Good Stuff in Bottles, Number 2

Every now and again we find that we’ve come across a whole bunch of good products but they’re not worthy of a full article on each one. That’s when we put ‘em together in the one feature – all about stuff found in bottles which is damn useful to have around. This is the second in a very occasional series – for Part 1, go to Good Stuff in Bottles.

Sonax ClearView

If you’ve tried every damn additive to your windscreen washer bottle – from straight methylated spirits to detergent to special windscreen cleaners – and have basically given them all up as a bad joke, here’s one to try.

It’s called Sonax ClearView and comes in a 25ml plastic bottle. It’s designed to be mixed with your windscreen washer water on a 1:100 basis, so the little container has enough good stuff in it for 2.5 litres of windscreen washer.

It’s German made and contains “5-15 per cent non-ionic surfactants, 5-15 per cent aionic surfactants” and some fragrance, salt and colour.

But whatever all that means – the proof is in the use, where it’s brilliant. And at a few Australian dollars for 25ml, it’s cheap as well. We bought ours at auto accessory store AutoBahn.

Definitely worth buying and then keeping a spare bottle or two in the glovebox.

www.sonax.de

Banalasta Hydrating Day Cream

You’re joking, right. He’s telling us about a hand cream? Ah, but this is no ordinary one. In fact, when I was dragged along, protesting, screaming and dissenting as only a man can when he’s being taken to a cosmetics factory, the thought of actually buying anything for myself was far from my mind.

Yes, I was indifferent - even when I saw all the open samples, able to be tried as you wanted. In fact, it was almost in irony that I grabbed some white goo out of the first open container that I came to and rubbed it into my hands.

But I couldn’t believe it. Fair dinkum (and this is an Australian-made product!) the stuff was so good – moisturising without being oily. A small amount went a long way too.

In fact, after I have been working on the car and have cleaned my hands of grease, oil, brake fluid, brake dust, penetrating oil and just basic dirt, I put some of this stuff on and straightaway my hands don’t feel like they’ve been labouring for hours. I’ve never seen a car publication singing the praises of a hydrating day cream, but this is well worth it.

And so what’s in it? Well, try water, aloe vera juice, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, macadamia nut oil, coconut oil, vegetable glycerine, emollient derived from coconut and vegetable glycerine, eucalyptus radiata oil – and a whole heap more that I can’t be bothered writing down and you can’t be bothered reading. In use it smells faintly of its ingredients, but it certainly hasn’t got a strong odour.

The company is called Banalasta Oil Plantation and their website is www.banalasta.com.au. In Australia the company itself can be called on 02 6772 0111. They’re located out of Armidale, in New South Wales. A 120ml jar costs about AUD$15. It’s seriously good sh-, er, stuff.

PascoFix

Bought this glue at a stall at a home-style show. You know, where they’ve got people demonstrating everything from the latest in vegetable choppers to miracle window squeegees to, well, unbelievable glues.

Being very sceptical of how good it was (yes, despite the demonstration!), I bought the smallest quantity available – two bottles, one containing 10g of instant glue and another larger (20g) bottle of sand-like filler.

The clear stuff you use as normal superglue – it needs an atmosphere lacking in oxygen to set quickly so the surfaces have to be flat and be pushed firmly together to prevent air entering. Then it sets quickly and bloody strongly. And if you have surfaces that are uneven or you want to apply the glue against the surfaces rather than between them, pour on some of the filler first and then add a drop or two of the clear glue. The resulting combination sets like rock.

I bought the glue on a whim but I have used it literally hundreds of times in the year since. On the right material (pretty well anything except some slippery plastics and cloth) it works fantastically. For example, it’s literally all that is holding the rubber lip to the underside of the front bumper on my car – and that lip gets dragged on bitumen a fair bit... Compared with discount store superglues, it is definitely worth the ten times greater price that you’ll pay for it.

The only Australian contact I can find for Pasco glues is 02 9564 3218 – the link below gives the international contacts.

www.pascofix.nwy.at

Baby Bath Thermometer

OK, so it doesn’t come in a bottle – but it’s another oddball thing of use and interest to car nuts. So what is it, then? Well, it comprises a strip of LCD material that’s mounted in a plastic holder. When subjected to temps between 30 and 50 degrees C, the numeral representing the temperature becomes visible in the LCD strip. It doesn’t need batteries – it’s an entirely passive process.

It’s designed to be submerged in the bath and read out the current temperature of the liquid: 36 – 38 degrees C is (apparently) the ideal temp for a baby’s bath.

But as a pretty well indestructible indicator of temperatures from 30 – 50 degrees C, it also has a few other uses. Like measuring the temp inside your car’s airbox, for example. Put it inside the airbox (on the atmosphere side of the filter!) and then whenever you lift the bonnet and the airbox lid, you’ll be able to see the intake air temp that you’re running. (The LCD changes to register whatever is the current temp, so you’ll need to be fairly quick about it.) Or maybe you’d like to use it to see how hot an amplifier is getting - it's easy enough to cut off the “baby’s bath” bit of the card and glue it permannetly to the amp.

Our sample cost AUD$5 on special – normal retail price is AUD$8.80. Check your local baby supplies shop...

www.Thermometers/LiquidC.html

All the products shown in this article were bought by us – no bias-inducing freebies here!