Consumers : An Easier Way to Polish Metal Products
There’s a new product on the market that cleans tarnished silver, silverplate, gold, copper, bronze, most brass and most jewelry in about five seconds, without messy creams, rags and rubber gloves. Called Qwicksilver and just introduced by Silver Cleaners USA in Culver City, it works by an electrolytic process--in your sink.
Qwicksilver comes in a kit with a reusable 6x8-inch metal alloy plate and 16 packets of an “activator powder.” To clean precious metals and jewelry--except for pearls and enameled items--you place the plate in the bottom of the kitchen sink, fill with hot water and mix in a packet of the powder. Then place your jewelry and metal items in the water for a few seconds.
A company spokeswoman explained that a low-density magnetic field is created by the plate and powder, which safely draws the soft sulfur ions of tarnish off the metal pieces. She said that the powder is nontoxic. It won’t do any damage to your sink, or hurt your hands, so you don’t need rubber gloves. It’s also odorless.
“The tarnish comes off in about five seconds, unless something is really heavily tarnished, then you’ll probably have to immerse it several times,” she said. “Then you just rinse it and wipe it off with a clean towel.”
The starter kit of Qwicksilver, with plate and 16 packets, costs $30, with powder refills available at $12 for 20 packets. Reorder forms come with each kit. In Southern California, you can buy Qwicksilver at the Broadway, Bullocks, J. C. Penney and Robinsons.
Getting the Message
Take Note is a handy new paperless message board that is magnetized to stick to your refrigerator or can be converted to an adhesive-backed board to put on the wall next to the phone.
The 8 1/2x11-inch board comes with a marker pen so you can write the message directly on the face of the board, then erase the ink by wiping it with a dry tissue. Manufactured by Westar of Los Angeles, Take Note comes in seven colors--white, pink, turquoise, pastel or royal blue, yellow and red--and sells for $9.99. It’s available at the Time Machine in Montrose, or Omni Office Supplies outlets.
Protecting Car Radios
Lasso Lock is the latest in products to deter car burglars. This one, from Redondo Beach inventor Jay Derman, helps prevent the theft of your car stereo cassette deck/radio.
Lasso Lock features a plastic-coated braided steel aircraft cable with a loop at one end and a locking device that fits into your cassette deck opening.
After wrapping the cable around the spoke of the steering wheel or the steering column, you pass the lock through the loop to form a “lasso” around the wheel, then insert the lock into the cassette deck opening--making sure it fits snugly against the outside radio face plate. You then insert the key and turn it counterclockwise, which adjusts the locking mechanism so it fits the cassette deck’s internal configuration and locks.
Derman said that his Lasso Lock is designed to fit car cassette decks that have narrow insertions for tapes, not the wide ones. “It also offers an alternative to removing a cassette radio and having to hide it under a seat or tote it around in a radio bag,” he explained. “You can’t cut the cable with pliers or files or saws. You need heavy duty bolt cutters, and that would deter car radio thieves. (And) if they want to steal the car, with Lasso Lock they’ll have to break the radio to turn the steering wheel.”
Lasso Lock, which comes with two keys, costs $29.95, including shipping and handling and California sales tax, and is available from Z-Lock Manufacturing Co., 1201 N. Catalina Ave., P.O. Box 949, Redondo Beach, Calif. 90277 or by calling (213) 372-4842.
