Students Of Success

These days people use their cars as floating living rooms and dining rooms as they drive around. This means that all kinds of things can get spilled on a car’s upholstery. When this happens, you’ve probably wondered how to clean car upholstery. Once you know how to clean car upholstery, you’ll enjoy your travels more.

Here are ideas on dealing with some of the most common problems. Using these simple tips will show you how to clean car upholstery to your satisfaction. Note that these techniques are for use on cloth upholstery. Other methods are needed for leather.

Removing common stains

All that eating and drinking in the car can result in stains from liquids. The first step is to blot the spill and absorb all excess liquid. Then apply an upholstery cleaner available from your local auto parts store. Spray a small amount of cleaner on your car upholstery and wait a few minutes. Scrub the stain a little with an old tooth brush. Then dry the soiled area with a clean cloth. Repeat until you no longer see the stain and the cloth you are using to dry the area shows no discoloration. If the stain is small, shaving cream may do the trick instead of commercial cleaner.

If ink stains your car seat, do not rub the stain as this can smear the ink and make the stain larger. Start by carefully blotting the area to remove any excess ink. Spray a small amount of hairspray on the stain and let it sit a few minutes. Take clean dry towels and wipe the area. Repeat as needed but use the minimum amount of cleaner necessary. Change your wiping cloths frequently to prevent soiling the material from cross contamination. Rubbing alcohol can also be used to clean ink on car upholstery. Dip a cotton swab into the alcohol and apply it only on the actual ink stained area. Then wipe with a clean cloth as above.
To remove lipstick stains from your car’s upholstery, try rubbing gently with a white, non-gel toothpaste. Then wipe clean with a damp cloth.

If there is a battery acid stain, rub a paste of baking soda and water into the spot right away. Leave this on for two hours and then wipe it off with a damp cloth. Repeat if any stain remains. Any remaining residue can be cleaned with a commercial upholstery cleaner. As an alternative, you can make your own cleaner by mixing 1/2 teaspoon liquid dishwashing detergent in a quart of warm water. Beat this with a mixer and clean the upholstery using only the suds. Work on a small area at a time, overlapping areas to avoid spotting. Change the rinse water frequently to keep it clean. Let dry thoroughly.

To remove a gasoline stain from your car’s interior, treat the stain with a mixture of one teaspoon each of vinegar and mild dish detergent in a quart of warm water. The vinegar will remove the odor while the detergent does the cleaning. Let the area dry. If any spotting remains, you may need to repeat the process. If this does not seem to be working, try using dry cleaning solvent.

If you have children, they may play with crayons in the car and may get some on the upholstery. To remove crayon marks, first scrape the excess crayon off with a dull-edge knife or metal spoon. Spray with WD-40 and let stand a few minutes. Using a small, stiff bristled brush, work on the crayon stain and then wipe the area with paper towels. Respray with WD-40 and apply liquid dishwashing detergent on the sprayed area. Work this material in with the brush and then wipe the stain away with a damp sponge. If any stain remains, repeat the procedure.

To remove mold, mildew and their odor from upholstered auto seats, products with peroxide and detergents will restore the car interior. This both removes the stain and deactivates the odor. Simply spray a citrus cleaner product on the soiled area. Wait about five minutes for it to penetrate. Using a clean white absorbent cloth, blot the area, pressing down firmly without rubbing for 30 seconds. Repeat this blotting process until the area is dry. If the stain or odor persists, repeat the process. As an alternative, you could create a cleaning mixture by combining 1/4 teaspoon of color safe bleach and 1/4 cup of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. With a clean cloth, gently rub the stain until it is gone. Rinse the area with clear, warm water and dry thoroughly.

Clean upholstery helps your car keep its value

By keeping your car upholstery clean not only will it look better, it will also last longer. Nice looking upholstery maintains the value of your car. If your upholstery is stained or damaged beyond cleaning, replacement seat covers are available for most cars and trucks. People who know how to clean car upholstery won’t have to go to the expense of buying those replacements since their cars’ interiors will look like they just came from the showroom.

Jean Feingold is a copywriter for Catalogs.com. Catalogs.com is the Internet’s leading source for print and online catalog shopping - and a growing hub of original content and “how to” information at www.catalogs.com.

Monday, January 9, 2006

After a rally to new highs this spring, most of 2006 will be a
downward tilting year for stocks, as will much of 2007. Forward
looking into any new year can be dicey for an investor or
trader. We see several significant changes coming.

We hope this small effort at determining dates for Major
Market Turns helps you to plan for these events by building
expectations in your mind of potential changes. Below, we
proffer our opinion of the coming Market Turns.

Timing Market Turns

For those awaiting the next big crash, your patience and hopes
will be tried and crushed. For those expecting a glorious race
to new all time highs throughout all the broad indexes, your
exhilaration will be tempered by a sharp reversal from new all
time highs in the Dow Jones 30 Industrials and the New York
Stock Exchange Index (already at new highs). The Standard &
Poor’s 500 Index will not make it to a new all time high
this year. The Nasdaq Composite Index and the Nasdaq 100 Index
will soon end their modest upward move.

The 3-Year Rally Ends Soon

Since the lows in October 2002, the broad market indexes have
rallied relentlessly for most of these 39 months. This upward
move will soon end. These first months of 2006, we believe
investors should be unwinding positions, taking profits and
going to cash or to interest rate sensitive models. We assume
most investors won’t be shorting stocks or indexes. Perhaps
investors will use the various inverse mutual funds that allow
for gains in this coming correction beginning soon.

Index and stock traders are sure to have an abundant year of
opportunities for making huge profits from the volatile swings
we foresee. Yes, volatility swings will be byword for 2006, as
are most market corrections.

Let’s begin with a caveat or what some people will wonder about,
“where we are coming from.” Long term, we are bullish on the
U.S. markets, the indomitable U.S. economy, and the American
people.

The Dates To Watch

As many of our readers know, the dates and times (intraday) that
our proprietary algorithms yield are independent of our bias for
what these dates will manifest, a low or a high. Our view that
October 21st and/or October 24th would mark the low to buy did
come true even though it wasn’t the exact low, which occurred on
October 12th. Those familiar with market structures ending like
that, such as Elliott Wave Theory, will understand a bit better
(though we aren’t wave theorists). We expect similar endings for
indexes this spring. That is, some will make new highs and
reverse from there while others will fail to make final highs.
Those failures to surpass recent highs are ideal locus points
for exiting bullish positions and establishing a bearish stance.
Essentially, these are the safest places in time to sell short
the indexes.

The dates to watch are as follows: January 23, March 13 and
April 11. More swing dates are interspersed between those, but
have not risen through the rigorous algorithms to show
themselves as significant enough to mention yet.

Our Bias

Our bias, at this time, for what these dates should manifest
shows the final high on April 11th as the high to sell. The
January 23rd date should mark the end of a move. Our view is
that it will be a high, IF a minor time locus date,
Wednesday, January 11th, strikes a low of a fast correction
beginning today, Monday, January 9th.

On the other hand, if the indexes continue their upward move
into Wednesday and Thursday, then we would change our bias to
the January 23rd date to arrive as a low. This date’s result
further colours our bias for the March 13th date, even though we
tentatively expect it to be a high.

We will update as time passes on the sites listed below.

In July 2004, Good Housekeeping reported a small study of then-available skin-firming or anti-cellulite creams. The Good Housekeeping Institute sent a small group of test subjects to a well-known New York plastic surgeon. The women saw the doctor before starting treatment, after two weeks and after four weeks.

They were instructed to use one of three cellulite creams daily on one thigh only, providing a very reliable control for comparison. For example, if a woman gained or lost ten pounds during the study, the study would still reveal if the cream alone had any effect.

At each appointment, thighs were measured at three points above the knee, photos were taken and dimply skin was graded on a scale from “very noticeable” to “none at all”. Unfortunately, GHI did not reveal the names of the two losing cellulite creams; but they did report that only Avon’s Cellu-Sculpt significantly reduced the treated thighs’ circumference. The average loss – after just one month – was ¾ of an inch. The point is – firming creams, at least the effective ones, really can have an effect.

Fast forward two years …

Avon Cellu-Sculpt still has the same great ingredients and is still one of the most popular firming creams on the market. The key active ingredients are: caffeine and cornstarch for temporary tightening; glycerine and glycosaminoglycans as moisturizers and, most importantly, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3 which stimulates growth of new elastin and collagen.

In the meantime, the search for cosmetically active polypeptides has progressed by leaps and bounds. With the introduction of tetrapeptides, we finally have an ingredient that addresses sagging, loose skin.

Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3 has been clinically shown to stop and even reverse glycation damage which causes skin to droop. Glycation is the process by which glucose links with proteins and causes them to bind together, thus stiffening tissues.

Glycation affects the skin’s support system – collagen, elastin and other proteins – and leads to wrinkles, sagging, uneven skin tone and loss of youthful contours.

Finally, in a class by themselves, are the neuropeptides. Neuropeptides are polypeptides that act as neuromodulators, neurotransmitters, neurohormones, and hormones. Probably the best-known proponent for the cosmetic use of neuropeptides is Dr. Nicholas Perricone. His previous anti-aging developments have met with broad acclaim and his three books have been on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Dr. Perricone explains his work with neuropeptides in his third book The Perricone Promise thus: “In The Wrinkle Cure and The Perricone Prescription, I introduced a major theme of my research: the Inflammation-Disease-Aging Connection. Because inflammation is a great contributor to accelerated aging, it has been an important focus of my ongoing scientific research. And we now know that neuropeptides and peptides play an important role in mediating inflammation.”

According to Dr. Perricone, neuropeptides provide the benefits of the above polypeptides as well as provide powerful anti-inflammatory (i.e. anti-aging) activity and maximum hydration to the skin.

We surveyed the market for creams that contain some or all of the ingredients you want for maximum firming. Then we ranked them for their firming effectiveness. The ideal firming cream would contain ingredient(s) from each category below.

Key Ingredients to Look For in a Cellulite Firming Cream

A. For Temporary Skin Tightening

Though the skin tightening effect is what most people are looking for in a firming cream, the effect is regrettably temporary. It’s literally like putting starch on fabric; and many of the temporary tighteners are starches. Look for cornstarch, hydrolyzed soy flour, hydrolyzed wheat protein, etc..

Starch is a natural polymer or combination of many sugar monomers. Working in similar fashion to natural starches are synthesized polymers. These include acrylates, acrylate crosspolymers and lauryl methacrylate.

Astringents are another class of temporary skin tightener. They work by removing oils and soap residue from the skin, leaving the skin smoother and tenser. Examples are alcohol, propylene glycol, witch hazel, and salicylic acid. Astringents are generally drying. If you already have dry skin, you may want to avoid firming lotions that contain them.

Anti-edema ingredients are yet another type of temporary skin tightener. They tighten the skin by reducing abnormal swelling and inflammation within the cells. Examples are aminophylline, caffeine, chamomile, centella, grapefruit, ivy, laminaria (seaweed) and rosemary.

B. Both Temporary and Restorative

Probably the most popular, but also most under-rated, skin care ingredients are good moisturizers. Many people don’t realize that the benefits are not just temporary. Keeping the skin well-hydrated not only feels good temporarily but also supports the skin’s matrix against collapsing with the passage of the years.

Recent studies suggest that skin moisturizers also accelerate the recovery of irritated or injured skin. The skin is the body’s largest organ and its first line of defense. The skin acts as a physical barrier against infection and injury. In a study from the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden, a moisturizing cream was tested for its effect on damaged skin with excellent results, including far less water loss and enhanced barrier recovery.

Better, more effective moisturizers are developed every year. Current top picks are: hyaluronic acid and other glycosaminoglycans; and imidazolidinyl or diazolidinyl urea. Other excellent moisturizers are collagen, elastin, glycerin, glycogen, glucose, polysaccharides, amino acids, cholesterol, lipids, ceramides and lecithin.

The above are all Natural Moisturizing Factors or NMF’s. For maximum benefit, NMF’s need to be combined with emollients such as silicone, lanolin and other animal oils, mineral and plant oils (shea butter, cocoa butter, petrolatum), cyclomethicone, cholesterol, stearates, mystirates, palmitates or triglycerides.

C. Turn-Back-the-Clock Restorative: The Polypeptides

Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3 (PP-3), Palmitoyl Tetra- (or variously Tera-) peptide-3 (PT-3), and Neuropeptides are truly active anti-aging ingredients. PP-3 stimulates the growth of new collagen and elastin to plump out wrinkles and dimpled skin from within. PT-3 stops and reverses glycation damage, thereby lifting the skin and refining body contours. Neuropeptides have been developed that do the work of PP-3 and PT-3 combined, as well as hydrate and fight inflammation that accelerates the skin’s aging.

For a comparison of ten popular cellulite firming creams or for more information on effective skin care products, visit ==>http://www.ageless-beauty.com/skin-care.html

By: Jean Bowler. For the latest in skin care products and cosmetic procedures, visit http://www.ageless-beauty.com/antiaging-skin-care.html