Car care: Not all home remedies are suitable

Created: 06/10/2022, 16:30

By: Simon Mones

Home remedies are often used for car care.

While coffee helps wonderfully, oven spray or toothpaste should not be used.

For some, the car is just a commodity that gets them from A to B.

For the other it is much more and accordingly the own vehicle is properly maintained.

Starting with the car wash - which is not always allowed on your own property - to the paintwork and interior.

Some home remedies are also used, but not all are suitable for car care.

These home remedies are still used, after all, you can save money with many things that are in the bathroom or kitchen anyway or would otherwise end up in the garbage.

Toothpaste replaces expensive polishing paste, and instead of scented spray, coffee grounds create a pleasant smell in the car.

If you wash your car, you should avoid using detergent.

©Panthermedia/Imago

Car care: Not all home remedies are suitable

For example, caution is advised when using toothpaste to bring blinded headlights back into shape.

In fact, the home remedy works halfway.

However, it should not be used.

The reason: It is forbidden because the car headlights have a type approval and may not be modified accordingly.

If you still polish your headlights, you will have problems at the latest during the next main inspection at the TÜV.

Because every change to the headlights and other components of the car provided with E numbers (ECE test mark) automatically invalidates the type approval.

Car care: Oven spray damages the rims

Oven spray should also stay in the kitchen.

When it comes to car care, the home remedy is often recommended for cleaning the rims.

However, this is a very bad idea, because the acid contained in the spray will attack its surface.

The rims could rust.

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Household washing-up liquid should also be used with caution on car rims.

It can be used without hesitation for cleaning the interior.

However, dishwashing liquid should not come into contact with the paint, as the surfactants can attack the paint.

Car care: Gun oil helps against freezing door seals

A real panacea at low temperatures is gun oil, which can be used to prevent the rubber seals on the doors from freezing.

Hirschtalk, another home remedy for supple seals, is less suitable for car care according to experts because it does not adhere well.

Alcohol as a substitute for antifreeze in the windshield wiper system is also not particularly recommended.

Although the home remedy prevents the wiper water from freezing, it leaves streaks on the windshield and is therefore not particularly helpful.

Car care: newspaper helps - but not always

The same applies to newspaper, which some drivers use to clean and dry fogged windows.

But the budget is unsuitable for this.

It absorbs moisture, but at the same time printer's ink lands on the glass.

This is noticeable at night when only concentric circles can be seen on the windshield.

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It makes more sense to use so-called anti-fog cloths.

Nevertheless, used paper can be a useful household item when it comes to car care: the enormous absorbency of newspaper can be of great help against moisture and moisture in the interior.

Car care: coffee eliminates unpleasant odours

Moisture in the car can also quickly lead to a musty odor.

A household remedy that can be found in almost every kitchen should help here: coffee - whether as a bean, powder or coffee grounds.

In fact, this trick works.

All you have to do is put a handful of beans or ground coffee in a cup or small bowl and leave them in the footwell overnight.

The bad smell in the car should be gone by the next day.

However, you should also get to the bottom of the cause of the smell and eliminate it - otherwise coffee will no longer help at some point.