Malawi Police Service (MPS) traffic officers and minibus drivers have a game that they play on the road. The game goes like this: Traffic police officer signals a minibus to stop.
He or she checks the suitability of the driver to drive the minibus, if he or she finds no problem with the driver’s credentials, he goes on to check the carrying capacity of the minibus against the number of passengers on board.
If the driver has obliged the police officer will take the game to another level. He or she will check the roadworthiness of the minibus. Depending on the shortfalls, the driver may be allowed to deliver the passengers to their destination and go to surrender the minibus. It is at this point that the officer engages in an act that is of interest to us in DIY world.
The officer will remove one or two disks displayed on the windscreen. They may either remove the certificate of fitness (COF) disk or the insurance disk as collateral to ensure that the driver comes back to answer his case.
On what happens at the police station for the driver to get back the disks I am not competent enough to discuss and this forum does not have mandate to do so. But the tendency of removing the disks leaves stains that, over time, make the windscreen look ugly. This is so because it is not possible to stick the disks in the exact location every time a driver has redeemed a disk from the law enforcing officers.
This situation is also true for the law abiding citizens, they also face this challenge when their disks have expired. This issue may look trivial to some, but those who are particular about paying attention to detail will find problems with windscreens which have stains of old disks.
It is the desire of this column to see you maintaining the sparkling look of your windscreen. My humble self would love to see the windscreen of your car look as close as possible to the look that it had when friends and relatives gathered round it to admire your new acquisition.
All you need in this project is vinegar, water and a waster. Mix the water and the vinegar in equal parts and using the waster to apply the solution on the stained part and rub it off. The solution will weaken the dirt on the windscreen and it will restore the brightness of the windscreen like magic.
Jack, my colleague, gave me this tip. I checked it on YouTube and there are several video tutorials explaining how this is done. Many others have done it and benefitted. Why not join them?
Wishing you, dear reader, a safe drive in cars with sparkling windscreens. If you want it perfectly done, do it yourself.
