However, it's only becomes logical if you wash the bottom of your mower before allowing it to dry. If you haven't scraped off the underside of your mower in awhile, you can be sure there are dried clumps of grass gathered there. This is a job that should be done regularly -- in fact, after each mowing if you're fastidious. The matted grass that accumulates underneath holds moisture and promotes rust. Plus, if you have one of these newer mulching mowers, the accumulated grass can interfere with the mulching action. The mulching mower will have to work overtime to do the same job.
Cleaning the underside of your mower is easy. Simply tip it on its side and spray with a strong stream of water from the garden hose. If it's really bad down there, use a large flat-blade screwdriver or putty knife to scrape. If you're doing any scraping under there with your hands anywhere near the blade, always pull the spark plug wire off your mower as a safety measure. Afterwards, I always start my mower again and run the blades for 15 seconds or so, while tipping the mower back slightly to "air dry" the bottom. Then, I let my mower sit out to dry. There's even a product on the market that you can spray on the underside of a clean, dry mower, which helps prevent grass accumulation.
Of course, if you can't remember the last time you sharpened the blade of your mower, it definitely needs to be done again. A dull blade will "tear" grass blades instead of cutting them. This results in grass blades with ragged and brown edges.
Sharpening is also a fairly simple job if you have a rotary mower with a single blade. Again, with the spark plug wire off, use a wrench to remove the bolt in the middle of the blade. For an additional safety measure, block the blade with a scrap of wood. The steel of a mower blade is relatively soft, which makes it dull quickly, but that also make it easy to sharpen. A couple of minutes with a heavy-duty sharpening blade will expose shiny steel and give you a blade instead of a bludgeon.
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