Okay, not really clean-clean, just all the extraneous rolls of drawings thrown out. There's still plenty of books around and kid doodles on the wall and all that, but it's looking much less lived-in around here. Pictures tomorrow.
Maybe even some of the office!
And as promised...A PARAGRAPH DONE OUT OF SHEER MEANNESS AND DISRESPECT FOR READERSHIP OPINIONS!
A frequent reader who doesn't like the amount of automotive content on Possumblog (and who shall go unnamed) asks via e-mail:
[...] The problem is the headlight lens. Each are so dirty/foggy/ocluded [sp] that little light gets out. Do you know any thing to clean them or do I just buy new ones?
NEW!? Perish the thought!Terry's Car Care Tip of the Day?
There are several different companies that make plastic polish that works very well, or you could do what I've done and use some toothpaste. Really. It works pretty well and it's cheap, and leaves your headlights feeling minty fresh. If the lenses have gone yellow, there's not much to do except change them out. If you think it could just be dirt on the lenses, you could try some sudsy ammonia before you use the toothpaste. If it's just grime, that usually gets them clean when nothing else will, and if they're still dingy and yellow, it would give you a clue that you actually do need to replace them instead of bothering with polish.
Our reader asked about the particular type of toothpaste to use, particularly if the ones with baking soda would be appropriate.
I think baking soda toothpaste would work, but I prefer something with a bit less grit to it, regular cheap Crest or Colgate works fine.
Hateful – hateful—hateful—spite spite spite!
But thanks for the tip anyway.
I use polishing compound- Turtle Wax brand, I think and a small red Powerball buffer from Autozone. It chucks into my cordless drill and really cleans up cloudy plastic headlight lenses.
Posted by: Nate at August 9, 2007 10:33 PMSo is it better to use the poisoned Chinese toothpaste on the headlights or not? I thought they had the ammonia right in them?
Posted by: skinnydan at August 10, 2007 07:56 AMYou make it sound like they poisoned the toothpaste intentionally. I'm sure that it was just a miscommunication at the factory. Hey, YOU try reading Chinese sometime!
Posted by: skillzy at August 10, 2007 08:26 AMNo problem, Jim--happy to be a pest!
Nate, that is actually the better solution, but it's not the cheapy fix that is usually most attractive to me.
And yes, Skinnydan, you can use any sorts of the more poisonous brands of foreign toothpastes, although the ones with high amounts of acetone or methyl ethyl ketone you should probably avoid because they'll cloud the plastic or maybe kill you.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at August 10, 2007 08:32 AMAnd obviously, Skillzy's right--all that Chinese stuff is Greek to me, and probably to everyone else, too.
Except for Greeks.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at August 10, 2007 08:35 AM