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So I figured this would be a good thread to put together and hear about how people keep their tools in good order when working with miniatures. It's one thing to choose between good quality and cheap quality tools ;but either group can last you far longer if they are properly cared for and maintained. A few tricks can one can get far more life out of tools and increased quality of performance. Plus its no fun to spend decent money on good tools and have them fail due to user error in care and upkeep of them.

A few things I've picked up

Toothed files (your normal regular file with clear ridges along its cutting edge). White metal, resins, plastics and greenstuff (as well as other modelling putties) are all very soft materials. If you user a file on them chances are you will find it clogs up pretty fast. That means it won't cut as well which means more work and can get to a point where its almost doing nothing and can even cause scratches, scrapes and slippage as you use it - all things you don't want.

A brass brush is what I use. You can easily get them from a tool shop or ebay and you simply scrape the file going with the grain of the teeth so that you scrape out the material lodged between them. You can generally see as the teeth become cleaned out. Restoring the files use for a while to come. Don't be afraid to clean, a clean file is better than one blocked up with gunk. If you're working with very soft material you might well find you have to clean very often.

Remember if working with reins wear a face mask and work in a well ventilated area (open the window!)

Diamond files a different beast, these have no cutting edge and will file when moved in any direction (a very useful property when working in tight corners where you might not be able to go back and forth). High grit ones (600 and 900) can be very good to polish and smooth over worked areas and remove fine mould lines.
To clean these the only method I've found is to use a standard rubber that you'd use for a pencil. Ideally a nice large block so that you've got a nice big surface area to work on (avoid the putty rubbers as they give under pressure). To clean simply work the file in a circular motion over the rubber, the rubber will wear away, but it will also drag out the material stuck in the file. Work over the whole surface area of the file to achieve a good finish. Compare before and after and you can see the difference - remember to apply some decent pressure so that its working not just tickling the rubber.

Needle tipped plastic glue bottles Two things I've picked up on doing:
a) Sometimes when left for a while the rod will have some plastic glue solidify inside it. Normally you can pick at the opening and it will flake off, but if its inside it can be a nightmare to shift. The best method is to remove the metal rod and hold it in the middle with a pair of needle pliers (or any other means of holding it steady). Then get a match or lighter and expose both ends to the flame. You'll get a little spluttering and flaring and the rod might turn red with heat and black with soot from the smoke. All that is fine; what you're doing is burning off the plastic glue reside that is stuck inside.
Once done just wipe off the soot using a cloth and pop it back in the glue pot.

Don't do this whilst its still in the glue pot as you are relying on the flammable properties of the glue alone to clean it out; so clearly you don't want the bottle in your hand or any where near the flame.

b) I've noticed when working that sometimes the glue resting in the needle will go off a bit. So the first drop or two can be a bit "tacky" which can cause the join area not to stick well. Now a days I tend to drop the first drop on a waste surface (eg the back of a plastic blister pack that is empty) and then use the glue from the needle on the model surface. This tends to avoid the tacky situation totally and is what I'd recommend*



* I never recall needing to do this in the distant past, but the reciepy for many plastic glues has changed over the years and I think this is one of those newer properties that many have

I use W&N series 7 brushes. I use brush soap after every few uses to keep the bristles clean, and once in a while Magic Brush Restorer (expensive, but absolutely brilliant) to completely clean them out.

Yeah use brush soap at the very least at the end of a painting session. This'll help get any paint thats started to work its way upto or into the ferrule which will make your brushes last a lot longer. I also put a bit of hair moisturiser on them from time to time and let them sit with it on for about an hour then rince clean. This help keep the hairs supple as the soap and use will dry them out.

Don't use a good brush to transfer paint to a palette or to mix paints its one of the quickest ways to ruin a good brush. keep a couple of old worn out brushes for this purpose

For files, if you're just using them on plastic then any stiff bristled brush will clear out clogs.

Another one is store your tools properly, especially if you're gonna take your kit out and about with you to stores etc. a couple of elastic bands to hold your files together so they don't move and bump against each other, tip protectors for your brushes, a blade cover for your scalple or maybe a small cloth roll with dividers for your tools. There's a lot of ways to transport stuff so that its not just banging about together in the bottom of a box while you lug it about.