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No matter whether it's a trowel or a tiller- the longer you use it, the harder and more unforgiving its handle seems to get. Even gloved hands become sore and cramped.
The solution? "I use pipe insulation to make the handles on my tools softer and easier to grab," says Matthew Cheever, the owner of Evergreen, a landscape design and maintenance company in Wisconsin. Cheever says the foam cushions help him avoid blisters when using trowels, shovels, and rakes, and they allow him to use a tiller for hours at a time "without getting white-finger disease from all the vibration."
Plastic-foam pipe insulation is sold in 3-foot lengths and in most common pipe diameters at hardware and discount stores. The cushioned sleeves are slit along one side. The pad a tool handle, just cut the insulation to length, slip the insulation over the handle, and wrap duct tape around each end to hold it in place.
