Tennis Ball to Unlock Your Car

"Use a tennis ball to unlock your car door. Brilliant."

A fan sent this asking how true this pin was. Fortunately, it's not true at all. It's a common urban legend that has been making the rounds of youtube for some time now. I'm pretty sure if it was doable, thieves everywhere would rejoice, because it's a lot easier to get away with carrying a tennis ball than it is the special picks or master keys. (and also far more legal..)

I did a bit of research, and multiple sources (source 1, source 2) basically said it was undoable. And the masters of mythbusting themselves have even tried it, so if they can't get it to work, chances are no one can either. Chances are good that in the video, as she was doing it, someone was off-camera with a keyless entry remote and pushed the unlock button as she pressed on the tennis ball.

Good Idea Friday - Toothpaste on Your HeadLights

"How to Clean Your Car Headlights-with toothpaste"

This post is for a fan who asked how true this was. 

(Have questions or submissions? Post it on our facebook page!) 

So, can toothpaste of all things really clean your car's headlamps? Yes. Oddly enough. However there are a lot of things that can, so I'll explain how and why it works. Things like this often times will stress that it must be toothpaste, not the more modern gel styles of toothpaste. Why? Because more traditional toothpastes tend to have a higher grit content - if you put some on your fingers and rub them together, you can feel the difference between toothpaste and tooth gel. The gel has a much smoother gel like consistency. It's the grit of the old fashion toothpaste (bonus points if it's something with baking soda) that is what is really cleaning the headlamps. 

You can get the same effect using a dozen different things from around the house - a water and baking soda mix, a magic eraser, Bon Ami cleaner, etc. The goal is to cut through the grim and oil and dirt, which ultimately needs something with a bit of texture to clean away but not enough to scratch the glass of the light. This works well for a lot of things that need a little extra cleaning help - from your oil splattered toaster to the top of your cookstove to the rubber white soles of your converse shoes. 

So what do you think? Good idea? In a pinch I'd use it, but I'm sticking with my tried and loved melamine sponge (aka Magic Eraser) for this personally. I don't think my headlights care if they are minty fresh or not. 

Miracle Vinegar Ice Melt

"Saving this idea for the Cold Days ahead! Hate scraping off ice! Ice Proofing the Car Windows with 2/3 Vinegar 1/3 water! Just spray on windows and ice will melt away! Totally making a bottle of this for this winter!" 

This was a request from a friend, who wanted to know how true this pin was. Because honestly who doesn't hate having to take an extra 30 minutes in the winter to shovel your way out, scrape ice, warm up your car. Ick. That's an extra 30 minutes I could have spent in my nice warm bed.  

I was hoping to be able to test this out myself before posting about it, but here in the Pac Northwest we seem to be keeping a steady 40 degrees and rain, so I haven't been able to test it out. However due to science and numbers, I can say this is most likely false. 

Why? Well first off, the pin states "spray your windows and watch the ice melt away!" I've also seen the same idea that says if you put it on your windows before it snows or becomes icy it will prevent ice from building up on the windows. But vinegar (one of the biggest go to miracle items of pinterest - its up there with magic erasers and coconut oil go to Cure Alls) has a freezing point of 28°F. That is only a few degrees lower than water. So if you're outside and it's 31°F and you happen to keep this vinegar mix inside meaning it's room temperature this MIGHT work. It's not going to cause the ice to just melt away though. And if you apply it before night to prevent ice, you're going to wake up to a smelly frozen vinegar water snow ice mix you get to scrape off. On the other hand, the freezing point of  sodium chloride (aka: Salt) is around -6°F, you stand a better chance at getting results with salt water than you do vinegar. 

Now I'm not a car person, but a few forum posts about this also brought up the issue vinegar is an acid by nature, so too much vinegar on your car's metal or chrome trim and detailing might just damage it. 

All in all, this one is a bad idea. Not to mention a time waster, since you're still going to have to scrap that ice once the vinegar failed to melt the ice away. Alcohol based DIY deicers might work better as would windshield fluid designed for winter use. 

But what CAN you do to help cut back time in the morning scraping ice? An amazingly simple item you probably have in your home can in fact prevent snow and ice from clogging up your windshield. Cardboard. Simply cover your windshield with cardboard, holding it in place with the wipers  If that's a little too unsightly for you, you can also buy covers made just for this purpose.