Chemicals are suppose to be disposed of (legally) at hazardous waste drop-off sites. This includes paints cleaners & thinners as well as paint itself.
That`s great IF the Hazardous Waste drop-off site is nearby and you don`t have to pay fee, but not every locale has that, hence, the comments about placing them in the garage or dumping them in the landfill. (So says the ecologically-irresponsible Captain Obvious. Hey, I clean cars, not the environment. Just sayin`...)
When you said throw car-care chemicals/products away, I was of the understanding that these were products that either did not work out (bought it, tried it; Nope, didn`t like it), or you don`t use anymore, or products that changed in their chemical composition or just plain "expired".
Then again, how many of us Autopians have an "Accumulation" of older products that are somewhere in the garage or basement shelf collecting dust. You pick it up and look at it, thinking, "When was the last time I used this?", then remember it was on a vehicle you used to own 30 years ago. Like your 1988 Toyota Camry All-Trac that never looked so good! Ah yes, the memories. The car is LONG gone, but not the car-care products. Time to let go and throw it away.
BUT, BEFORE YOU THROW OUT THAT CARNAUBA WAX, read my list of things you can do with that wax:
(Please do not laugh at some of them; remember I am "a seasoned detailer" with "experience")
1) Snow-blower chutes and lawnmower under-decks to keep snow and wet grass from sticking, respectively.
2) Slide rule inner log linear vernier (AKA, moving stick part) (Don`t ask what a slide rule is unless you are an engineer or mathematician)
3) Kid`s bicycles (Good way to develop relationships with neighborhood young people, plus the bad ones do not egg your house at Halloween or in their later years in High School, at Homecoming time. Just sayin`...)
4) Appliances (especially painted/powder coated refrigerators at holiday time; guests and family are dumbfounded with the shine)
5) Wooden drawer slides or glides
6) Driving in nails or screws in hardwoods (an old woodworker`s and carpenter`s trick)
7) Air conditioner compressor housings or generator enclosures (service tech`s cannot believe what they see)
8) Painted metal doors (especially white painted aluminum screen or outer doors)
9) Wood doors edges that are tight in the frame (like those that swell in summer)
10) Model metal car collections (S100 makes my unboxed 1/24-scale model metal 911 Porsches ready for the holidays)
11) Varnished wood acoustic guitars or colored lacquer electric guitars(Meg`s M16 was actually a preferred wax by some guitar makers)
12) Metal or plastic playground slides (Use caution: taller slides can REALLY send small kids flying if adults are unaware of a "waxed" slide, as the kid becomes a small projectile that the adult may not catch or get knocked over with at the slide end)
13) Toboggan or saucer bottoms (MUCH cheaper than ski wax)
14) Snow shovels for wet snow OR Dirt shovels or spades for clay (Works REALLY well)
15) Linoleum or tile floors for sliding across with wool socks on for the longest-distance slide "competitions" (OK, I did this as a kid and it was HIGHLY dangerous and frowned upon by my parents, not to mention the "difficulty" in removing with ammonia cleaners and elbow grease by said applicator!!)
16) Bathroom porcelain sinks and toilets and fiberglass shower stalls (DO NOT do the toilet seat!! Women will slide off; NOT pretty especially if it is your Mom or significant other)
17) Black leather shoes as an emergency shoe-polish substitute (Patten-leather REALLY likes M16)
As you can see, I have used carnauba waxes for a lot of "non-vehicle" applications, model cars and bikes as the exceptions.
