Driving Notes

Today Todd and I got back to the roots of Who Knew Wednesday! The reason we started Who Knew Wednesday is because we found some pretty awesome books called “Who Knew? 10,001 East Solutions to Everyday Problems” and “More Who Knew? Thousands of Money-Saving Secrets for Cooking, Cleaning and all-around Your Home”, both by Bruce Lubin and Jeanne Bossolina-Lubin!

We are excited to announce that our Valentine’s Day Banquet tickets are officially on sale! Click HERE to find out more!

Today we decided to focus on Chapter 16 from the first Who Knew? book about Car hacks! Here are the hacks we shared:

• Make the most of that expensive gas!
  • Keep your tires inflated. It’s much harder for your engine to get your car to move when your tires are even a little bit flat. Invest in a gauge and make sure to keep them as inflated as possible without over-inflating.
  • Change your oil regularly. As oil ages, it’s thicker and harder to push through the engine, causing more energy to be used. By changing your oil regularly you’ll make sure you get the best fuel economy possible.
  • Roll up your windows on the highway. Having the wind streaming through your hair might be fun, but it increases drag on the car and make it take more energy to run. In this case, it’s actually usually cheaper to run the AC.
  • Other quick tips to save gas:  Be smart with the route you pick, stay at or under the speed limit, remove any excess weight in your car and try to carpool as much as possible!

• Who knew Classic Tip: if your windshield wipers are smearing your windshield while they work, wipe the blades with rubbing alcohol.

• Keep your car doors from freezing: it’s hard enough to have to dig out your driveway and scrape off your car after a snowstorm. Save yourself the trouble of worrying about car doors freezing shut by spraying WD-40 in the lining. Once at the beginning of winter should do it!

• Condition Your Car: You might think we are crazy, but applying conditioner, leaving for 5 minutes, and then rinsing it off will give your car a just-waxed shine. As an added bonus, it will more effectively repel water!

• For supple leather: if your car has leather seats, regularly apply a thin layer of baby oil to the leather and let it dry. This will prevent your seats from drying out and cracking.

•  Removing bumper stickers: Get those old bumper stickers off and bring your car up to date. Rub cold cream on the stickers and wait 10 minutes. Say goodbye and peel the bumper sticker right off.

•  Stop ice before it starts: To keep your car door locks safe from ice during the cold winter months place a refrigerator magnet of the lock you can even take an old magnet (that 2008 calendar from the local realtor, perhaps) and cut it into pieces that fit perfectly.

•  It pays to restart your engine: If you are waiting for longer than 30 seconds in your car, turn off the engine. Use more fuel idling after 30 seconds then you use to restart your car.

• Impromptu shovel: Stuck in the mud, sand or snow with no way to dig yourself out? A shovel may be closer than you think. Just detach your hubcap and use that instead!

•  Bonus tip of the day:

  • Take two aspirin for yourself, then to for your car: if your car battery has died and you don’t have jumper cables, don’t get a headache just yet. First, try dropping a couple of aspirin tablets into the battery the acid in the aspirin can provide it with just enough to charge get you to the nearest service station.

• Question of the Day:
  •  According to insurance agencies, green and yellow cars are the least likely to get in a car accident, and red and black cars are the most likely. Why do you think this is? Let us know below in the comments section!

Thanks so much for checking out the blog!

-Hannah and Todd