Alright, it's not often I say this, but my grandmother was right. Sometimes, the best cleaners come from household items. I'm sure you've heard of the vinegar and water mixture that's generally used to clean windows. Well, it works for all kinds of stuff. Here's my tale: the other day my dad and I were in the trailer putting silicone on the manifold of the race car because it would blow oil everywhere on a run. I needed windshield wipers on my helmet. Once we were done with that, it was time to clean all the oil off the damn thing. I got the lovely job of cleaning the panels. For those not in the know, I don't have a full bodied car (thankfully) but I do have 3 panels on each side and the cowl. It's a pain in the ass to say the least. I was having serious issues trying to get the streaks from our various detailing sprays out. I used Simple Green, something from Mother's, another from Meguire's... No dice. I finally had an epiphany. What about vinegar and water? I did some quick research and a few different sites told me that all those chemicals build up a waxy residue over time. Made sense to me because of all the crap I mentioned coupled with dirt, oil, and grease. Come to find out that the vinegar and water alone won't get rid of that buildup, however, a few drops of dish soap will. Mind. Blown. Naturally, I mixed some up, put it in a spray bottle, and started cleaning. I was shocked. It worked better than I could have hoped. I didn't spray anything on the panels afterward either. I just left them with their vinegar scented shine. The proof is in the pudding.
This was the worst of all the panels. Obviously there's oil coating one side of it. I wiped off the oil with a dry rag before spraying my cleaner and getting to work.
Same panel not 5 minutes later. I had to spray the solution a few times before it was totally streak free, but it worked. I'm still a little amazed at it.
Now, if you're sold and need this cleaner now or if you still need to see for yourself, here's the recipe:
1 oz Distilled white vinegar
1 cup Water
2 drops Dish soap
That's really all there is to it. I'll leave you to go clean your bathroom mirror or whatever now.
Lindsey
P.S.- I'm gonna be lazy because I'm not feeling too well. Click the link below, go to the Links page, check out the links. You'll find my jewelry site, Danielle's blog, the amazing Rusty J and more.