7 Grocery Store Items Every DIY’er Should Have in the Shop
It’s easy to find things you “need” for your garage or shop while walking the aisles of a parts store or tool outlet. We often spend more time trying not to buy things in those situations. All those specialized items are designed to solve some problem we have during the processes of diagnosing, fixing, and maintaining our cars. But there are also a whole host of things not specifically designed for working on cars that are good to have in the shop, and a lot of them can be picked up on your next trip to buy pizza rolls. Here are seven items from the grocery store run that are worth having in the garage.
Distilled water
Clean water for rinsing parts as they are being cleaned or topping up batteries and cooling systems can be a lifesaver. Distilled means the water has been brought to a boil, the steam then condensed and collected in a storage container. As the water boils it leaves behind many of the impurities typically found in water, making the perfect H2O for situations where introducing things like calcium or iron can cause problems. Either of those chemicals can cause issues over the life of a lead-acid battery, or can lead to corrosion inside the coolant passages of an engine. We don’t need water this clean for everything, but it is handy to have.
Beverages
We gotta hit the obvious answer, right? The water may not be for drinking, but there should be some form of rehydration available in the garage. A coffee machine might be a better choice over a kegerator, and can likely be found on aisle six. Cans of pop, soda, or Coke are also great choices.
Muffin tins and baking sheets
Keep the nuts and bolts of your project organized by dropping them into muffin tins that can easily be labeled and shuffled about the shop without mixing things up. Baking sheets are nothing more than small, shallow drip trays and are perfect for keeping parts from rolling away during a tricky assembly or disassembly process. While you can buy these new, we have to recommend buying your garage muffin tins or baking sheets used. It’ll save you money and give a second life to tired old tins and sheets.
Aluminum foil
The utility of aluminum foil is surprising. It can easily be folded and scrunched to create masking for painting parts or shielding assemblies from fluid flowing out of a poorly placed drain plug. It’s also useful for blocking or containing weld spatter in tight interior spots where a tack weld might be needed but welding blankets or other protection might not fit.
Petroleum Jelly
I mean, it’s right there in the name. Why would anyone doubt if this stuff should be in the shop? A little dab of petroleum jelly is great for holding gaskets or seals in place during assembly or to give just a little extra slip to an o-ring so it doesn’t get pinched. It also helps with dry hands that come from working with solvents.
Turkey baster
Gross brake fluid is downright annoying to get out of the reservoir and the last thing we want to do is push said fluid through the system if we don’t have to. A turkey baster uses suction to pull up and hold a small amount of fluid, perfect for emptying out power steering pumps, brakes, and even coolant overflow tanks.
Scouring pads and cleaning brushes
After dinner we have to scrub metal pots and pans clean from baked-on grease and grime, then we walk out into the garage some nights just to do the same thing again. While we are often able to use much more aggressive solvents and detergents on car parts compared to cookware, the soft and non-marring yet tough scrubbers from the kitchen aisle are great for using on car parts too. Be extra careful around painted surfaces, though, and test just how abrasive the scrubber is on a small spot somewhere inconspicuous before really getting to scrubbin’. Brushes are perfect for small-parts cleaning, but be careful that the bristles don’t fall out and cause issues if left inside something like a carburetor.
People laugh at me for using distilled water instead of tap water and I get tired of explaining why…
Explain to me why😀
Read the article again
No minerals such as lime in it
Not only for batteries, but cooling systems. 100% antifreeze/coolant is only a dollar or so more than the 50/50 version. It is so much more cost effective to mix it yourself using distilled water. I never use tap water in a cooling system, for the same reasons you wouldn’t want to add it to a battery.
As a long term air/oil cooled Porsche owner, since 1967. I have to ask. What is this antifreeze/coolant?
HA HA!
Hmmm…I don’t use it in my Yamaha, either. I think it is that sweet-smelling stuff you must keep away from dogs. ;<)
You, as a Porsche maintainer, might be more familiar with the type of antifreeze/summer coolant that a majority of your kind seem to know best: Bourbon, whiskey, vodka, schnapps, or “eine bier, bitte!” Does the same thing.
Those fluids are for when you the repair bill.
Yeah, like the classic where you send the newbie on a treasure hunt looking for a radiator for a 1968 Volkswagen. It was so prevalent in the mid 70’s that any Auto Parts store or Junkyard you called would just put the person on hold and not return or after a long wait tell them they just sold the last one. We had one guy complain after a week that he couldn’t find one, we told him to keep looking because they were rare. Every minute he was not working on a vehicle he was searching for that radiator.
Did you also ask to bring a bucket of steam or a left-handed smoke bender?
Lucky you. I have a99 the first year of the water cooled.
Because tap water contains calcium
That will destroy batteries and plug up radiators
It’s not as usefull any more with the advancement of AGM & Lithium batteries.
Dawn dish washing liquid. You want to clean oil, grease and crud thus will do it. I even used it yo cleaned and soak my Lawnboy carbs out when rebuilding.
If they can use it to clean oil tanker spills it will work great in the garage.
I even clean the floor with it.
+1 – Dawn is amazing stuff.
yes, agreed. it’s great for cleaning grease/oil on hands, too. just make sure to apply lotion afterward.
where i’d use caution is using it on the floor. all of the soap residue needs to be removed, otherwise it can be slippery even when dry
Just a drop or two of Dawn in water in a 16oz spray bottle works excellent as a window cleaner!
I used Dawn to clean 40 year old carpet that I took out of my 85 Mustang GT. The Dawn did a great job cleaning — saved the trouble of trying to fit new carpet which doesn’t always work so well.
Good old 2-stroke Lawn Boys. Happily, mine has run well for decades, and I have not had to rebuild a LB carb since the 1970’s. *Knock* on wood.
What is your comment referring to?
Don’t forget the oil-spill little ducklings! (Though more likely to find newborn kittens in the garage.)
Better than handcleaner also
Dawn dish liquid is great for degreasing parts before painting them.
I use it in auto body work when wet sanding and prep
The Cheap 4 pack of the rubbermaid containers that are like tupperware. great for collections of parts. Also, gallon Ziploc bags.
Chinese take-out containers also work well.
I use plastic gelato containers (after I eat the gelato).
I save the gelato containers to use later. And they are cheaper than buying plastic containers. Plus eating the gelato contents is a bonus.
Maybe stating the obvious but delay putting soup cans, various sized vegetable cans and large Costco coffee tins in the recycle bin. They’re great for everything from soaking small parts in solvent or oil to cleaning paint brushes. Empty them and then into the recycle bin as they are melted anyway. Good move for the environment but too bad that Costco switched from clear plastic peanut containers to plastic pouches. But there’s always clear plastic peanut butter containers.
I use the ziploc bags when disassembling things, but instead of writing on the bag (which wipes off over time), i write on a piece of paper and put it in the bag with the parts.
I do that too!
Zip lock bags and a sharpie; yup!
I like to use the “Snack” sized bags to keep small hardware for a part together. I’ll write the name of the part that the hardware goes to on a small Post-It note, put the note in the bag and then tape the bag to the part they go to.
Exactly what I do!
Thanks for the tip on using foil wrap to shield from weld spatter, Kyle. I usually use something like my phone screen, hand-embroidered handkerchief, or $300 prescription sunglasses, but I think I’ll try the aluminum foil next time. 😁
Foil and WD40 makes chrome and Stainless shine as new. Schrunch up the foil and spray, then rub and watch
Thank you for that one!
Never heard this before. Will give it a try.
Except that welding splatter burns right thru aluminum foil. Better off to use nozzle spray or gel for welding (MIG welding).
Stop using the cheap stuff and get the extra heavy duty, after all it is welding. Lol, hope you have a sense of humor!
I have a marine aquarium; consequently, I have an RO/DI system. That water works just as well as distilled. Perhaps better.
Rolls of paper towels & 13 gallon garbage bags for the smaller clean up jobs. Heavy duty towels & 40 gallon bags for larger jobs.
+1 on the paper towels and garbage bags
I keep the heavy-duty garbage bags in the shop, so my wife won’t find them. She’ll steal them.
Baking soda, glass cleaner, de-ionized water, coffee filters, Swiffer cloths.
i find the coffee filters work great when re-using coolant. strains out sediment very well.
This might sound far-fetched, but years and years ago (30+), I bought a few boxes of painter supplies at an auction. In one of them was a package of 500 paint filter cones for a gallon-size can. I’ve used maybe 200 or so – likely won’t live long enough to use the rest. My coffee filters are reserved for my coffee corner!
Bingo! paint strainers are much easier to use and my paint supplier gives them away.
I don’t re-use coolant. I only change the stuff because the rust inhibitors degrade.
Bamboo sticks or skewers, heavy duty q-tips from medical supply, popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, lint free gauze. All are great for detail cleaning and very precise application of adhesives, sealants, etc.
Dollar store dish scrubbers with the foam ends. Perfect for cleaning the inner reaches of wheels. I can clean any of mine (I have 6 vehicles) in about 90 seconds and cheap enough to not feel guilty about throwing them away when they wear out.
Toothbrushes, Pine Sol (or Simple Green), plastic measuring cups, baby bottles – the list goes on.
Aluminum foil when combined with something like Solvol Autosol also makes a terrific polishing material for shiny bits.
Just a tip regarding Simple Green. In aviation, when Simple Green came out, we thought it was great. Then it was found to be corrosive to aluminum. They actually make a product called Aviation Simple Green now that is fine.
I agree on the Simple Green. I use it to detail the engine compartment when I buy a car that hasn’t been touched in years. It will bring it back to looking new, without damaging the labels. With the engine cold, just spray on liberally and go at it with a toothbrush, a 2″ throwaway soft nylon paintbrush and a microfiber rag. Rinse with the nozzle on mist and a clean microfiber rag. Plan on spending a couple of hours. It’ll make a 100k mile car look like 10k. I’ve done several and always get complements when I raise the hoods.
Yup! I stopped using Simple Green for that very reason. It is just too good.
Solvol Autosol…..my heavens, I haven’t heard that brand name since I left Yorkshire, England in July 1974. Do they sell it in the states?
Amazon has it.
All great recommendations except the turkey baster which always leaks. Not good when evacuating brake fluid. Catheter tipped syringes work great and cost less than $2 on Amazon.
MrClean erasers, I used it with car polish to remove paint scrubs & on wheels.
Your home air conditioner makes distilled water. I put a tee on the discharge line, and can divert it into gallon jugs.
So does your dehumidifier.
An air conditioner is in fact a dehumidifier.
Trouble is that the water an air conditioner will contain contaminates from the air was well as any gunk that has accumulated on the condenser coil. Take a sip to test the concentration. 🙂
Not exactly. See Mike’s comment.
Great tip!
Zip-Lock bags – assorted sizes. (and a marker)
Invaluable when disassembling / cataloging things.
As someone who works primarily on Powersports stuff, I believe that aluminum foil is a lifesaver. Need a wire brush that can form to any shape? Boom! Aluminum foil. Need to wrap parts up? Aluminum foil. The only thing that I’ve worked on or helped with that foil doesn’t work with is my parents marriage, lol
Be careful with petroleum jelly (vaseline). It can quickly degrade rubber parts.
Only on natural rubber and latex