. Dull blades give rough inaccurate cuts too. 

How To Clean Circular Saw Blades 

Cleaning your circular saw blades keeps your machine in the best condition possible and also increases the overall safety of your machine. 

We have bullet pointed our best steps to cleaning your circular saw blade down below. 

• Step one – First of all disassemble the blade from your saw as your manual says and wear protective gloves to safeguard your hands when it comes to the blade washing time. Place your blade in the water at a shallow level with detergent then use your brass wire brush to scrub the blade.
• Step two – Fill your bucket up until the blade is completely submerged then let the steel saw blades sit in the detergent solution for around 10 minutes. Scrub your blade again with the brass brush on either side. 
• Step three – Wipe your blade dry and leave it out to dry somewhere with the sun, to stop rust on your blade apply an anti-rust solution such as WD-40.

How To Sharpen Circular Saw Blades 

As well as regularly cleaning your circular saw blades, you should be making an effort to sharpen the blades too, as operating your saw with dull blades is unsafe and ruins the quality of your cuts in your woodwork. 

Below we have put together a small guide to sharpening your saw blades down below (not for hardened circular saw blades)

• Step one – Firstly, remove the saw blade and fix it to your workbench for sharpening, do this by clamping the blade to stop vibrations.
• Step two – Make a mark on the side of the blade that you are sharpening, take your file at 20 degrees then file the blade four times up and down the bevel. Repeat until you have covered the whole area of the saw blade.
• Step three – Set the bent teeth with pliers back to how they should be then use a triangular file to sharpen each tooth.
• Step four – Install the sharpened blade back onto your saw and give it a test run.

Final Words 

Overall, cleaning your circular saw blades is very important to achieve the best cut on your material and prolong the life of your blade by reducing the chances of the edges becoming dull quicker and stopping the blade from overheating.