So yeah, how's that posting more often thing working out for me?

I came across a neat topic lately I wanted to share real quick - mainly because I will forget it if I don't:

An outstanding, DIY cleaner for around the house and garage-

1 cup Dawn dishwashing liquid
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water

That's all there is to it. Put in a spray bottle, shake it and have at it.

I have used it in the kitchen, bathroom (dispatching some VERY tenacious rust-rings that have been in the shower since I bought the house, without ANY real effort), and even in the garage (and on the truck).

 It's cleaned everything I have tried, very well- I used entire cans of Dow Corning scrubbinb bubble cleaner (toxic shit, that!) on the shower, focusing on the rust rings, without much effect. I don't want to overstate the issue- the shower wasn't THAT bad- but I was never able to get it totally clean down to the white, you know? Even after using 3M scotchbrite pads with the DC stuff, no love. I literally made a batch of this stuff, went into the bathroom and sprayed down the shower. Came back in 5 minutes (letting it sit longer helps), and wiped away the stains with nothing more than my bare hand. Amazing, amazing stuff.

Yes, there's a bit of a vinegary smell, but that's easy to banish with some Febreeze (or the homemade equivalent- involving baking soda, fabric softener, and water- can't recalll the amounts at pesent but it works just as well as the manufactured product, at pennies on the dollar).

The best part? There's no nagging thought in the back of my head that I ought to be wearing CPOGs when using this stuff. Hell, I know folks that use diluted Dawn for bodywash (and I have done the same when I realized I was out of soap). I can literally keep a spray bottle of this stuff in the shower, and clean the shower as I clean me. Win!

Also, just used this in the yard this afternoon- I was changing tires on my Jeep. By "changing tires", I mean taking them off the Jeep, dismounting the tires from the wheels, and placing new tires on those same wheels- all by hand. It's a filthy job, and can be agravating. The worst part is usually the inner surface of the wheel, which collects brake dust. Since I have recently bought a DIY wheel balancing system form Harbor Freight, I needed to get the inner surface of the wheel clean so my self-stick wheel weights would actually... stick.

I got the new tire on, and took an old potscrubber I've been meaning to replace from the kitchen, and the spraybottle of my Wondercleaner. Sprayed it, a couple of rinses and a quick scrub or two with the scrubber, and my formerly-black inner wheel surface is now mostly shiny aluminum. Not ready for show, by any means, but it is definitely clean now. Tar is, not surprisingly, a bitch to remove.

I ran out of light, and wanted to let the tire sit for a bit to dry the whel as well as leaktest it for a couple days before I mess with balancing the assembly. Once I am ready, I will snap some pics of the balancing process. When I have the weights in place I will cover them with Gorilla Tape so they stay.

I certainly don't expect the same exact balance one gets with an active, computerized spin-balance.. but seeing that the last time I paid for that (for a 31" street tire for the wife's Jeep), the Tire Jerk put 2 POUNDS of lead on one side of the rim, and 8 ounces directly opposite it on the same side of the wheel (new wheels and tires, thanks) I don't think I can do any worse, and 2 tires will have paid for the balancer I bought. Given that I now have the wife running Centramatic wheel balancers, without ANY rim weight at all, on tires I assembled manually, and her Jeep rides like a Cadillac, I think I'll be good to go- this will be an improvement on what I already am running once I put the Centramatics on my truck.

Of course, to do this, I am going to have to break down all 5 tires on my vehicle and suck out the airsoft pellets I have been running for balance media for years. Incidentally- they have worked VERY well- the only reason I am getting away from them is to allow me to use a runflat compound inside the tires. More info on that soon, as well!