We're knee deep in doing our best to save as many pennies as we can, while trying to outfit our new home with the basics to sustain life. Since our new place wasn't a residence previously we need everything from sinks to toilets to lighting. Along the way we've discovered that saving money doesn't always mean acquiring clean finds however!We ran across this pair of restaurant sinks on Craigslist and we were warned that they were dirty. We assumed your normal light coating of grease like many of the other restaurant finds we've come across lately, but when we arrived, we were in for quite a surprise.
This pair of sinks has to have sat no more than 2 inches from a fryer in its previous life as it was coated with a ridiculous amount of grease, food chunks and other things we cared not to identify. Knowing it would take us hours of work to clean this at home, we stopped off at our local car wash to hose them down.
Who knew engine and tire cleaner would get them so shiny? Sure we received odd looks, but it worked like a champ and the light misting from the water was much appreciated when temperatures were over 100 degrees! You can use the same technique on tables and chairs that are covered in mud and debris, outdoor furniture if you don't want to buy a pressure washer (though you'll want to take a sand bag to hold them down so they don't get blown away by the pressure), and other solid surfaces.
Even if it sounds crazy to take chairs to the car wash, they'll recover quickly and your work will get done in a fraction of the time!
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)
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My old landlord took our vintage gas stove (before we moved in) to the nearby carwash to clean it and it worked wonderfully! It looked like it had 50 years before!
How do you keep people from beating the crap out of you for "hogging" the stall? I even have people complain when I put another dollar in for my CAR washing session. They sit there in their car, engine running for 5 minutes & have the nerve to confront me. Gotta love the entitlement attitude in this country...
I don't think long lines would be a problem here in St. Louis...we've got what seems to be one DIY car wash bay per capita. ;) Awesome idea!
what a great idea!
Here's what someone said on Lifehacker:
As an owner of car-washes, I would kick you out in a heartbeat for doing this!
Think about it form the owner's standpoint - all the grease has to go somewhere - all over our concrete, which creates a slip and fall liability risk.
So then we have to pay someone to go clean it, close off that bay for hours or days, however long it takes to get someone to clean it.
@spinsLPs -- cars are far dirtier than appliances, furniture and sinks... In fact, I'd be more concerned about the grime and oil from a car than a bit of grease from an appliance. It's not like they're dumping out a deep-fryer in the car wash...
I wish we could try this, bad sadly every car wash around here is a drive-through :(
I agree with spinsLPs--this is a really bad idea, especially for those car washes that recycle the water.
Most big box stores will rent a pressure washer.
This is a common practice in Turkey :-))
I use this same technique for washing blinds (stand far away with the wand if the blinds are aluminum or the water pressure may chip off the paint.)
At my house I use this techinique to clean my city-owned garbage can and recycling bins. I usually take one or two neighbors bins with me and do them all for the $.75 fee.
As for a carwash recycling the water I wouldn't use them. They tried it here on the coast but the salt buildup in the water caused bad corrosion.
For those that object to doing this because of the grease - what about oil from a car? Should all cars going through a car wash be pre-checked to make sure that they're not leaking oil? Would the bay have to be shut down for days (?) until it's cleaned? Of course not. Sheesh!
"all the grease has to go somewhere - all over our concrete, which creates a slip and fall liability risk.
So then we have to pay someone to go clean it, close off that bay for hours or days, however long it takes to get someone to clean it."
Thank you, spinsLPs, for making me laugh! I needed something ridiculous to have a good chuckle about!
A lot of places don't allow this. We have a racetrack in the community and people wash all sorts of crap in there which ends up causing damage.
Yet from the comments above people don't really care so long as they paid their $1.50, they'll argue their way into justifying anything.
I do this in the spring to wash my patio cushions. Spray them down with some OxyClean and then take the hi-pressure wand to them. Works like a charm! I just hang them up on the walls using the clips intended for floor mats.
Why not rent or buy a steamer. Probably about the same as using a car wash,no one gets angry and you can take your time.