Evening star., 1916-09-17
BEST WAYS SHOWN
/, OF CLEANING AUTOS
Begin Working From Bottom
and Use Plenty of
Water.
DRY QUICKLY TO PREVENT
MACHINE FROM sP0TTING
Advocates Of Spray System Say
LIQUID Acts as Preservative OF
Varnish and Enamel.

The proper cleaning of a motor car
Is one of the most important things
connected with its ownership, and the
longevity of the machine depends to
a great extent upon the manner In
which the cleaning is done.
Dirt is the natural enemy Of all ma
chinery. 1t is also the destroyer of fine.
polished surfaces. Your car is COM
posed Of both Keep them clean and
you will extend their periods OF
serv1ce.
There arc several kinds Of dirt for
the motor owner to cope with The
most obvious of these are mud. dust
and blackened grease. Owing to the
sensible way in which makers Of mod
ern motors protect and house the vitals
of their products. 1t is seldom that mud
and dust accumulate upon these parts.
These two gloomy twins put in their
deadliest work on the body and run
ming gear of the car. They devour
paint. enamel and varnish. Luckily.
however, 1t is simple to remove them
if you do it right.
How to Remove the Dust.
There are two ways of removing dust
and mud. One. the commoner method.
is to use water. The other. which is
newer and probably better. is to spray
the dirty surface with a special prep
aration which softens the accumula-
tions of dirt and is then wiped Off
with cheesecloth. taking the dirt with
it.
If you use water, be sure to use II
plentifully, especially when your car
is caked with mud. Any attempt to
saturated will damage the finish of
your car. Take your hose and start
at the bottom, working up. In this
way you will clean the running gear
usually the muddiest parts-frst. and
by working up you will avoid splash
ing muddy water on an already cleaned
body.
Working with water. you will need a
good sponge Deep water Sleeps wool
sponges are the best and well worth
their somewhat high price. Keep your
sponge well saturated with clean water.
You can do this by having hose in
your left hand, playing gentle stream
on the sponge all the time. Start spong-
along to the radiator and then going over
the mudguards. When all the mud or
dust is removed give your car a second
quick rinse over with the hose and, II
possible, new sponge.
Dry the Car Quickly.
It is important that you do got allow
the water to dry on naturally on the
bodywork. II you let this happen your
car will soon begin to look like a
leopard. As soon as you have finished
washing take a piece Of chamois and,
starting at the highest point. following
the path Of the sponge, dry up all the
moisture on the panels. II your engine
is hot when you begin the drying
process. start with the hood. to prevent
the heat from drying 1t. Some men pre-
fer cheesecloth rags to chamois for pol
fshing and cleaning. These are good, but
must be absolutely clean.
Advocates OF the spray system Of
cleaning motor cars declare that by its
use the dangers resulting from a whole
sale deluge Of water are avoided. and
that their liquid preparations act as
preservative Of the varnish and enamel.
which water does not Tho spray
method is a great deal more convenient
and simple. AL you have to do Is to
spray the car thoroughly and then wipe
IL with cheesecloth.
For all mechanical parts Of the car
garage men and chauieurs are now using
lene blower. In place Of the old, i'm
practical cloth The blower Is simply a
nozzle attached to two rubber tubes Ono
Of these tubes is attached to an air pump
(hand or motor) or a compressed air
tank The other is placed into a can
of kerosene. By turning on the air
pressure the nozzle is made to throw a
strong Jet of kerosene into all those mar.
row corners and crevices which are
usually so hard to reach. There are sey-
eral types Of this blower. most of them
costing In the neighborhood Of 81
Be Sure to Polish the Brass.
Brass and nickel fittings, which are
supposed to be decorative. but which
arc usually far from It by reason OF
neglect. should be polished regularly
with chanois and one of the many
preparations now on tho market You
should remember. IN applying these
preparations. that they are intended
for metal only-and that they are liable