Cleaning

Salted roads and snow. They both suck, and for completely different reasons. One makes commuting a potentially life-threatening inconvenience, while the other is put in play in order to alleviate said slippery disposition, but poses a threat to your automobile and is a chore to remove.

Having a 4 year-old in the backseat every week is the automotive equivalent of shaving your face with a cheese grater. You’re getting somewhere, but chances are things won’t be very pretty when it’s time to step back and assess the damage.

If there’s one major part of most cars that gets neglected in the regular washing process, it’s the area under the hood. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it. We’re fastidious about the exterior appearance of our cars, but the critical components that keep your vehicle driving are subject to dirt, dust, and grime for months or even years without cleaning.

I recently got my hands on a bottle of Spray Nine Heavy Duty Cleaner/Degreaser to see what it could do with tough automotive grease and grime. My subject of choice? The wheels on our two family vehicles – both of which I let get nice and dirty after I skipped car washes for about a month beforehand.