Product Review: ArmorAll Protectant

ArmorAll is a product sold for use on vehicles and I recommend it for that and much more. The labeling tells you this product will clean, protect, and shine rubber, plastic, and vinyl surfaces. It helps to block harmful UV rays and slow the aging process. Well, just think for a moment about other things that are routinely exposed to sunlight and could benefit from being cleaned and polished, not to mention protected, by the use of ArmorAll. Here are some of the things I've been coating with ArmorAll over the years:

• Plastic pots and other plant containers, saucers, hanging baskets, and the hanging devices made of plastic

• Plastic pool and patio furniture

• Vinyl tablecloths

• Plastic mailboxes

• Waste containers from garbage cans to smaller outdoor trash and storage containers

• Dustpans - It's amazing how much longer they last than the unprotected ones, and how much better they work in terms of remaining flat, especially along the edge over which you sweep debris into the pan. If your dust brush has a plastic housing, you can treat that too (but do not, of course, put ArmorAll on the bristles).

You can use this product on anything made of vinyl, plastic, rubber, or with a rubberized coating. Examples: rubberized clothesline and rubber "bumpers" used in protecting a staked tree. Do you have a garage door (or any exterior door) with a rubber weather strip at the base? Treat it with ArmorAll to keep it supple. Usually bought in a spray bottle, it will last a long time, saving you from needing to replace these items while keeping them from fading and cracking, keeping rubber from becoming brittle, and making things look shiny and new.

You will extend the life of these items and save replacement costs while enjoying their unfaded look. Use on the rubber gaskets around glass on your vehicles too. Reapply a coating when needed. Use your eyes and your imagination and you'll be surprised how many outdoor things you own that can benefit from an application of this protectant.

By Margret from Greeneville, TN