Halfords spray cans WTF!

[mattblack]

Halfords Ford Tibetan Gold.

 

[bobdisk]

Went into our local  Halfrods er  Halfrauds er Halfords'. in Staines upon Thames this morning to get a pot of hand cleaner, you know, Swarfega or similar. Twat at the counter said I should use Auto-Glym, or Turtle wax, or their own make one.  When I said "Hand cleaner, for example Swarfega, or similar", he said he had never heard of anything like that.

[JeeExEll]

Years ago I worked in an electrical workshop which had big heavy grey night storage heaters which got really hot. One Friday afternoon I'd left 4 aerosols on the office heater and forgot they were there.

Came in on the Monday morning to find paint all up the walls and over the desk and computer, they'd exploded.

It was colourful, as was my boss's language. His wife couldn't stop laughing and it was her desk. The computer was used for years with the paint on it.

Edited July 6, 2024 by JeeExEll
Edited due to minor typo.

[tooSavvy]

Ahh.... Spray paint tins....

Many years ago, a guy did a 3 point at the end of our street and ran over a tin (.. just lying there 🙄 Sniff or Tag 🤔)... I was standing by my car and heard the ' Fushhhushhhshhh...szzzzz'  = he had done the entire side of his car, well nearest that wheel.... in black paint.

He was, err, unhappy 🤬

🚙💨

[JeeExEll]

I don't know if heated aerosols completely explode without warning or if they start to spray paint first as the pressure builds up. I'd guess they just go bang.

There were large pictures on the office wall of apprentices receiving awards over the years and of the business being recognised by a local MP for providing employment and training. Also some qualification certificates.

The whole fucking lot got covered. It was like some sort of Andy Warhol wall artwork. Splatters of coloured paint right across pics of my well respected boss's face. He had what looked like a diagonal blue moustache the full width of his face, ear to ear and was drooling green stuff down his chin. Part of the top of his head had got blacked out with matt black so it looked like he'd had a very terminal shotgun incident. Fucks sake, it was like a random art album cover. Disposed of immediately.

Am just so glad it happened when no-one was there. If it had happened when his wife was sitting at the desk she could have been blinded. Or at least shit her pants.

[danthecapriman]

When I was a kid we used to go out to the woods and build bonfires and all that sort of stuff kids used to do!

A favourite past time was to throw aerosol cans into the fires then leg it! I don’t remember them ever leaking or spraying as they heated up, they’d just explode suddenly once the pressure got too high for the cans to hold! They could get some impressive altitude on them sometimes too. 
As an adult of course you think back how stupid it was but you don’t think like that as a kid.😆

[Wibble]

Laughing because I remember doing the same🤣

[danthecapriman]

12 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Laughing because I remember doing the same🤣

It was funny! Just what little boys did I suppose!

Building bonfires, blowing up spray cans, building ramps to jump bikes over etc etc. I’m not a parent myself but you’d go mad if your own kids were doing it! I suppose kids nowadays are stuck in front of PlayStation screens etc.

[Wibble]

5 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

It was funny! Just what little boys did I suppose!

Building bonfires, blowing up spray cans, building ramps to jump bikes over etc etc. I’m not a parent myself but you’d go mad if your own kids were doing it! I suppose kids nowadays are stuck in front of PlayStation screens etc.

Go carts, or bogeys in Scotland, made from any old timber and pram wheels, with rope steering, great days. Ramps compulsory, crashes inevitable. Bonfires, sausages and the odd beer nicked from the fridge, happy days I’d gladly return to. I have children and they really have missed out. They weren’t interested but now seem to understand.

[High Jetter]

50 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

When I was a kid we used to go out to the woods and build bonfires and all that sort of stuff kids used to do!

A favourite past time was to throw aerosol cans into the fires then leg it! I don’t remember them ever leaking or spraying as they heated up, they’d just explode suddenly once the pressure got too high for the cans to hold! They could get some impressive altitude on them sometimes too. 
As an adult of course you think back how stupid it was but you don’t think like that as a kid.😆

Empty* camping gaz cans were fun!

[83C]

Top thread resurrecting @bobdisk

One day we got a bit more creative* with the usual ‘throw can into fire and retreat to a still-not-safe distance’ game - using some bricks and a length of thin wall 4” pipe we built a mortar. One end cut into two legs so the fire could get in, a bit of threaded bar across just above the cutouts for the ‘bomb’ to drop onto and we were away. Drop a can in the top, cap end down, wait a few seconds and BOOM - away it went.

We thought we were very clever. The neighbours however were less than impressed. 

[JeeExEll]

Slightly off topic and not about aerosol paint but I was once rewiring a farmhouse on a local country estate. There were rundown outbuildings and an area of waste ground next to a farm track. One lunchtime I decided to have a small bonfire to clear cardboard packaging and general rubbish from my van. I absolutely didnt burn scrap copper cable. Oh no.

So I got my fire going and cleared the van and was picking up scraps of wood lying around and a bit of a broken fence. There was an increasing hissing fizzing sound coming from the fire but I thought nothing of it. Suddenly there was a loud bang and a spray fountain of something sprayed all across the side and roof and windscreen of my van. I went near the fire and the same thing happened again.

Turned out 2 new tubes of expanding foam had dropped into a scrap cardboard box. The sizzling hot brown foam set solid and never came off the van. Used a wood chisel on the windscreen.

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 hours ago, 83C said:

One day we got a bit more creative* with the usual ‘throw can into fire and retreat to a still-not-safe distance’ game - using some bricks and a length of thin wall 4” pipe we built a mortar. One end cut into two legs so the fire could get in, a bit of threaded bar across just above the cutouts for the ‘bomb’ to drop onto and we were away. Drop a can in the top, cap end down, wait a few seconds and BOOM - away it went.

And I thought we were inventive - never thought of that one. 
We lived on the coast and would be really naughty and buy a box of matches - go off along the coast and collect washed up aerosols and driftwood. Start a fire and feed them in a couple at a time - some did go 'fizz' but a lot went 'bang'*. Couple of spuds double wrapped in tin foil set in under the fire would be burned to feck in an hour or so but with lush innards.
Went big time as we got older - wooden fish boxes and a 50 gallon oil drum - you could hear those for miles (and we did worry that somebody may mistake them for a Coastguard or RNLI maroon. 
Once we could tinker with machinery and stuff our piece de la resistance was a 5 gallon oil drum with a pipe brazed through the lid - we'd run a compressor line to that and a twin core cable to a thin wire pinched in by the lid itself. Inch of petrol in the drum, inflate, touch other end of wires to a tractor battery. Took a fair few experiments to get the correct spark off the battery but, when we did  Great. Ran out 5 gallon drums quickly  

How nobody got burned or otherwise injured I dunno - we're all still alive. My mum would have skinned us alive if she'd caught us too.

*not sure if we had flammable propellants back then (1970s) - may just have been CFC - if so, then more modern stuff would have been much more fun.

[sutty2006]

We used to chuck empty spray cans on a fire at the old concrete factory I worked at. Every now and again you’d hear a loud bang as it went off and the fork lift truck driver sniggering over the radio like mutley 

[MrT]

When I was a teenager, I was a bit of nerd (still probably am), and spray cans were not so common. As my friends were also nerds, we had interesting ways of amusing ourselves. Like making gunpowder and home made fireworks and some pretty impressive rockets. It was a time when you could buy saltpetre from the chemist's with no questions asked. The rockets were dead simple and no gunpowder was involved, but my god they worked and were actually frightening to behold. We even worked out how make a version with stages. Went to prove that paying attention at school and an enquiring mind, can lead to a lot of highly dangerous fun. Lost interest when I realised that s*x was even more fun. 

[bunglebus]

I've got a few old cans ready for just such japes, including a spray foam that doesn't. Should be interesting 

[bangernomics]

And I thought we were inventive - never thought of that one. 
We lived on the coast and would be really naughty and buy a box of matches - go off along the coast and collect washed up aerosols and driftwood. Start a fire and feed them in a couple at a time - some did go 'fizz' but a lot went 'bang'*. Couple of spuds double wrapped in tin foil set in under the fire would be burned to feck in an hour or so but with lush innards.
Went big time as we got older - wooden fish boxes and a 50 gallon oil drum - you could hear those for miles (and we did worry that somebody may mistake them for a Coastguard or RNLI maroon. 
Once we could tinker with machinery and stuff our piece de la resistance was a 5 gallon oil drum with a pipe brazed through the lid - we'd run a compressor line to that and a twin core cable to a thin wire pinched in by the lid itself. Inch of petrol in the drum, inflate, touch other end of wires to a tractor battery. Took a fair few experiments to get the correct spark off the battery but, when we did  Great. Ran out 5 gallon drums quickly  
How nobody got burned or otherwise injured I dunno - we're all still alive. My mum would have skinned us alive if she'd caught us too.
*not sure if we had flammable propellants back then (1970s) - may just have been CFC - if so, then more modern stuff would have been much more fun.

Err my MO entirely apart from we put a theatrical maroon in the lid of a GTX can and an inch of anything flammable. Then as much bell wire and a battery later and boom, huge black mushroom cloud.


Gzongenflatch
In memory of Phil.

[danthecapriman]

10 hours ago, Wibble said:

Go carts, or bogeys in Scotland, made from any old timber and pram wheels, with rope steering, great days. Ramps compulsory, crashes inevitable. Bonfires, sausages and the odd beer nicked from the fridge, happy days I’d gladly return to. I have children and they really have missed out. They weren’t interested but now seem to understand.

Yep, we did the home made go-carts too! Scrap bits of wood and a set of those big spoked pram wheels with the solid white rubber tyres! We used to tow ours down the street behind a bike then cut the tow line and speed down the road. Hills were lethal though with no brakes!

The fires, the funniest one we did was buy a packet of BBQ firelighter blocks, then we sat one on a tree stump with an aerosol can stood on top of it. We lit the block and ran. Unfortunately someone else was out for a walk in the woods that day and saw us run out of the place we lit the fire but clearly didn’t notice the fire. 
We legged it out of the woods and into the field next to it and all you could hear was the most incredible BOOM! Rolling across the countryside as the can blew up! God knows what the walkers thought!!

We used to look for rotten tree stumps too and do the same thing. Build a fire inside the rotten base the throw an aerosol can into it. Stand back and watch the stump explode! If it was rotten enough it’d literally blow it to bits. 
We did it once with a full can which exploded and showered the area in burning liquid that was in it still. We were running around like idiots trying to stamp out all the little fires on the ground.

Good times! 
 

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 06/07/2024 at 15:54, bobdisk said:

Went into our local  Halfrods er  Halfrauds er Halfords'. in Staines upon Thames this morning to get a pot of hand cleaner, you know, Swarfega or similar. Twat at the counter said I should use Auto-Glym, or Turtle wax, or their own make one.  When I said "Hand cleaner, for example Swarfega, or similar", he said he had never heard of anything like that.

ummm

https://www.halfords.com/search?q=hand+cleaner

[bobdisk]

@Noel Tidybeard      They didnt have any of those. 

https://www.halfords.com/search?q=hand+cleaner

[JeeExEll]

On 07/07/2024 at 08:53, MrT said:

When I was a teenager, I was a bit of nerd (still probably am), and spray cans were not so common. As my friends were also nerds, we had interesting ways of amusing ourselves. Like making gunpowder and home made fireworks and some pretty impressive rockets. It was a time when you could buy saltpetre from the chemist's with no questions asked. The rockets were dead simple and no gunpowder was involved, but my god they worked and were actually frightening to behold. We even worked out how make a version with stages. Went to prove that paying attention at school and an enquiring mind, can lead to a lot of highly dangerous fun. Lost interest when I realised that s*x was even more fun. 

I had a mate who was obsessed with fireworks. We used drive about and he'd sit in the back on his own with a few cans of beer. One night he lit one in the car and threw it over the back seat of a Chevette hatchback. I was front passenger, we had a Def Leppard tape turned up loud, and I could smell burning. Smoke was appearing in the car. Mentioned to the driver the car smells hot, need to check it out.

Then the fucker lit up. It must have looked spectacular from outside.

WTF's happening? Screech to a stop and everyone out NOW.

But bloke couldn't get out quickly as he was in the back and 2 door car. Didn't think that one through properly.

Burnt bits everywhere inside the Chevette, headlining wrecked. Singed his stupid 80s-rock hair and jacket.

Apparently he'd done it before and had almost torched a Maxi with velour type seats, and had lit bangers inside someone's house

Really really dangerous thing to do. We kind of avoided him after that. I think he went into the police force.

[MantaGTE85]

About a fortnight ago I stopped at Halfords to look for a Fiat New Orleans Blue (code 599/A) touch-up pen for my little Fiat Grande Punto. They didn't have any, of course. The stupid lady at the tills had never heard of such a colour despite being such a popular colour in the late naughties. MOST FUCKING FRUSTRATING!!! But elsewhere on the paint shelves, I happened to notice paints for ancient cars like Fiat Racing Red, VW Pastel White, Ford Fleurie Red, and Tasman Blue. It must have been at least 20 years ago when I last saw ANY Ford in Tasman Blue (unless it's a 1990 Saph Coswart in a classic show or whatever).

I ended up spending a bit more, and ordered a touch-up pen online from PaintNuts instead. The paint consistency was nice and thin, and the colour mix was a perfect match.

[Wibble]

I’ve been amazed that Halfords and The Range stock Ford Bermuda blue, a colour from the 1970s that there can’t be much demand for, except for me of course.

[bunglebus]

Everywhere stock Purple Velvet too, early 70s colour

[GrumpiusMaximus]

On 06/07/2024 at 23:27, danthecapriman said:

When I was a kid we used to go out to the woods and build bonfires and all that sort of stuff kids used to do!

A favourite past time was to throw aerosol cans into the fires then leg it! I don’t remember them ever leaking or spraying as they heated up, they’d just explode suddenly once the pressure got too high for the cans to hold! They could get some impressive altitude on them sometimes too. 
As an adult of course you think back how stupid it was but you don’t think like that as a kid.😆

See also (and more niche) udder disinfectant treatment vats for dairy cattle.  It used to come (and probably still does) in large, well-sealed tubs.  My cousin and I used to have great fun throwing them onto a bonfire at my Aunt's old farm and waiting for the 'kaboom'.  We didn't* experiment with anything else, of course.  And naturally we never tried to explore the differences between lobbing petrol on a large fire and throwing diesel on a large fire.

Fireworks were a particular favourite of a mate of mine called Jon.  Jon used to have 'firework parties' at his parents house when they were away.  He'd put a display on in his back garden for everybody and we'd all get shitfaced.  What I haven't mentioned is that the 'garden' was in fact a concrete yard about 15 foot by 15 foot with walls on three sides.  Good times.  Last time I checked he was working as a carer for the profoundly disabled.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Everywhere stock Purple Velvet too, early 70s colour

 

9 hours ago, Wibble said:

I’ve been amazed that Halfords and The Range stock Ford Bermuda blue, a colour from the 1970s that there can’t be much demand for, except for me of course.

Last time I went in my local Halfords they still had cans of colours like that, and, still, Ford Roman Bronze which was ideal as I picked up a can for my models! 
Those old colour cans must be really old though. I bet they’ve been on shelves years. Who uses them now??

[Muniphobia]

I suspect all the old colours aren't bought for using on a car but by people who upcycle and use them for their crafting projects and people who want to respray stuff to match their decor.

[MrT]

I think I have found one colour in Halfords to match the cars we have had over the years. The fact that they had until recently a largish selection of Rover colours suggests  that were aiming for the giffer market who wanted to touch up their Rover200 series (with 7000 miles on the clock from new) after catching it on the gate post. 

However, I do use a lot Halford primers on my models. I build aircraft and as I spray and brush paint acrylics, best to prime, especially with some of the resin kits I build. 

On reflection, I have just realised that having hit 70, I am hitting gifferdom, although no desire to wear a flat cap and beige gloves when driving. 

 

[Rust Collector]

My local Halfords have overhauled their paint section; there’s no manufacturer or colour name on the vans. They instead have all the colours laid out in a gradient, and each colour has a code. You cross reference the manufacturer paint code against their system and it tells you what code you need off the shelf.

I was doubtful I’d get a 90’s shade of green for my XM from their new system, however they had a matching code and it was an alright match on the car.

I suspect they’ve realised there is lots of overlap in the colours between manufacturers and naming conventions, and presumably stock rotation will be better and lower stocking required if you just have a to buy a tin of the number they tell you rather than a can of ‘manufacturer + colour’.

[Lord Sterling]

I once bought a can of Halfords generic Silver paint, tried to do some Rover 800 wheel trims with them, that didn't turn out very well, it came out matted and a tad more silver than they originally were.

I also tried to spray paint a Matchbox model Volvo 740, again, didn't turn out as nice as I expected.