Tuesday Quick Tip: Lock De-icing…
The weather around these parts has been a mess lately: three snowstorms yielding 6″ or more each in the last month. It has wreaked havoc on our street since we are a low-traffic, one way street, so the city never plows it. Fortunately, we’ve been able to get out and about.
Last night we were at Costco buying things in bulk and we swung by the gas station. While I was filling up gas, I noticed a guy having some major issues with trying to fill up his gas tank. The fuel tank door had frozen shut and wouldn’t budget. Fortunately, I had a solution.
My germaphobic self busted out a little bottle of hand sanitizer that had been hanging out in my pocket and rescuing me from grubby public elevators buttons, handrails, and doorknobs. The 62% alcohol in the hand sanitizer not only kill germs but it has a freezing point of well below freezing (almost -100°F).
After squirting some of the sanitizer in the crevice around the fuel door, it popped right open. The same technique will work on frozen locks; just squirt some hand sanitizer on your key, push it in the lock, and wiggle it around. You may need to repeat a time or two, but it should free up the lock.
A couple more related tips:
- If you have a mouse scroll wheel that gets stuck or doesn’t always register, squirting some hand sanitizer on it and spinning it should loosen up any gunk that is effecting the ability to scroll.
- If you regularly have ice on the windshield of your car and are having trouble scraping it, you can place a spray or squirt bottle in the trunk of your car and fill it with rubbing alcohol. After brushing any accumulated snow off, spray or squirt the alcohol on the windshield and let it soak before hitting it with the ice scraper. It should be much easier to break up.
Got any tips of your own related to the cold weather? How about tips related to alcohol? Drink recipes are welcome!
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