Autoshite product reccomendations.

[Futuramic]

Autoshite is a wondrous place, free from the slimy slap of the tentacles of capitalism. However, occasionally we all come across a product that is good, cheap, and car related. So, perhaps, here is the place to tell other shiters about useful stuff.I'll start the ball rolling with Auto Glym Demon Green wipes. I am usually dubious of any wipe based product, but my eye was caught by the violently green plastic box these tings come in. Suffice to say they work, excellently. The average dusty interior can be brought back to shiny new condition in a few minutes. They have removed dust, grime, mud and bird shit from the Volvo quickly and easily. They even smell nice. I got a box of 25 for three quid.

[pogweasel]

AutoGlym is on special somewhere at the mo. Might be Aldi.And the super resin polish is my fave of all the polishes. Lovely stuff.

[Guest]

I would like to recommend the twin-barrel foot pump available from Wilkinsons for £3.99 - I've had one for a fair bit now and it's much better than the toss little single-barrel jobs for pumping up a constantly-deflating Trayal/Road Champ/Linglong/Stunner/other shitey tyre brand.

[FredTransit]

25 wipes for three quid?? No way!. Lava hand wipes will shift anything, for the pound shop.

[shite_meister]

I'll agree with the Pogmeister-General there on the Autoglym, you can take your 'hand applied pre-wash balm' and stick them up your fat American arses along with the tossers who like to spend a week 'detailing' an air-vent -twats.Autoglym is easy-on easy-off and is just really good for the monies. Talking of tools (we weren't) as much as I dislike cheap and nasty I remember Laser tools always did really well in product tests and they're cheap too (I've read that they made some stuff for Snap-On under the Blue Point name but I haven't been able to prove that/can't be arsed)Halfords Torque Wrench has scored top of the tree in a few different tests but alas we don't have Halfords here so I've had to do with Blue Point on special for £59.00.Halfords ratchet spanners are about £39 a set and they are EXACTLY the same as the ones Draper sell for twice that even in the same plastic packet and I've seen some Britool ones that look identical.

[pogweasel]

Aldi/Lidl/Tesco Rubber gloves (the washing up kind), should not exceed 39p. Why? Well if like me you have an obscenely hairy dog who routinely inhabits your shite (No jokes please, I am referring to my border collie!), apply the glove and run hand over dog-hair-infested seats, gathers it all up then just remove/hoover off. Works 10,000 times better than stuff designed to remove dog hair, even posh & expensive vacs.

[FredTransit]

If you have any of that green algi stuff on white paint, go to Netto and get some kitchen bleach cleaner, spray it on, leave it a min or two and wash off. I have even used it to get dodgy unstable paint off steel wheels before. DO NOT spray and leave on coloured paint though!

[Guest greenvanman]

Aldi/Lidl/Tesco Rubber gloves (the washing up kind), should not exceed 39p. Why? Well if like me you have an obscenely hairy dog who routinely inhabits your shite (No jokes please, I am referring to my border collie!), apply the glove and run hand over dog-hair-infested seats, gathers it all up then just remove/hoover off. Works 10,000 times better than stuff designed to remove dog hair, even posh & expensive vacs.

But surely the true AS solution to this is to buy something with vinyl seats?

[Rocket88]

The Australian equivalent of Easy Start is something called [i kid you not]Start Ya Bastard, and it now available over here....worth buying just to display prominently on the dashboard

[Father Ted]

Just going ever so slightly OT a moment - does anyone know where I can get one of those bag things that you plug into your exhaust and use to raise the car with when changing a wheel?For my occasional car cleaning antics I use Asda washing up liquid (does it contain salt? Who gives a fcuk!) Also, flash with bleach for windows - spray on leave for a bit, wash off - no more greasy windows.

[AXrescuer]

Just going ever so slightly OT a moment - does anyone know where I can get one of those bag things that you plug into your exhaust and use to raise the car with when changing a wheel?

 

One of these you mean? £19.99 on eBay right now!

 

 

Back to the original question. I was a long-time Autoglym user until I discovered the Meguairs range. Quite simply the best car care products I've ever used.

 

Oh, and....

[AnthonyG]

I would have said Tesco Hard Surface Cleaner - part of their 'car care' range of a couple of years ago which I have found excellent for dashboards, plastic trim, book covers, plakka televison and radio cabinets - almost anything really. Of course I go to buy some today and find out it has been discontinued . Any suggestions for a good dashboard/plastic cleaner that is sensibly priced? i.e. not Turtle Wax Advanced Formula Silicone Shiny Dashboard Shit from Halfords at a mere £6.99.

[M'coli]

A bucket of hot water with some Fairy liquid and a sponge/nailbrush works for me.

[Guest]

Are those large airbags safe?I've used the smaller ones to open jammed locks. One worked spectacularly on the broken glovebox lid of my C4 ('they all do that Sir').My qual TOP TIP would be to use one of those compressed air cans. You can get them from computer shops and they get rid of all the gummed in accumulated fluff \ skin \ DNA\ goatse you get in second hand car interiors that you can't get rid off through normal means.

[Guest]

Just going ever so slightly OT a moment - does anyone know where I can get one of those bag things that you plug into your exhaust and use to raise the car with when changing a wheel?

 

One of these you mean? £19.99 on eBay right now!

 

Not sure I'd trust one of those to stay inflated - but might be handy for car stuck in mud situations. Useless if you have more than one exhaust pipe though

 

Laughed for literally my entire lunch break at Start Ya Bastard. I think my future fortune lies in a WD40 clone called "Turn Ya F*cker" or has someone beaten me to it?

[OwdChina]

hi all,first post,gas soldering iron, roll of solder,HEAT SHRINK TUBE (insulting tape does my effin head in) 1.5 volt battery,...cheap multi-meter.+++some thinking. i've been lurking, great site.

[AXrescuer]

A bucket of hot water with some Fairy liquid and a sponge/nailbrush works for me.

You may as well use sea water given the amount of salt that's in Fairy Liquid!

[AXrescuer]

hi all,first post,gas soldering iron, roll of solder,HEAT SHRINK TUBE (insulting tape does my effin head in) 1.5 volt battery,...cheap multi-meter.+++some thinking. i've been lurking, great site.

Insulting tape? That's where you're going wrong then innit! You wannabe bots!

[reallyloud]

Cable ties.

[OwdChina]

sorry A X we always called it insulting tape...because it is.Insulating tape is what you use to hold the wifes draws up/down /contained in a box, or maybe hold a repaired wiring loom together

[reallyloud]

Insulating tape is what you use to hold the wifes draws up

Not tried that. I'll give it go when and if I get married.

[OwdChina]

you'll not need a lot. half a roll should do.

[retrogeezer]

I always found Maxwax to be very good and a lot cheaper than autoglym.

[pogweasel]

Shiter's emergancy toolkit:1. Duck tape. For things that move that shouldn't.2. Hammer. For things that should move that dont.

[simmo]

K-Seal if its not been up already; brillant stuff.

[dollywobbler]

My mate used to use Jif on his car with good results. Fairy liquid is bad news though. I bought a big container of Halford car shampoo about 12 years ago and I've still got loads of it left! I know I don't wash the car that often, but I'm still impressed. Turtle Was Ice is good. Easy to apply, improves black stuff (rather than leaving white marks all over it) and has a nice finish. Won't cut 'owt though, so a thorough clean is needed before hand. I have applied it in blinding sunlight with no issues too!Those airbag things are not always good. My mate tried one out and found it frustrating in the extreme.

[M'coli]

This aversion to Fairy is something I don't get. Having used all sorts of detergents/washing liquids in a past job, at the end of an exhaustive test (it was a double shift, I was indeed exhausted) Fairy is the best thing I've come across - the water rarely has to have enough in it to feel soapy for it still to work.Then there's the "never use it on bodywork because of the salt it contains" - if there's a running water, then I'll use it to wash the roadsalt off of my car in winter because it can't have any more than is already on it, surely...

[Ratdat]

Misuse of chemicals...

 

Oven cleaner for cleaning up manky corroded alloy wheels. 'Mr Muscle' is pretty good but even £1 a tin stuff works. It's slow but it does the job. I did this one with 'Astonish'...

 

 

B&Q Brick & Patio cleaner is king for removing rust. Even the most crusty items can be brought back to bare metal goodness. This was part of the gearshift off my Mk1 Civic...

 

[seth]

Ooh, I might go and get me some of that brick/patio cleaner! Would be good for the Oxford's crossmember I'm currently tackling. Thanks ratdat

[Ratdat]

Ooh, I might go and get me some of that brick/patio cleaner! Would be good for the Oxford's crossmember I'm currently tackling. Thanks ratdat

Just put it in a big plastic drum and soak stuff overnight or for a couple of days if really rusty. If you're doing something pretty crusty, take it out after a day and give it a quick scrub with a wire brush, rinse it off then chuck it back in. Don't put aluminium in it as it'll dissolve. It doesn't seem to touch chrome so you can soak chrome bits with rust spots in it and it comes out looking nice. Protect anything you take out of it straight away by either washing it with detergent or by using penetrating oil of it's surface rust very quickly.