Belts
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If it's going to hold your pants up day in and day out, well that's an item you want in fine working order. Dry-Cleaning or machine-washing a belt is almost always a no-no. This is because fabric belts are usually backed with vinyl, cardboard, or plastic which can stiffen, crack, or bleed when cleaning solvents are used. An all-fabric belt--one without these backings--can usually be dry-cleaned as long as the buckle isn't metal and the belt is sewn and not glued together. Check the edges of a belt to see how it was made. Grimy or perspiration-stained fabric belts can be spruced up at home, and so can those popular preppy stripped men's woven belts. Leather belts are also easily spiffed up at home.
To clean a fabric or woven belt, cover your work area with a towel and spread out your belt. In a bucket, mix 1/2 cap of gentle fabric cleaner, such as Woolite, with 1 quart of cool water.
Dampen a cleaning cloth with this solution and apply to a small part of the belt's edge to see whether it's colorfast. If the colors don't bleed, carefully dab at the belt, without rubbing, one section
at a time. As the cleaning cloth gets dirty, rinse and moisten again with solution. Use another cloth, wrung out in water, to rinse and to bolt. To dry, blot with a dry towel or use a hair dryer on the lowest setting. Another tactic: Spread the belt on a towel to air-dry. If the buckle is metal and got wet in the cleaning process, buff with a cloth.
To protect a new leather belt and prolong its life, apply a leather protector, one that contains no wax or silicone, according to the package directions. (One brand, Apple Polish, is sold at luggage and shoe stores and at www.applepolishes.com.) Should your belt get dirty or stained, clean it with a damp sponge or cloth dabbed in saddle soap. Wipe off the excess and buff it to a shine with a dry cloth.
Bicycles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whether your bicycle is a three-speed relic or an expensive mountain bike, keeping it clean makes for longer life, better performance, and an attractive ride. When you wash your bike, always remember to inspect the tires for wear
and tear. Bent rims can create small pinches that grow over time if tires aren't properly inflated. So be sure to inflate your tires to recommended levels.
To make cleaning easier, consider buying a bicycle work stand. It will stabilize the bike as you wash it and let out take off the wheels if you want. Work stands sell at bike shops starting at about $30. Another alternative: Suspend your bike with ropes from a strong, low-lying tree branch. If you're concerned about the mess that caked-on mud might make beneath you, work over a garbage can. Leaning the bike against a wall is OK, in a pinch, but makes your work more cumbersome and your bike more likely to topple over.
Start Cleaning a bike by knocking off any visible dirt with a stiff-bristled brush. Then use a garden hoseon low pressure to rinse your bike. You want the water to trickle out, rather than spray with force, because water under pressure can force grime into the chain and other moving parts. For the same reason, never use a power washer or put your bike through a car wash.
Degrease the drive train next. The hardest bike parts to keep clean are always the chain and the other parts of the drive train--the pedals, derailleur, rear hub, and such--so tackle them first. Protect your hands with work gloves. Then apply a degreaser, such as Simple Green or WD-40, to a soft cloth and clean the chain, a few links at a time. Move the pedals forward to work on a new section of chain. once you've cleaned the chain, carefully remove it from the chain ring (also called the chain wheel)-- the metal wheel whose pointed teeth keep the chain in place. Using a small screwdriver, carefully remove any caked-on gunk caught between the teeth. Then slip a cloth between them, rubbling it back and forth as if you were flossing your teeth.
Now wash the entire bike, Use a big sponge and 1/4 cup of dishwashing detergent, such as Joy, mixed in a bucket of warm water. Don't forget the seat and its underpinnings, handlebars, and handgrips, and be sure not to miss the brake levers and under the fork that connects the handlebars to the frame. Wash the wheel rims and tires. Gently soap the drive train to remove any residue from the degreaser. Rinse the bike completely with a garden hose and then ride it in the work stand to slough off excess water. Towel off the bike and ride it a few blocks to shake off more water. Then towel it off again completely.
Lubricate the chain with more WD-40 or an aerosol lubricant, such as Boeshield T-9, sold at manyh bike shops. Turn the crank backward as you spray. Lubricant attracts dirt, so use it sparingly and wipe off the excess with a soft cloth.
Wax a clean bicycle for much the same reason that you polish a new pair of shoes. The wax protects the bike and deflects dirt, keeping your ride looking fine. This applies whether you ride through puddles in your neighborhood or wheel down a mountain at
breakneck speed.
Bike waxes, available in paste and liquid form, are sold at any cycle shop. Following the instructions, apply wax with a soft cloth, being careful to hit the bike's various tubes, joints, and other hard-to-reach spots. Or try this easier approach:Spray your
When Your Mojo Isn't Working
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most cyclists don't discover that they've lost their mojo until they do the dirty work of cleaning their two-wheelers themselves or hand over the muddy mess to an expert, says Matt McPeak, an appropriately named bike mechanic who rides the Rockies when he's not cleaning and fixing bikes.
A mojo is a good-luck charm. Superstitious cyclists (there are a lot of 'em it seems) wire mojos onto their bikes, usually underneath, the seat, explains Mcpeak, a mechanic at the Bike Line WestMinister shop outside Denver. A cyclist's mojo is usually a tiny plastic figure, such as a G.I. Joe, a toy dinosaur, or (McPeak's favorite) a pig's head with horns.
Sometimes the mojo falls off and gets lost during a ride or gets chewed to pieces when it falls into the derailieur. An avoid cyclist who loses his or her mojo gets nuts, Mcpeak says, adding that the next time out, the cyclist has "the worst ride" ever.
May be a clean machine isn't all it's cracked up to be.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bike with a common furniture polish that contains max. (Behold and Bee's Wax Old world Formula Furniture Polish are two common types.)
Store your bike in a dry place to discourage rust. Never lay a bike on its right side;you could damage the freewheel, chain rings,and derailleurs or throw them out of alignment. Use a rack to transport your bike by car, rather than laying it in the black cargo area. After every ride, brush mud and debris off the tires. Wipe dirt and moisture off the frame, seat, handlebars, cranks, and pedals with a soft cloth. If the chain is wet, dry it and lubricate it lightly.
Binoculars and Telescopes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's nothing like a close-up of a tufted dust bunny to spoil a bird-watching outing.
To keep binocular lenses clean, first blow gently on each lens, without spitting, to remove loose debris and dust. Or use a lens cleaning pen, which has a soft natural brush at one end and a cleaning trip on the other, to get into the crevices. (Most camera stores carry lens pens, lens tissue, and cleaning fluid.)
Brush off the lens tightly with a sheet of lens tissue. With a clean sheet of lens tissue, sprayed lightly with lens cleaning fluid, wipe the lens with a circular motion. Gentleness is the key here, since rubbing too hard can remove the protective coating. With a third sheet of lens tissue, remove the remaining fluid. Repeat with the other lens. Never use your shirttail or facial issue for this job because their fibers could scratch the coating. Also resist the temptation to use a commercial glass cleaner on your lenses. The ammonia in most glass cleaners will eat away the coating.
To clean the exterior of binoculars, dampen a soft cloth with water and wipe. Keep rubber eyecups and focus knobs lubricated with a vinyl or rubber preservative, such as Armor All.
When cleaning a telescope, less is always more. Telescope optics should be cleaned no more than two times a year because their reflective coatings are easily damaged. Carefully remove the mirror from the tube, then use a camel hair brush--sold at most camera stores--to remove surface dust and dirt. Dampen a sheet of lens tissue with lens cleaning fluid (or make your own cleaner using 3 parts isopropyl alochol to 2 parts distilled water).
OOPS!
Spit-Free zone >
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amateur photographer Dave Szymanski was out snapping deer one day when he saw a man nearby spit on the lenses of his expensive Leica binoculars and then use his shirtail to dry them. Szymanski, regional manager for Cutler Camera, a store chain in Wilmington, Delaware, almost dropped his camera at the sight.
"I was horrified," he says. "I told the guy, as calmly as I could, that using this saliva and shirt could really mess up his binoculars."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wipe the mirror, eyepiece, and lenses from the center to the outer edge, using minimal pressure. (Telescope optics are even more delicate than binocular lenses and don't take kindly to being rubbed in circles.)
Should the optics collect dew outside, don't wipe them dry. Instead, let them air-dry, then clean with distilled water and lens tissue. (Distilled water leaves no spots.)
To protect your telescope, always use the dust caps. And keep your scope inside when not in use to prevent rusting. Most telescopes have an aluminum coating that can last 10 years if it's kept spick-and-span. Before you store a telescope, wipe the outside dry with a soft cleaning cloth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If it's going to hold your pants up day in and day out, well that's an item you want in fine working order. Dry-Cleaning or machine-washing a belt is almost always a no-no. This is because fabric belts are usually backed with vinyl, cardboard, or plastic which can stiffen, crack, or bleed when cleaning solvents are used. An all-fabric belt--one without these backings--can usually be dry-cleaned as long as the buckle isn't metal and the belt is sewn and not glued together. Check the edges of a belt to see how it was made. Grimy or perspiration-stained fabric belts can be spruced up at home, and so can those popular preppy stripped men's woven belts. Leather belts are also easily spiffed up at home.
To clean a fabric or woven belt, cover your work area with a towel and spread out your belt. In a bucket, mix 1/2 cap of gentle fabric cleaner, such as Woolite, with 1 quart of cool water.
Dampen a cleaning cloth with this solution and apply to a small part of the belt's edge to see whether it's colorfast. If the colors don't bleed, carefully dab at the belt, without rubbing, one section
at a time. As the cleaning cloth gets dirty, rinse and moisten again with solution. Use another cloth, wrung out in water, to rinse and to bolt. To dry, blot with a dry towel or use a hair dryer on the lowest setting. Another tactic: Spread the belt on a towel to air-dry. If the buckle is metal and got wet in the cleaning process, buff with a cloth.
To protect a new leather belt and prolong its life, apply a leather protector, one that contains no wax or silicone, according to the package directions. (One brand, Apple Polish, is sold at luggage and shoe stores and at www.applepolishes.com.) Should your belt get dirty or stained, clean it with a damp sponge or cloth dabbed in saddle soap. Wipe off the excess and buff it to a shine with a dry cloth.
Bicycles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whether your bicycle is a three-speed relic or an expensive mountain bike, keeping it clean makes for longer life, better performance, and an attractive ride. When you wash your bike, always remember to inspect the tires for wear
and tear. Bent rims can create small pinches that grow over time if tires aren't properly inflated. So be sure to inflate your tires to recommended levels.
To make cleaning easier, consider buying a bicycle work stand. It will stabilize the bike as you wash it and let out take off the wheels if you want. Work stands sell at bike shops starting at about $30. Another alternative: Suspend your bike with ropes from a strong, low-lying tree branch. If you're concerned about the mess that caked-on mud might make beneath you, work over a garbage can. Leaning the bike against a wall is OK, in a pinch, but makes your work more cumbersome and your bike more likely to topple over.
Start Cleaning a bike by knocking off any visible dirt with a stiff-bristled brush. Then use a garden hoseon low pressure to rinse your bike. You want the water to trickle out, rather than spray with force, because water under pressure can force grime into the chain and other moving parts. For the same reason, never use a power washer or put your bike through a car wash.
Degrease the drive train next. The hardest bike parts to keep clean are always the chain and the other parts of the drive train--the pedals, derailleur, rear hub, and such--so tackle them first. Protect your hands with work gloves. Then apply a degreaser, such as Simple Green or WD-40, to a soft cloth and clean the chain, a few links at a time. Move the pedals forward to work on a new section of chain. once you've cleaned the chain, carefully remove it from the chain ring (also called the chain wheel)-- the metal wheel whose pointed teeth keep the chain in place. Using a small screwdriver, carefully remove any caked-on gunk caught between the teeth. Then slip a cloth between them, rubbling it back and forth as if you were flossing your teeth.
Now wash the entire bike, Use a big sponge and 1/4 cup of dishwashing detergent, such as Joy, mixed in a bucket of warm water. Don't forget the seat and its underpinnings, handlebars, and handgrips, and be sure not to miss the brake levers and under the fork that connects the handlebars to the frame. Wash the wheel rims and tires. Gently soap the drive train to remove any residue from the degreaser. Rinse the bike completely with a garden hose and then ride it in the work stand to slough off excess water. Towel off the bike and ride it a few blocks to shake off more water. Then towel it off again completely.
 |
| Spray with Oil and Clean |
Lubricate the chain with more WD-40 or an aerosol lubricant, such as Boeshield T-9, sold at manyh bike shops. Turn the crank backward as you spray. Lubricant attracts dirt, so use it sparingly and wipe off the excess with a soft cloth.
Wax a clean bicycle for much the same reason that you polish a new pair of shoes. The wax protects the bike and deflects dirt, keeping your ride looking fine. This applies whether you ride through puddles in your neighborhood or wheel down a mountain at
breakneck speed.
Bike waxes, available in paste and liquid form, are sold at any cycle shop. Following the instructions, apply wax with a soft cloth, being careful to hit the bike's various tubes, joints, and other hard-to-reach spots. Or try this easier approach:Spray your
When Your Mojo Isn't Working
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most cyclists don't discover that they've lost their mojo until they do the dirty work of cleaning their two-wheelers themselves or hand over the muddy mess to an expert, says Matt McPeak, an appropriately named bike mechanic who rides the Rockies when he's not cleaning and fixing bikes.
A mojo is a good-luck charm. Superstitious cyclists (there are a lot of 'em it seems) wire mojos onto their bikes, usually underneath, the seat, explains Mcpeak, a mechanic at the Bike Line WestMinister shop outside Denver. A cyclist's mojo is usually a tiny plastic figure, such as a G.I. Joe, a toy dinosaur, or (McPeak's favorite) a pig's head with horns.
May be a clean machine isn't all it's cracked up to be.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bike with a common furniture polish that contains max. (Behold and Bee's Wax Old world Formula Furniture Polish are two common types.)
Store your bike in a dry place to discourage rust. Never lay a bike on its right side;you could damage the freewheel, chain rings,and derailleurs or throw them out of alignment. Use a rack to transport your bike by car, rather than laying it in the black cargo area. After every ride, brush mud and debris off the tires. Wipe dirt and moisture off the frame, seat, handlebars, cranks, and pedals with a soft cloth. If the chain is wet, dry it and lubricate it lightly.
Binoculars and Telescopes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's nothing like a close-up of a tufted dust bunny to spoil a bird-watching outing.
To keep binocular lenses clean, first blow gently on each lens, without spitting, to remove loose debris and dust. Or use a lens cleaning pen, which has a soft natural brush at one end and a cleaning trip on the other, to get into the crevices. (Most camera stores carry lens pens, lens tissue, and cleaning fluid.)
To clean the exterior of binoculars, dampen a soft cloth with water and wipe. Keep rubber eyecups and focus knobs lubricated with a vinyl or rubber preservative, such as Armor All.
When cleaning a telescope, less is always more. Telescope optics should be cleaned no more than two times a year because their reflective coatings are easily damaged. Carefully remove the mirror from the tube, then use a camel hair brush--sold at most camera stores--to remove surface dust and dirt. Dampen a sheet of lens tissue with lens cleaning fluid (or make your own cleaner using 3 parts isopropyl alochol to 2 parts distilled water).
OOPS!
Spit-Free zone >
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amateur photographer Dave Szymanski was out snapping deer one day when he saw a man nearby spit on the lenses of his expensive Leica binoculars and then use his shirtail to dry them. Szymanski, regional manager for Cutler Camera, a store chain in Wilmington, Delaware, almost dropped his camera at the sight.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wipe the mirror, eyepiece, and lenses from the center to the outer edge, using minimal pressure. (Telescope optics are even more delicate than binocular lenses and don't take kindly to being rubbed in circles.)
Should the optics collect dew outside, don't wipe them dry. Instead, let them air-dry, then clean with distilled water and lens tissue. (Distilled water leaves no spots.)
To protect your telescope, always use the dust caps. And keep your scope inside when not in use to prevent rusting. Most telescopes have an aluminum coating that can last 10 years if it's kept spick-and-span. Before you store a telescope, wipe the outside dry with a soft cleaning cloth.
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