Branded / Proprietory products

[spiller]

There must be a font of knowledge "out there" with regard to more economical alternatives to such branded products.
Often, 90% of a purchase goes to waste, unused and deteriorated or simply surplus to requirement.
Many are brainwashed into thinking that the "recommended" branded product is the only solution to servicing specific hardware and/or machinery, when, in fact, the function would quite satisfactorily be performed by everyday, "common or garden" materials which lie around the garage, house or vessel.
Contributions from Forumites would be welcome.
Example:
Glass cleaner - water, vinegar and newspaper
Winch grease -
Chrome cleaner -
etc

(I don't mean that chrome cleaner can be used as winch grease !!)

 

[SvenglishTommy]

Winch Grease -> food machine grease
Winch oil -> sewing machine oil

 

[DAVIDO]

And Elbow grease /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[FullCircle]

Oxalic Acid and Wallpaper paste =Y10

 

[johnalison]

cooking-oil in the heads.

 

[spiller]

cooking-oil in the heads ?

 

[vyv_cox]

Stainless cleaning - Cream cleaner or similar mildly abrasive domestic cleaner is better than any proprietary product I have ever tried.
Winch grease - any motor grease is perfectly acceptable for the bearings. Pawls should be lubricated with oil, for which 3-in-1 is quite OK.

The one concession I make to proprietary products is Black Streak remover. This stuff is excellent and I have never found anything else to be so effective.

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
Stainless cleaning - Cream cleaner or similar mildly abrasive domestic cleaner is better than any proprietary product I have ever tried.

[/ QUOTE ]I've had no success with that at all compared with proper metal cleaner. We have settled on the Autosol tubes at €4.50 (£3.15) which lasts us ages and feels like money well spent. Autosol is magic on brass, as well. We had some really nasty salt corrosion on our brass barometer/clock set and it has come up like new without trouble.

BTW - after polishing up the brass clock, what is the best way to protect the surface?

 

[Vara]

Must disagree,as a fully non paid up skinflint,for winches only the proper, supplied by the makers, grease does the job,expensive but a tube should last a lifetime.(If it doesn't you're using too much!).
I have found that 3in1 for the pawls leaves a residue so prefer to use sewing machine oil.

 

[Vara]

Car polish.

 

[Vara]

A bit of washing up liquid added to that brew doesn't do any harm,improves the "wetting" qualities.

 

[MoodySabre]

Protecting brass. When new brass items usually come lacquered to stop them tarnishing. Eventually this gives way and they need repolishing with Brasso or whatever. You can buy a small bottle of clear lacquer at a d-i-y and paint them with that. A few coats should last ages.

 

[Stork_III]

To lubricate the pump, few drops in the bowl pump out. Bingo.

Prefer johson baby oil myself.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

Fabric proofing

Not Fabsil but Thompsons or even builder's merchant's own brand
Many caravan shops have the same stuff as a chandlery but at 75% of the cost.

 

[VicMallows]

[ QUOTE ]
When new brass items usually come lacquered to stop them tarnishing. Eventually this gives way and they need repolishing with Brasso or whatever.

[/ QUOTE ]

Except when the product you bought as 'solid brass' (NOT 'brassed') turns out to be a muck-metal casting all along! .... and life's too short to have a battle with the supplier.

Vic

 

[Caer Urfa]

GRP Hull/cabin top polish try MER from Halfords, used it for years,last well all season.

 

[Lakesailor]

Astonish oven cleaner paste (most hardware shops and Wilkos, etc)
Cleans rust and muck stains from GRP. Is proven not to damage grp gelcoat.

 

[Anonymous]

A more economical alternative to diesel additives is to keep the fuel very clean - e.g. by fitting a drain pipe so you can scavenge dirt and water from the very bottom of the tank. The cost of a couple of bottles of additive will pay for all the bits you need and the solution is far better.

 

[vyv_cox]

<<I've had no success with that at all compared with proper metal cleaner>>

I'm surprised. As I'm sure you experience, the Med is very hard on the appearance of stainless steel components, especially stanchions and bimini frames. We worked hard with Autosol but each stanchion seemed to take an age. We found the effectiveness of Cream Cleaner by accident but it proved to be a great improvement. On reading the instructions on the bottle we found that they recommend it for this purpose!

 

[Anonymous]

Which one have you been using? We tried Cif and Tescos own brand