Which pruners and how to clean and keep sharp?

Which brand of pruners do you use to prune and deadhead your roses, and what do you use to clean them and keep them sharp?

 

I have Felco No2 that are excellent and I've had them about 20 yrs.
They're easy to take apart to service and sharpen the blade which takes about 10 minutes.

But most often I use a pair of ARS Snips - they're excellent.
Amazon informs me I bought them in 2018 and they're still good as new.
Amazon.co.uk

 

What do you use to sharpen them with?

I use surgical spirit on a cotton wool pad to clean the blades of any scissors or the cheap Poundland pruners that I currently use. I am looking around for some decent pruners, but have no clue how to keep them sharp.

 

I found this helpful @groundbeetle:

felco cleaning secateurs uk

 

I clean them with an oily rag and use steel wool to clean them up.
I have a small whetstone with medium and fine.
I use the fine side only to sharpen the blade and it comes up very sharp.

 

I've have really old pair of sandvik secateurs that must be 25yrs old at least and they have cut through mountains of stuff over the years, sadly you can't get them anymore.
I bought a pair of Darlec ones about three yrs ago and they seem fairly good quality.
I know everyone seems to go for Felco, but I do wonder if you are paying mostly for the name.

 

Sharpening, rarely do,perhaps once a year and I rarely clean them to be honest, a bit of meths if I think I'm cutting something diseased perhaps.

I sharpen with a with a small diamond stone.

 

Felco here too, had them probably 25 years, sharpened twice a year, plus the odd spray of WD40, never had a problem.

 

I bought a Sharpal All-in-1 on the internet. Sharpens secateurs to Axes. Hand held. Easy to use.

 

Felco 7 here. 20+ years old. Sharpened so often that the blade's been replaced twice. Think that that answers your question as to 'why Felco' @pete. Everything's replaceable. They're bright red, too, so in theory you can't lose them

 

Same as Darlec and how Sandvik used to be then.

I spetlt it wrong Darlac