Car Battery

Today, I happened to look at the Charing System Gauge, otherwise known as the Battery Indicator, of my car and was in for a little bit of a shock. The indicator was down to low, sometimes dropping below low, and it wasn't indicating any charging as I was driving. We've had severe rainfall here in the last couple of days, and I'm not sure if that was a contributing factor. The battery isn't that old, so it can't be age.

Tonight I decided to lift the hood of the car to look at the mess of machinery under it. I'm mechanically challenged. The stuff under there scares me. The battery was sitting there with acid all over the terminals. So, I got a brush from my trunk and brushed off the acid, inhaling deeply of the resulting noxious cloud. Now I have this metallic taste in my mouth. I think I will gargle with some household chemicals later in an attempt to exhale fire. That feeble attempt at fixing the problem didn't really fix shit. The battery still won't charge.

So, I consulted the car's manual -- a couple of steps before the last resort, which would be asking someone to fix it for me. The manual says:

If you see any corrosion on the battery cables or terminals, remove the cables from the terminal and clean them both with a wire brush. You can neutralize the acid with a solution of baking soda and water. Reinstall the cables when you are done cleaning them, and apply a small quantity of grease to the top of each battery terminal to help prevent corrosion.

Tomorrow I plan on bringing this little adventure to conclusion. I don't have a wire brush, but I think some sandpaper should suffice. Just not sure what I will be using as grease. Just what can you use? Do they actually sell grease at the local Canadian Tire? I suppose after I get the cleaning done, I could go for a drive and find out. Before I demonstrate my ineptitude however, is there any advice? -- on the above and on safety -- just so I don't experience an ill-timed and humorous ending.