Conedodger

Tool definitions by Peter Egan:

HAMMER: Originally used as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes containing seats and motorcycle jackets.

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age, but it also works great for drilling mounting holes in fenders just above the brake line that goes to the rear wheel.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools that transform human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion; the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your garage on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside a brake drum you're trying to get the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for.

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about the time it takes you to say, "Ouch...."

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering a motorcycle to the ground after you have installed your new front disk brake setup, trapping the jack handle firmly under the front fender.

EIGHT-FOOT-LONG 2X4: Used for levering a motorcycle off a hydraulic jack.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters.

PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbor to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack.

SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-doo off your boot.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit.

TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating oil buildup.

TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and brake lines you have forgotten to disconnect.

1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end.

BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER: A handy tool for transferring sulfuric acid from a car battery to the inside of your toolbox after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just as you thought.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: Its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips screw heads.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced by a power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 60 years ago by someone in Springfield, and rounds them off.

Lainey

Thanks for the heads-up Doug!

How about just lightly rinsing it off on the car and letting the sun dry it?

The side that touches the car really doesn't get dirty because it's always put on a totally clean car.
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These are my comments, also based on real world experience. Maybe we are not talking apples to apples here as far as the covers.

I'm not sure of the washing directions on our car cover, but we're not about to run to the laundromat when it needs washing. It also goes in the dryer. We give it a little rotate along the way and it's fine. No shrinkage from washing it. We've used that cover for 7 seasons, outside in the elements, ALL winter. The car looks great in the spring. The car is under cover now, with all kinds of pollen and tree crap on it. Once the cover is removed, it will get washed again before the next use. Yes, it now has some wear spots on it, but after seven years. I'd say that we got our money's worth out of it.

Triple-H

Welcome!
A good rinse while it is on the car sounds fine
I have never touched the Weathershield fabric, the Evolution fabric does indeed let a super tiny degree of water through, but that is a non-issue for me as they are not used outside. And I do get some dust that moves through the fabric and gets onto the car, it is super, super fine, must be the sub 1-micron particles. My garage is very dusty, if I put the cover on a clean car, 5-months later when I take the cover off there is a very fine covering of dust on the car, but I'm ok with that because the fabric is so think it works great to prevent dents, chips, scratches during all those months. What I do each fall is put the cover down over 2 6-foot stepladders, I crawl inside/under it and use the leaf blower to blow the dust back out of the fabric, that is as much "washing" as I do nowadays. Again though, My Evolution 4 fabric is different than your Weathershield.

Tadashi

Place is called Olde Erie - very nice - American/Italian. First time I had been, 2nd for Tom. Rich ate like he was going to the chair for sure!
It has NOT been a slow day The sun is out and I have not left the house yet
Still have a few projects to do but thinking at this time of day I may just send emails saying I am swamped with work and will get to them tomorrow

Triple-H

What car cover???
If you do not define the fabric we cannot talk apples to apples
If you are talking about the Honda cover, let me just say, that thing is about 500% times thinner than mine
The Evolution 4 Cover for the S2000 will not fit in my big home washing machine, the fabric is simple too thick, there is too much of it

Tadashi

I have had no shrinking problem either except when I forgot and left the dryer on high. My dryer is pretty crappy though and I have to run 2-3 cycles anyway to dry things so I usually air dry all our laundry as much as possible.

Pretty sure it has un-shrunk because it was only the first time putting it back on the car it seemed tighter, now it does not.

Triple-H

Again, Ellen, what specific car cover do you have, the Honda OEM one?

Conedodger

Forget the car covers and get out and drive!

A 2

hmm...my question about car covers seems to have provoked a rather interesting debate



In any case, co-workers cousin found something on that site you recommended and ordered it. Thought you;d be happy to know that it helped someone.

Ok, the fight may resume

NH_s2k_Guy

My cover is more "vinyl"ish for lack of a better word. It's very thin and not cloth-like in any way.

The cover has to breathe so yes the car will get some water on it, I notice it the most on a humid morning,
the car will have lots of morning dew on it when I pull the cover off but have never seen any dirt on it
so the material is keeping the dirt off the paint, which is my ultimate goal. I can wipe the dew off with
a microfiber.

The last thing I want to do is anything that will change the protective charateristics of the cover.
I believe it was over $300 so I want to get many years of use out of it and I don't know if I want to
chance it in my dryer. I'll either do a light spraying of water on it and let it dry on the car or
use a damp cloth to wipe it down on the car before I remove it.