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Recession is on its way out but saving money has not hurt anyone. We uncover if home remedies are cheaper alternatives to car care products
Ever since childhood all of us have heard of different home remedies that can solve minor or common car care problems. Now the trouble is that I have only heard these so-called fantastic theories but have never seen my father experiment with home products on his beloved Premier Padmini, Toyota Corolla, VW Golf or even the Maruti 800 and the Hyundai Santro. Sensibleman or just too chicken to try these out?
Let us be honest. It does sent a chill down our spines to imagine our vehicles bearing the brunt of unknown remedies.
We decided to test whether these age-old home alternative car cleaning methods actually work or not. AUTO BILD INDIA rolls up its sleeves and gets to the bottom of these beliefs.
Wrong - Just try this on black bumpers and if you do this on coloured bumpers please send us a photo. We all can do with a good laugh. Shoe shining sponges apparently add a waterproof sheen which masks scratches on the bumper but all it did was leave dirty marks on the bumper. Bad idea so let the shoe shining sponge shine your shoes.
Right - Struggling to get rid to the “I love Elvis” sticker off your car window? Normal soap and water or window cleaner solutions will not do. So we smeared some spirit, available at any paint or mechanic job, on the sticker residues and after a couple of minutes the paper scraps peeled off with ease. But avoid using it on the body as it can thin the paint.
Wrong - Legends say that when your car cabin odour becomes unbearable and smells of a damp pooch and leftover food from last year’s Christmas party,just leave an onion in your vehicle overnight and smell your veggie success. We will tell you that you will be greeted with a strong onion aroma which is suitable for a restaurant kitchen.
Right - Everyone wants to have clear windshields and with the old rag stuffed in the boot just making the vision blurry what does one do? Don’t you wish that you had an expensive spray to clean the glass? Well we tried smearing a dirty windscreen with vinegar and wiping it off with a page from yesterday’s newspaper. To our surprise the windscreen looked cleaner than before. Vinegar eats up the early morning grease on the windows and the newspapers acts as a sponge to clean the residues.
Wrong - We heard that using kitchen cleaner would make alloys sparkling clean. Who comes up with these things? People, keep your paws off all these kitchen cleaners when you plan to wash your alloy wheels as these solutions can eat up your wheels like acid because of the chemicals in them. Buy an alloy wheels cleaning solution and start sponging and washing it with water. Avoid detergents as the salts in them can also harm the alloy wheels.
Right - Engine oil or grease can make your hands hard to clean. When you need to get grease off your hands, regular soap is not enough. You can use cooking or olive oil and sugar to clean up the grease. Put equal amounts of olive oil and sugar in the cup of your hands and then gently rub your hands together. Rinse your hands thoroughly and off go the grease spots. Then wash your hands with soap and water like you usually do.
Wrong - Last I heard, a hairdryer was used to get the moisture out of the tresses, so what’s all this about? Apparently heating faded bumpers with a hairdryer restores them to their original shade. We had a crack at it and nothing happened apart from heating up the bumpers. No change in the faded shade and thankfully it didn’t get worse either. So let the professionals handle this. There is no way this method is going to improve the bumper’s colour.
Right - Take a vinegar soaked cloth and wipe the windscreen's wiper blades. The acidic qualities of vinegar removes the greasy pollution mixed with dust on the blades which in turn keeps the windscreen clean without any smudges. To extend the life of your car’s wiper blades, wipe the blade with a cloth that was soaked in regular white vinegar. This softens and refreshes the wiper blade. A cheap and effective treatment.
Wrong - Another brainwave we came across was to use potato to de-mist the windscreen. All one has to do is take a potato, chop it half and then wipe the slimy part on the window. Remember the air con should be switched off. Clean the slimy goo off the window and all you'll get is one dirty windscreen. The ‘de-mister’ potato turned out to be a dud. So just switch on the de-mister. That should do the trick and use the potato for the curry.
Right - Messy garage floor? Oil marks all over? Put some bicarbonate of soda powder or solution to absorb the oil. Leave it on the floor for a couple of hours to do its magic. The soda can be easily swept off leaving no residues. Good way to deal with spills on the floor. This way your mother or wife does not get the chance to nag you about redecorating the floor with oil marks. Trust us the Dalmatian look just gives an ugly image.
