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Spring is, of course, grass-cutting season, and that means it’s time to get that lawn mower out of storage. There are plenty of ways to maintain your lawn mower, including cleaning the deck regularly, but that can get tedious. Thankfully, there’s a trick that may help with that bit of routine maintenance, preventing grass and other yard clippings from sticking to the deck of your mower. All you need is a brush and a dry film graphite lubricant product known as Slip Plate Number 1.

The idea here is to take advantage of the product’s non-stick properties to prevent the buildup of grass and other debris on the underside of the mower. Application is pretty straightforward, too. Once you’ve cleaned the mower deck, take a wire brush and scour the deck’s surface a bit. This will give the Slip Plate something to grab onto. From here, you apply the Slip Plate to the mower deck with a brush and leave it to dry overnight. 

It’s a good idea to apply a second or even third coat once the previous ones have dried, ensuring that you’ve covered every nook and cranny underneath your mower. On paper, Slip Plate seems like a fine way to prevent grass clumps from latching onto the underside of a mower deck. In reality, how well has this product actually worked for those who’ve used it?

Digging into the Amazon customer reviews for Slip Plate Number 1, it appears that the lubricant generally does the job. The majority of reviews are positive, and many users consider it a worthwhile purchase for mower cleanliness. Many find that it keeps most of the grass away from the mower deck over multiple uses. There is, however, the slightly annoying tendency for the graphite to settle at the bottom of the can; thus, you may need a stir stick on hand to get your Slip Plate mixed up properly before applying it to your deck.

Slip Plate isn’t a miracle product, however. While they are in the minority, several Amazon reviewers claimed that thick grass still built up on the deck over time. Worse yet, some customers shared that even multiple layers of Slip Plate didn’t keep grass off, and that the product itself came right off of their mower deck in no time.

No matter which of the major lawn mower brands you bought your mower from, it’s bound to get dirty. While a dirty mower deck is likely unavoidable, Slip Plate could at least help to reduce the amount of scraping, scrubbing, and wiping you have to do. Just be sure to apply it correctly and keep your expectations in check.