Using Mayonnaise to Clean & Other Odd Tips

A clean tube sock is a good way to clean wheel rims.

Using mayonnaise to clean your car and other odd tips: After the dreadful winter of 2011, lots of us are out scrubbing and waxing to try to get our cars back into spring driving shape. As nice as we can get them, you won't believe some of the tricks of the trade that professionals use when it comes to pimping a ride.

Our favorite: mayonnaise. International Aero - one of the world's largest aircraft detailing companies - says it uses a dab of mayo when it is trying to remove tar. Just let the Hellman's (or Kraft, or whatever) rest for about 10 minutes on the gob of goo and then rub. If that doesn't work, go with lighter fluid. 

Borrowing from the aviation industry, here are some other often weird auto-care tips from International Aero:

Paint transfer: To remove paint transfer from minor scrapes with other cars, fences, etc., wet a towel with common lighter fluid and lightly dab the surface, wetting the area for 20-30 seconds. Then, rub the surface lightly and the transferred paint/color will disappear. Don't worry, it won't harm your cured paint, it just breaks down the bonds between the two paints there. Be careful because it is extremely flammable!

Adhesive removal: Time to remove those pesky stickers or decals you've had for years? Again, lighter fluid is a great option as it breaks down the adhesive bonds; follow the same steps as above for paint transfer. This works on glass as well as painted surfaces.

Ink removal: It can be very frustrating when you leave a pen in your pocket and write on new leather seats. To remove ink from leather, dampen a Q-tip with cuticle remover and lightly rub the surface. The ink will be gone in seconds. Just remember to try a spot under the seat first, to make sure the dye in your leather is color-fast and won't bleed.

Streak-free windows: Here's a simple trick to get your window's truly streak free. When you're cleaning the exterior of your windows wipe in an up-and-down motion. When cleaning the inside of the windows, wipe in a side-to-side motion. When you are finished, if there are any streaks, you'll be able to target them by knowing which side of the window they are on, depending on which direction the streaks go.

Water-spot removal: After washing and rinsing your car, remove your spray nozzle from the hose and let the water flow from the hose to cover the entire car. You'll notice the water will sheet off the paint and as a result, there will be less water on the paint to have to dry off. This allows you to dry your car more quickly, use fewer towels, and reduce the chance of having water spots.

Leaky mirrors: Even after a careful car wash, it can be very irritating when your side mirrors leak water all over the doors and leave water spots. To prevent this, after washing and drying your car, fold up a paper towel six times into a wedge shape and slide it in around the perimeter of the mirror between the glass and the plastic housing. This will soak up the water.

Pristine wheels: Use an old (or new) tube sock to clean your wheels. This will protect your hands from corrosive brake dust, and makes it easier to clean tough to reach edges and corners that are hard to get at with a brush. Put your hand in the sock, soak up soapy water and scrub.

Seat & carpet stain removal: Never scrub a stain in a side-to-side motion, it just pushes the contamination into the carpet fiber. Instead, tamp it! Tamping is a technique that breaks up the stain without abrading the fabric, perfect for durable, tightly woven fabrics like automotive carpet and upholstery. Quickly and repeatedly rap (strike) a stain with a tamping brush (available at most big-box stores) until the stain is removed. You'll know you are using too much pressure if the bristles on the brush bend.

Spotless carpets: After shampooing your carpets, clean them a second time with only plain water to rinse the carpet more thoroughly of soapy residue. Soap acts like a dirt magnet, so if you don't follow your cleaning with a rinse only step, your carpets will get dirty again— quickly!

Fridays Window Cleaning News

Bogus window cleaners take jewels in raid: A PAIR of crooks disguised themselves as window cleaners to steal more than £2,000 of jewellery from under the nose of an unsuspecting nanny. The duo knocked on the door of a house in Poets Road, Highbury, at about 3pm on Friday and told the au pair they had an appointment. They were in workman's overalls and carrying ladders so let one of them go upstairs to "check whether the windows needed cleaning inside or out". The au pair became suspicious and telephoned the owner of the house, a mother-of-three who was on a trip to the Islington Vue cinema in Upper Street. The mum told her nanny there was no such appointment and came rushing home - but the bogus workmen had already gone. And with them they had taken a selection of the mother's most expensive jewellery, including, gold, diamonds and pearls.
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Wiltshire householders scammed by "window cleaners": HOUSEHOLDERS in Wiltshire are falling victim to a window cleaning scam. Tricksters have called at homes in Swindon and Chippenham offering to clean windows but demanding payment up front. Although they provide receipts they fail to carry out the job and contact details on the receipts are false. Police spokeswoman Claire Usher said: "We are appealing for anyone who believes they have been a victim of this situation and has not yet contacted police to do so." Anybody with information should call 0845 4087000.
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California siblings charged with killing B.C. businessman: A brother and sister from California, charged this week with the 2007 murder of Tsawwassen businessman William George Dobbs, may face the death penalty. Robert Lee Dunson, 27, and Jackie Lynn Dunson, 32, were charged Tuesday in the U.S. "We've charged both with murder and we've alleged that the murder was committed during the commission of a robbery. In California that is a charge that makes the defendant eligible for the death penalty," said Michael Jeandron, spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney's office. Dobbs, 48, was found beaten to death by the side of a desert road near the town of Indio, in southern California near Palm Springs on Nov. 27, 2007. Dobbs (pictured) ran a window cleaning and janitorial service called Excelsior Buildings Maintenance, which had been in the family since 1910. The wealthy businessman was remembered as a generous, funny man. "He was always happy, the life of the party," stepdaughter Morgan Dawson told The Province in 2007.
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Padiham man 'sent home from hospital with broken back: Mr Johnson said: “I was riding my motorbike near my home when I hit the kerb and came off. “My back was really hurting, I could hardly breathe and I was screaming in pain.” Mr Johnson, who lives with girlfriend Sonia Grant, 26, and five-year-old daughter Olivia, was given an x-ray by doctors in Blackburn and told he had a broken bone in his spine. “They looked me over, sent me home, told me to do plenty of walking and told me get some rest,” he added. “But then when I went for my appointment at the fracture clinic in Burnley, they told me there were two breaks – one of which they had missed at Blackburn.” Mr Johnson was sent back to hospital for a week before being discharged. But in the meantime, Mr Johnson has been left in crippling pain, wearing a back brace, and not knowing if he will be able to return to work as a window cleaner. He said: “I really don’t know if I will make a full recovery and it is awful not knowing if I will work again.
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Not long after the new Jubilee Line underground station was built at Stratford in east London, construction workers noticed a mysterious film of white grease smearing the building's glass.
Resistant to the usual window cleaners, it baffled Bechtel project managers preparing for the underground station's opening. Eventually, after much head scratching, the substance was traced to a mayonnaise factory nearly two miles away - and a new heavy-duty wash was introduced. That salad dressing could disturb a multibillion-pound infrastructure project is a reminder of the range of unexpected difficulties that can confront project managers on complex civil engineering works.
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Collaboration for a better city: Students from Franklin High School helped clean up downtown Franklin on Thursday by washing windows and vacuuming empty storefronts. The community service effort by about 20 high school volunteers was part of the Collaboration project, started by volunteers from Choose Franklin who wanted to spruce up downtown in advance of Community Day on May 9. Three projects arose from the effort. The first project was to equip each downtown business with a flag to display in front of its store on Central Street. The second project will engage volunteers in a general cleanup of Central Street. The third project involves decorating and improving empty storefronts with artwork and visually pleasing materials to improve the aesthetic quality of the downtown area and have the downtown storefronts look full and beautiful. Pictured: Franklin High Schooler Courtney Hubbard helps out the Collaboration project on Thursday by washing windows in vacant downtown storefronts.
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Twin sisters Chrissy and Kim Conti and Andy Shaw will be cycling from Toronto to Niagara Falls in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, a fundraiser to support the Campbell Family Research Institute at Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. Each cyclist has to raise $2,500 to ride in the event that will take place from June 13-14. The Conti sisters are double trouble – literally. That is what the duo has dubbed itself for the 200-kilometer trek. The 25-year-old Burlington natives have a lifetime of volunteerism under their belt. Their stepfather had two kidney transplants, prompting the girls, at a young age, to canvass their neighbourhood for donations for the Kidney Foundation. When a friend’s mother overcame breast cancer, the girls were motivated to participate in a fundraising walk for the disease. The twins lost two grandparents to cancer, and now a close friend of theirs is battling skin cancer. They say cancer research is an issue close to their hearts. “We’re lucky to be from a family that is able to do these kinds of things,” said Kim. Each participant will be given a T-shirt, and a tent so they can camp out in Hamilton during the two-day ride. The sisters have appealed to family and friends for donations, and so far have raised about $500 each. Kim, who runs a window washing company, says the girls are starting to get creative about their fundraising tactics. “We were thinking of volunteering to clean the windows at a nursing home and maybe ask for donations there.”