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By Alexa Erickson, The Family Handyman
For detailing your car's interior to buffing up its exterior, is
there really one small, inexpensive household item that you could be
using? Absolutely! DIYers will love that something as simple as a
toothbrush (yes, a toothbrush!) has quite the cleaning power for your
car. Skip the fancy tools and brush kits, grab a toothbrush and start
cleaning!
Toothbrush for Detailing
The bristles of a toothbrush are
great for digging down into hard-to-reach crevices in your car to get
the grime that's built up out. Just like your toothbrush loosens stuff
between your teeth, it does the same thing for your car. Once the gunk
is loosened up and brought to the surface, it's easy to vacuum it up or
wipe it off.
Toothbrush and Toothpaste for Headlights
Fed up with driving
around at night with murky headlights? Before you drive to the body shop
and spend a fortune on new headlights, grab some household supplies and
try this DIY car hack:
- Clean the headlights thoroughly with glass cleaner or soapy water.
- Dry with an absorbent towel.
- Use painter's tape to tape off around your headlights (to protect the car's paint at the top, bottom and sides of both lights).
- Apply a dime-sized amount of toothpaste to each headlight.
- Polish the headlights using a soft-bristled toothbrush. Scrub, rinse, dry. With this car hack, you'll be left with clearer headlights for safer driving.
Toothbrush for Rims
After you've cleaned the crevices inside
your car and polished the headlights, you can take this car hack south
to the rims. Remove brake dust that's accumulated on the wheels this
way:
- Purchase a brake dust cleaner based on whether your rims are steel, alloy or ones with a clear coat.
- Rinse the wheels with water to remove debris.
- Spray one wheel with the brake dust cleaner, let it sit for the length of time recommended.
- Use a toothbrush to gently scrub the wheel's surface, including between the spokes and around the tire valve stem to remove the brake dust.
- Rinse the wheels with water and dry with a clean rag or microfiber cloth.
