Clean your headlights with toothpaste? Plus: Farmer's Almanac giveaway

Turns out thousands of people are curious about headlight cleaning kits, who knew?  Here's a frugal tip from David Paul of Newton. Proceed at your risk.And if you do, post to the site and let us know how it works.

Rather than purchase a kit, I reasoned that the abrasiveness of the polish in these kits had to be gentle enough not to ruin the headlamp.  This seemed to be the same principal behind toothpaste.  For our 2001 Toyota Sienna, I applied a small amount of toothpaste to a damp cloth and proceeded to polish the headlamp by hand, using no more pressure than I would if I were hand washing the car.

I repeated the procedure, then removed the toothpaste with a wet cloth.  I expected the oxidation to return in a few minutes, but it didn't. Although the headlamps do not look new, the results were about 90% effective. It has been several months since I polished the lenses and the oxidation has not returned.

I have a free copy of the 2012 edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac. Make your pitch to clever@charlotteobserver.com and be sure to include mailing address and one great clever tip to be eligible.