Here at Saratoga Springs Mowing we have been in business for four years and have learned a few things over the years. Our lawn mowing services are based in Orem and Saratoga Springs and service: Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Eagle Mountain, and Lehi, UT. All of these items are essential for our lawn mowing workers and are suggested to our new hires in order to have a good day mowing lawns.
Headphones wireless, and wired (noise canceling preferred) headphones and music make a lawn mowing day more enjoyable and even quite fun. I always have a backup pair in case I forget my main headphones or if my main headphones lose battery. A full day lawn mowing without music is definitely not as fun as a day with music.
Phone/iPhone or music device – Music is essential for long days of mowing lawns. I bring my iPod as the backup in case my phone battery dies or has a problem. The phone is also essential for looking up the calendar of lawns so you know where to go next, as well as accessing the navigation if it is a lawn you are doing for the first time or don’t remember how to get there.
Noise canceling ear muffs – I prefer to use Bose noise canceling earbuds with noise canceling ear muffs over the earbuds for double noise-canceling performance.
Phone charger, headphone charger, iPod charger – you always want to have your chargers so you can charge on your way to the next lawn if you start to run low on either your phone, headphones or iPod.
Allergy Pills – If you get allergies like sneezing, runny nose or even serious reactions like swelling eyes or lips make sure you take your Claritin, Benedryl, or Zyrtec to help relieve the symptoms before they make you miserable.
Sunscreen – It is very important not to get burned or to take too many harmful rays from the sun. One really bad sunburn can also really mess you up for the next day so you want to do everything you can to make sure you don’t experience discomfort.
Hat – A hat is a must-have for a long day of lawn mowing to keep the sun out of and off your face. I use a baseball hat which works for me so I can still have my noise canceling headphones fit over it. I’ve seen people using big beach hats but it is not as convenient for working with the noise canceling ear muffs that I use. To protect the back of my neck I will also use a bandana to tuck into the back of my hat so it hangs over my neck protecting it from redneck sunburn.
Comfortable clothes – I prefer very light clothing like basketball shorts and work out shirts. Some people prefer pants and long sleeves but it makes me too sweaty.
Comfortable socks – Again this comes down to preference but I prefer light short socks to stay as cool as possible.
Comfortable shoes – I like to use old shoes I no longer care about since they are going to get trashed with grass and get really sweaty and stinky. They should be comfortable to wear all day and for walking a lot.
Sunglasses/eye protection – I love my Maui Jim sunglasses for blocking out the sun and also providing clear crisp colors. I don’t use brand new sunglasses for doing lawns because when you edge or weed whack you will get them scratched with small rocks and debris. Once I get a pair of nice glasses scratched once I make them lawn mowing sunglasses.
Cut your toe and fingernails – This is kind of strange but it is really important not to have long toe or fingernails that can catch on things or break off and create a painful problem the rest of the day.
Water – Bring a camel pack with water and a backup supply of water at least a couple of gallons of water.
Snacks and Cooler – To keep up your energy levels high throughout the day it’s a good idea to bring snacks and thing that don’t spoil and don’t cause bathroom problems. Some good examples are chips, otter pops, fruit like grapes, apples, bananas, pre-packaged snacks and cookies, and trail mix. You can pack ice in a cooler and there is nothing better than having ice cold popsicles or otter pops on a 100-degree day when you are mowing a bunch of lawns. I would not bring anything risky like egg salad sandwiches.
Pocket knife, Leatherman – Many times throughout the day you will most likely need to cut weed whacker string and it is best if you have a tool on you that you can access easily.
Extra Gas/oil/weed whacker string – It can really kill your productivity to have to backtrack on your route to go to a gas station or store because you ran out of supplies. Assess your gas/oil, and weed whacker string before you start so you know if you need to re-up on supplies before you start.
Rash Cream – This sounds bad, but it really is important. It is mostly precautionary to help make sure you don’t get a rash. If you are out sweating and doing lawns for seven or eight hours you will get sweaty everywhere and especially in your nether regions. Iff you choose to wear pants, boots, or thick clothing it will accentuate the amount of sweat. When you sweat for long periods of time the skin will turn to rash. I prefer monkey butt or baby diaper rash cream and I apply to help eliminate future problems that can be quite debilitating.
Wet Wipes – To keep rolling with the theme of the last item, wet wipes can be a lifesaver if you are caught off guard when nature calls. They also have many other uses like cleaning your hands or for cleaning up spills.
Cut Finger and Toe Nails – It can be really annoying to have long fingernails that get a crack causing a hangnail that snags on everything. Having long toenails can bump against the ends of your shoes causing pain especially if your walking several miles like most lawn mowing workers do on an average day.